It seems that with this movie, the third out of the Kozure Ôkami-series, they picked a sort of different approach. This time the movie gets a bit more personal and dramatic, which goes at the expense of the movie its action. However once you get over this and get more into the movie itself, you'll still be grabbed and entertained by it as well.

It's not even fair to say really that this movie does not have enough action in it. The movie still features quite a lot of fights and at the end Ogami Itto even takes on a whole army by himself. Still by comparison it's all a bit toned down and there is also less blood. The entire series is basically known for its fountains of blood but this movie does not provide the best example of this.

It's less entertaining but its a more solidly written story than its predecessors, as it seems. The first two movies were mostly adventurous ones in which lone wolf and cub wandered the country, meeting all kinds of people and getting into all kinds of problems. This movie does more clearly follow one story-line, that from beginning to end is basically all connected, without ever wandering off with its story and follow some side plots with it. Not everybody will like this and I must admit that I wasn't too fond about the approach the movie was taking at first but as the movie progresses it becomes more solid and you can also tell what the movie was heading towards to during its first half.

It seems like a weaker movie out of the series at first but once things start to take off you should be able to appreciate it different approach and see this movie as simply yet another great once within its great series.

8/10

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Like the other Lone Wolf films, it's made by the Katsu Production Company--the same Shintaro Katsu who played Zatoichi in so many films mostly during the 1960s and 70s. This isn't so surprising when you see the movie, as there are a lot of similarities between the two series--though the Lone Wolf is much more amoral and difficult to predict. Some times, Ogami Itto is like this blind character--helping out the downtrodden. Yet, oddly, at other times he's going on killing rampages for the money. I think this occasionally confusing moral ambiguity might explain why the character was popular--though not as popular as Zatoichi.

This film is much like the previous additions to the Lone Wolf series. The movie definitely is adult--with the usual rapes, extreme violence (with huge gaping wounds, severed heads and gallons and gallons of blood) and amazing sword action. Howoever, it's a tad bloodier than the the previous two films and he manages to outdo his previous amazing battles--taking on about 50 baddies at once near the end of the movie!! It's all very entertaining, but as I said, very adult--and is not a film I'd recommend to younger viewers. Overall, its a typical quality production--with an interesting story, tons of swordplay as well as good deeds and bad. While the exact story doesn't seem to matter, the film has two major plots--Itto putting his life (inexplicably) for a young prostitute and his taking a contract out on a dishonorable, greedy and backstabbing Lord and his samurai/ninja army.

Ogami Itto is Lone Wolf. His infant son Daigoro is Cub. They are on Demon Way to Hell. Along the way, they encounter a ronin named Kanbei who is desperate for a duel with Itto. They rescue an enslaved girl. His heroism impressed yakuza madam Torizo and she hires him for an assassination.

This is the third movie in the series. Whether it's the guns or the warrior with a name, this one has a much more spaghetti western feel. I love Kanbei and his struggle for moral clarity. I also love Torizo's introduction and her character. I love Daigoro's tricking the gunslinger. I like this one the most so far in the series.