When wandering assassin-for-hire Ogami Itto (Tomisabura Wakayam) is asked if he would assassinate a child and their parents, he replies, “My son and I are on the Demon Path To Hell” i.e. sure thing. Ogami Itto is no joke! He and his son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) continue to travel along the roads of feudal Japan in Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart In The Land Of Demons (1973), the fifth film in the samurai movie series based on the manga by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Originating director Kenji Misumi returns to helm this chapter after being absent from the previous film, Baby Cart In Peril. The story here concerns a clan who want to rescue the imprisoned heir of their disgraceful leader and restore honour to their name – the leader of the clan has locked away and hidden his son himself, so as to install his mistress’ child in their place. This clan wants to hire assassin Ogami Itto but go about it in the most convoluted way possible: five messengers will test Ogami’s abilities and at the point of dying will reveal another part of the mission as well as a fifth of the payment. Poor unfortunate souls – they don’t last long in the face of Ogami’s particular set of skills, and eventually Ogami is tasked with killing a high priest who has a tell-all message about the clan’s situation to their enemy, none other than Yagu Retsudo (Minoru Oki), the person responsible for the death of Ogami’s wife and his wandering ronin status, and who wears an eye-patch and looks like a living ghost. Baby Cart In The Land Of Demons is violent but restrains its use of red paint blood spray in the first half, shooting the duels Ogami has with the messengers – known as “Demons” for the illustrated artwork they wear over their face – in master shots, often framed by branches, leaves or water wheels. There’s a natural, ambient vibe to the fighting for two thirds of the movie. Then there is a B-plot stretch where Daigoro gets involved with a lady pickpocket during a town festival, and once we get back to the A-plot, there’s a water-based attack where Ogami secretly cuts out the bottom of a boat like a Looney Tunes cartoon. The film ultimately earns its stripes with its climax at the clan’s residence where Ogami faces off against the deceitful clan lord and massacres anyone in his path to set things right, the spray flowing very freely. Even if not reaching the heights of the earlier entries into this series, Baby Cart In The Land Of Demons is still good (at this stage, I can safely say that all the Lone Wolf And Cub movies are good!), as always mainly on account of Wakayam’s surliness as Ogami Itto and his sense of honour even when cutting through armies of samurai. Watched on the Criterion Collection box-set; one more entry to go! Recommended.
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