Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart At The River Styx (1972)

I had a VHS copy of Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart At The River Styx (1972), the second film in the wandering samurai and son series from Japan, taped on a VCR during a SBS Cult Movie night. I’ve always remembered it vividly because the bad guys are a group of highly skilled assassins, three brothers, the Hidaris, and their look was ripped off for the ‘Three Storms’ in Big Trouble In Little China; they all wear giant straw helmets and robes, and each of them fights with a unique weapon. Without needing to set up or flashback to the origin story of Lone Wolf And Cub – a masterless executioner who travels with his baby son in a cart tricked out with weapons, seeking revenge for their betrayal by the shadowy Yagyu clan – this second chapter gets stuck straight into the violence with its memorable pre-credits showdown. Baby Cart At The River Styx might break the record for how many times people try to grab a samurai blade to stop it from cleaving them, usually to little effect. The violence, once again, is brutal and memorable, blood spraying like a burst pipe. The plot: Ogama Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) travels with his son, Daigoro, as an assassin for hire. Here, he’s tasked by a clan to kill a highly valued textile expert who has been taken by a rival group, and who is protected by the formiddable counter assassins, the brothers Hidari. All the while, a house of female assassins – led by the formidable Sayaka (Kayo Matsuo) – has been tasked by the Yagyu with killing Ogama. Visceral action and memorable archetypes abound, all clocking in under 90 minutes, a tightly worked episode in this on-going saga. Wakayama, once again, has such a such presence with his surly demeanour, only broken through glowering rage or the occasional paternal nod to his son. Poetic flourishes help ensure that this is one of those films that sets the standard for violent 1970s samurai flicks. Directed by Kenji Misumi, who made the majority of the Lone Wolf And Cub series. An action classic. Part of the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release. Recommended.