Competing clans are after the Silver Dragon Sword which belongs to Mistress Mayu. After she is kidnapped and the sword is stolen, peerless swordsman Shuranosuke Sakaki steps in to save the day and gets involved in a plot by an immortal priest to rule all of Japan.
Legend of the Devil is essentially live-action anime with its pulpy plot, assortment of oddball villains, plethora of lovely ladies, and sword-slashing heroics from an effeminate womanizer. It’s not as outrageous as similar fare like Kunoichi Lady Ninja or as entertaining as Azumi, but for a low-budget flick it still offers a healthy slice of chambara action with a touch of the tasteless.
The story presents a wide range of characters and attempts to be more complex than it really is. Trying to understand the place each character inhabits in this contrived world is a fruitless endeavor as they’re all based on genre stereotypes. A clan of female ninjas decked out in red are competing with another clan to get possession of the famous Silver Dragon Sword which belongs to Mistress Mayu (Rie Imamura). Swordsman Shuranosuke Sakaki (Masaki Kyomoto) with his slicked hair and unmatched skill comes to her rescue and then goes in search of the sword. The filmmakers try to make him out to be a demon swordsman haunted by his past and reeking of hell, but it doesn’t work, unlike Tatsuya Nakadai’s haunting performance in Sword of Doom.
Meanwhile, an immortal priest named Tenkai (played by Ran star Daisuke Ryu) is using his shaky alliance with the local daimyo (Atsuo Nakamura) to get the sword himself and use the secret that it unlocks. When matched with the mythical Bird Sword, he will be able to rule all of Japan, or something of that nature.
To reach his final confrontation with the priest, Sakaki has to face numerous adversaries, although none of them prove to be much of a challenge. The first and strangest one is a massive black man (obviously a sumo wrestler) labeled a monster who rampages through Edo, crushing or tossing his puny victims like insects. Sakaki comes to a ‘split’ decision on how best to deal with him. He dispatches with numerous clan members, but the only enemy that comes close to being his equal is a beefy brawler. The two strike the clichéd camaraderie among inevitable foes and eventually meet for a rather unusual engagement. The brawler uses nothing but fists and kicks to take on Sakaki’s sword. Although he’s able to kick trees down with his powerful legs, he’s slow and lumbering, giving Sakaki, with his quick-striking sword strokes, the advantage.
Added as attractive filler is Rieko Miura as a determined pickpocket who laughably gets manhandled by Sakaki in one night of passion and thereafter follows him everywhere. There is also pin-up gal Atsuo Nakamura who plays a would-be swordswoman out to avenge her father’s death at the hands of Sakaki. Suffice to say, he’s more than capable of keeping ‘abreast’ of her movements.
Special effects in the film are limited and unimpressive with little gore and cheap representations of magic. One decent scene at the end shows Daisuke Ryu having his skin split to reveal a younger version of himself beneath. The art direction is uneven in quality. Some of the sets look good, while the more fantasy-oriented ones look corny. Some of the costumes are elaborate and impressive while others like the ninja girl squad uniforms and matching hair makes them look like backup singers for a bad ’80s hair band.
Legend of the Devil is a throwaway B-movie that doesn’t excel at anything, but contains just enough campy chambara action to make it worth a potential look. This is especially true if swordsmen with makeup battling giant, black sumo wrestlers sounds like a good time.
by Mark Pollard
