Producer and star Tomisaburo Wakayama returns for the sixth and final glorious chapter in Katsu Productions’ feature film adaptation of the LONE WOLF AND CUB manga series. Assassin-for-hire Itto Ogami (Wakayama) encounters his deadliest challenge as he faces the near-supernatural skills of a rogue band of zombie-like killers before making a final stand against a full assault from his mortal enemies, the Yagyu Shadow Clan. Capped by an epic, blood-soaked struggle on a snow-covered mountain slope involving ballistic baby carts and hundreds of ninjas on skis and toboggans, WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL is an intentionally absurd and brilliantly entertaining chambara masterpiece that knows no equal.

WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL is the only LONE WOLF AND CUB film to be directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda, a former special effects man best known for directing THE GREAT YOKAI WAR (1968), a children’s fantasy film that led to several sequels and provided inspiration for Takashi Miike’s very loose 2005 remake. As Wakayama maintained creative control, it’s difficult to tell how much influence Kuroda had on this final entry but the film definitely exhibits a supernatural or fantasy element not seen previously.

The strength of this film is in how it returns to the main struggle between Itto and Retsudo that had been wonderfully established in the first two films. It could be argued that the three films in between are episodic filler where this feud is concerned. It also does so without weighty exposition, the unnecessary explanatory chatter that burdened the last film.

While possessing plenty of great action sequences and stylized period detail, The LONE WOLF AND CUB series has always suffered dramatically from having an emotionless superman as a hero. Tomisaburo Wakayama’s portrayal of Itto Ogami is cool, yes. He’s a disciplined, one-man killing machine with all the fun gadgets including an armored baby cart rigged to fire guns and a switchblade naginata. Likewise, he is master of a unique Suio-ryu sword drawing technique and honors the core ethics of Bushido while not hesitating to play dirty when appropriate by using firearms or throwing his sword to even the odds. He can even take on whole armies of deadly ninjas or ronin while barely breaking a sweat. That’s the problem. He has virtually no weakness of any kind, even his paternal relationship with his young son Daigoro is no impediment as we are reminded when Itto’s enemy and the leader of the Yagyu, Retsudo orders one of his daughters to kill the assassin. Her unusual attacks that include a bit of knife juggling are thrown off by Itto’s apparent willingness to endanger his son in order to get the upper hand.

Yet finally in the sixth and final chapter it is revealed that Itto may not be invincible after all. Retsudo pulls out a hidden ace, a bastard son abandoned in the Kiso Mountains with a clan of Tsuchigumo, known in Japanese folklore as an ancient mountain people sometimes likened to ground spiders and possessing the power of illusion.

Three ghoulish clansmen literally unearthed after 40 days imprisoned in dirt-filled burial jars are sent not to kill Itto outright but to harass him by killing anyone who gives him aid. With the ability to burrow underground and float among the trees, these men become like ghosts haunting Itto while draining his spirit. All of this is a setup for an even more sinister plan that for the first time puts Itto at a major tactical disadvantage.

In the previous film, BABY CART IN THE LAND OF DEMONS, it was hinted at that Itto might have a weakness to the supernatural or at least perceived supernatural threats. In that film he hesitated when facing a Zen Buddhist priest. Perhaps because he sees himself ever at the “crossroads of hell,” Itto transcends the normal fears and doubt associated with conventional conflict yet is less sure of himself when facing any threat that appears to exist within his own realm between life and death.

Faced with an uncharacteristically ignoble end, Itto cleverly exploits the one weakness of Retsudo’s son, that of his shame and hatred in being an cast out by his father. This humiliation leads to one of the most shocking moments in any chambara movie when Retsudo runs a sword through his two remaining adult children after catching them in an incestuous act.

This sets the stage for the film’s finale, the best of the series. After luring the three Tsuchigumo clansmen on his tail up into a snowy mountain range where their burrowing skills are negated, Itto is confronted by literally everything Retsudo has left to throw at him and they have come prepared by wearing skis and using sleds. Well over a hundred swordsmen swoop down the side of a mountain charging at Itto as he blasts them with his machine gun carriage and in one scene slices an attacker in two as he leaps overhead. Retsudo comes packing a sled with twin cannons mounted on top to return fire as he closes in. It’s been said that Itto single-handedly kills more people in this scene than any other character in film history. The battle comes to a head with Itto facing off against dozens of swordsmen in tighter quarters and employing group tactics as the fate of his son comes into question. It’s all completely unbelievable and over-the-top yet I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a wonderfully epic and entertaining end to the LONE WOLF AND CUB series that rescues it from fading out from overly-complicated and fragmented storytelling as BABY CART IN THE LAND OF DEMONS was pushing the series towards.

Looking at the martial arts action, Eichi Kusumoto’s sword fight choreography is generally overwhelmed by the spectacle it inhabits and too often opponents simply throw themselves upon Itto’s sword. It was a common trend of the day when lurid film sensationalism in the form of nudity, ultra violence and stylized fighting generally caused once meticulously rendered and sophisticated Japanese screen swordplay to turn into fiendish, meat-cleaving butchery. This new, edgier gridnhouse style of chambara film that was firmly established with the LONE WOLF AND CUB films lives on in films such as AZUMI and KILL BILL.

Kunihiko Murai’s soundtrack is what every soundtrack should aspire to be, complimentary to the tone of the movie. It is comprised of traditional Japanese percussion and ’70s-era pop jazz mixed with brief but dramatic references to Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.”

REVIEW: Lone Wolf and Cub 6: White Heaven in Hell (1974), 9.0 out of 10 based on 4 ratings

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  • WuxiaFan

    Mark,
    I just watched the entire 6 film series over the last several weekends. I read your review before I watched LWC #6 so I was pumped for mega slicing and dicing by Itto. However, I was disappointed with two major instances in the film: Just before the finale, the 3 burrowing Tsuchigumo clansmen track Itto to his igloo hideout. I was expecting a great 3-1 battle, but Itto disposed of them very quickly, very blandly, and without breaking a sweat. Then with the skiing and sledding grand finale, I do agree with you–utterly awesome, until the end. I was gearing up for the final-final showdown between Itto and Retsudo where Itto could finally exact his revenge. But then nothing! Retsudo just runs away and the film ends with Itto finding Daigoro OK, as always. This was very disappointing! I wanted to see Retsudo’s head roll down the mountain with a streaming geyser of blood coming out of his corpse! I thought it was very anti-climatic. I’m sure that it was worse for Retsudo to live the rest of his life with no clan and no heirs, but still, I wanted to see his head roll.

    Can you offer any solace?

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    I’m guessing they wanted to leave the option open for Retsudo and Ogami to tangle again. I haven’t watched the whole TV series yet but perhaps that’s where their feud is finally resolved.