REVIEWS
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973)
AKA: n/a
Premise: Renegade officer Hanzo's (Shintaro Katsu) investigation of
a fouled abortion at the hands of a cult-like practitioner leads him
to a twisted S&M party hosted by a Buddhist nun and attended by a
high-ranking treasury officer he had previously insulted. As a
result of this insult, Hanzo is put on his toughest case yet, to
catch the country's most notorious thief.
Review: Round two in the Hanzo the Razor samurai exploitation
trilogy sees Shintaro Katzu (The Tale of Zatoichi) return to the
role of a tough-as-nails police officer out to uncover corruption
with an array of fierce weaponry, torture practices and his
oversized penis with which he uses to interrogate his female
suspects into pleasured compliance. It's part gut-wrenching
chambara, part sleazy sexploitation and all live-action manga from
the creator of Lone Wolf and Cub.
Easily-offended viewers beware. The Snare and its two companion
films are not your typical samurai movies. Filled with unrepentant
violence and sexual depravity, they are Shintaro Katsu's answer to
the popular Western exploitation films of the early '70s. And of the
three, The Snare is probably the most sensational.
It kicks off with a bang as Hanzo and his loyal deputies chase down
a pair of petty thieves, only to end up in a tussle with samurai in
the employ of a high-ranking treasury officer. This sets Hanzo on a
collision course with trouble as he makes enemies of the officer's
samurai bodyguard and ends up having to take on the country's most
notorious thief or face the possibility of ritual suicide. Of
course, he goes about his business with his usual lack of tact and
discretion. This includes tracing a string of ritualistic abortions
to an S&M gathering at a Buddhist Temple where nuns are kidnapping
and drugging women to satisfy the sadistic pleasures of the treasury
officer and a group of business owners. Unable to prove the
officer's involvement, Hanzo tortures and pleasures the head nun
into a full confession. With his career and life at stake, Hanzo
takes on the mission to bring in the country's most dangerous
criminal, a killer and thief named Shobei Hamajima (Kei Sato). Hanzo
sets a trap at the treasury by hiding away with the female steward,
a widow he decides needs a little special attention in order to keep
her from giving his presence away when the thief arrives.
Japan is known for creating some pretty eccentric entertainment. One
look at the adult anime and manga business will provide plenty of
examples. Even so, there is little to prepare a viewer for the Hanzo
films. The Snare is easily one of the most outrageous samurai movies
ever made and probably has more in common with Hong Kong's category
III period films like Sex and Zen than your typical samurai
actioner. Shintaro Katsu shamelessly runs around half naked through
the film, conditioning his enlarged manhood with a stick, defiling a
sack of rice with it, and jamming it into reluctant women who are
quick to call out for more. At one point, he is nearly crushing a
bald nun's legs with the weight of large bricks and the next, has
her suspended from the ceiling and spinning in delight as
he "probes" her for more information while threatening to stop.
Katsu's "gift" to Japanese cinema is in creating a winning formula
and revisiting it over and over again without fully tapping it dry
as he did with the Zatoichi franchise. While keyed up a bit, this
film is essentially a rehash of the first, Sword of Justice. It
improves in its pacing and exploitive nature, while appearing less
of an overt rip-off of blaxploitation cinema. With a nod to the cult-
like fetishes of European trash cinema of the day and a ramping up
of topless nudity, sadist action and grizzly deaths, Katsu even more
clearly defines his exploitive take on the samurai genre. However,
its these same features that will undoubtedly turn off more
mainstream audiences whose preferences lean towards compelling
period drama and classical swordplay.
Any way you slice it, The Snare is still just just Shintaro Katsu's
sensational attempt to cash in on a trend and neither represents the
jidei geki well nor his abilities as an action film star. Anyone not
easily offended who is looking for something out of the ordinary
might find this of interest. Typical chambara fans would be better
served by sticking with Katsu's equally exploitive, but more action-
oriented Lone Wolf and Cub films.
- Mark Pollard
http://www.kungfucinema.com/reviews/hanzotherazor02_042005.htm