Shogun Assassin (1980)

The Six Degrees of Kill Bill (Part 6)

For this week's Six Degrees of Kill Bill episode, we head back to Japan to discuss another film inspired by the work of LADY SNOWBLOOD writer Kazuo Koike.

Koike's magnum opus is a Lone Wolf & Cub, an epic series that ran for six years and nearly 9,000 pages. Its popularity led to a series of six films, produced in Japan from 1972-1974.

While the LONE WOLF & CUB films were released in the U.S. in their original Japanese language, English subtitled form, they didn't truly gain popularity in America until 1980, when a pair of film producers bought the rights, smashed together footage from the first two LONE WOLF & CUB films, added a new synth-heavy soundtrack and an English dub, and released it to the grindhouse circuit in 1980.

The result, SHOGUN ASSASSIN, was a success and led many cinephiles back to the original films.

In this episode, we'll discuss the history of SHOGUN ASSASSIN, from its origins as a manga all the way through the production of the LONE WOLF & CUB films, and its release and its legacy, including its use in Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL.

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Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.