Mastodawn

It's cold, it's snowing, and it's time for Samurai Saturday!

First, Les Vampires Chapter 7: Satanas, Part 2!

Then, let's do a full rewatch of the wonderful Talking Silents series! It kicks off with Kenji Mizoguchi's The Water Magician.

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-water-magician/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

The Water Magician (1933)

Taki no Shiraito is a very independent young woman with a famous water juggling act in a travelling carnival troupe. She falls in love with an orphaned carriage driver Kinya Murakoshi, and pledges to put him through law school in Tokyo. She always encloses money in her letters to him, until one hard winter there is no work to be found.

Joe Wells Jan 17

It's time once more for Samurai Saturday!

First, Les Vampires Chapter 7: Satanas, Part 1!

Then, more Blind Swordsman with The Tale of Zatoichi Continues!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-tale-of-zatoichi-continues/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)

Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.

Joe Wells Jan 10

Get Ready for Samurai Saturday!

More villainy in Les Vampires Chapter 6, Hypnotic Eyes Part 3!

Then, I also grabbed the big Shaw Brothers set from Arrow, so that'll be on the menu this year as well. Today, the legendary Cheng Pei-Pei stars in The Lady Hermit!

#wuxia #samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-lady-hermit/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

The Lady Hermit (1971)

A young Kung Fu student seeks a reclusive teacher so that she may learn to defeat the evil Black Demon. She doesn't realize that the servant woman she befriends is actually the kung fu master she seeks. After Black Demons henchmen attack, the master reveals herself and eventually takes on the student to train her so that they may both defeat the villain. A love triangle complicates things when another student asks for training as well.

Joe Wells Jan 3

Would you look at that. It's the first Samurai Saturday of 2026!

First, the dastardly Moreno uses his Lugosi-like charms to further his war on his rivals in Les Vampires Chapter 6: Hypnotic Eyes Part 2!

Then, I finally grabbed the Zatoichi set from Criterion, so it's a Blind Swordsman re-watch through the whole year. Up first, the first one, The Tale of Zatoichi!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-tale-of-zatoichi/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.

Joe Wells Dec 27

We've survived Christmas here at Samurai Saturday World Headquarters. Let's take a brake and watch a film!

Up first, Les Vampires Chapter 6: Hypnotic Eyes Part 1!

Then, Kurosawa's most epic epic, Ran!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/ran/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

Ran (1985)

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

Joe Wells Dec 20

Are you ready for Christmas? Me either! Instead, it's time for Samurai Saturday!

First, Les Vampires Chapter 5: Dead Man's Escape Part 2!

Then, death! revenge! little tinkling bells! It's The Bells of Death!

#wuxia #samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-bells-of-death/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

The Bells of Death (1968)

A simple woodcutter named Wei Fu finds his world shattered when three murderous horsemen arrive to kill his family and kidnap his sister. Left with nothing but his mother’s bell-laden bracelet, he sets out to seek his revenge. Lucky for him, Wei Fu encounters a master swordsman, who takes him under his wing.

Joe Wells Dec 13

Good morning and welcome to this frosty Samurai Saturday!

First, Les Vampires Chapter 5, Dead Man's Escape Part 1!

Then, Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) gives us a more grounded period piece with Killing (2018)

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/killing/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

Killing (2018)

In Edo period Japan, a lone ronin lives in a village helping the farmers tend to their land. One day, a group of outlaw swordsmen enter the village.

Joe Wells Dec 6

Time for a chilly Samurai Saturday!

Up first, Les Vampires Chapter 4, The Spectre Part 2!

Then, Toshiro Mifune is... Cyrano de Bergerac? It's Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Saga!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/samurai-saga/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

Samurai Saga (1959)

Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of his own heart.

Joe Wells Nov 29

Hello and welcome to this snowy, turkey leftovers edition of Samurai Saturday!

Up first, Les Vampires Chapter 4, The Spectre Part 1!

Then Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, Ursula Andress, and Toshiro Mifune team up in an East-meets-West romp. It's Terence Young's French-Italian film about Japanese Samurai visiting the United States, Red Sun!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/red-sun/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

Red Sun (1971)

In 1870, Japanese ambassador Sakaguchi and his entourage travel by train to Washington to deliver a valuable sword to the President of the United States, a gift from the Emperor of Japan. On board the same train are two robbers, Link and Gauche, ready to make their move…

Joe Wells Nov 22

It's time for more Samurai Saturday!

Up first, more slinking around Parisian back-alleys in Les Vampires Chapter 3, The Red Codebook Part 2!

Then, more of Kurosawa's Judo hero in the entirely skippable late-war propaganda film, Sanshiro Sugata Part Two!

#samurai #serial #film
#SamuraiSaturday

https://letterboxd.com/film/sanshiro-sugata-part-two/

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-vampires-or-the-arch-criminals-of-paris/

Sanshiro Sugata Part Two (1945)

A few years after his breakthrough, Sanshiro resumes his path to judo mastery—testing his discipline against an American prizefighter and later facing vengeful karate brothers. As rival schools and public spectacle push him toward violence, he must reconcile strength with restraint and the true spirit of his art.