Ninja Death II (1987)

Posted in Reviews by - April 17, 2015
Ninja Death II (1987)

The second part is a more measured continuation of the story although it retains some of the first film‘s madness. Following a brief recap, the story flashes back to detail the fraught formative years of Tiger’s vagabond master. He is one of three Japanese brothers – each possessing the mark of the Plumb Ninja – who were taught a deadly royal ninja technique while living under the tyranny of a cruel Grandmaster. One of the brothers shacks up with a Japanese Princess and bears a child (Tiger), which seems to make the Grandmaster angry, so he sends his best ninja to steal the kid. The Princess kills herself and the beggar flies off with baby. Now, 18 years later, Tiger is all buffed up and ready to make amends. The beggar tells his story and then spontaneously kills himself by slapping his own head. The majority of this super low-budget kung fu film is filmed in a Taiwanese idyll where Tiger and his Japanese ninja girlfriend get to go skinny-dipping in a rock pool. Along with her brother, the two siblings work as hired help for the evil Grandmaster, whose gold lamé headdress has now become a full onesie. But they are actually secret defectors working for the Japanese royal family, fronted by none other than Tiger’s real mother! That’s right, she’s still alive! Not only that, but the Grandmaster’s possessed right-hand heavy – a masked maniac in sandals and a loincloth who escapes his caged confines and starts ripping people’s heads off – is none other than Tiger’s real father! That’s a lot to take in, so the film stops again and continues with a third instalment.

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Editor and creator of Kung Fu Movie Guide and the host of the Kung Fu Movie Guide Podcast. I live behind a laptop in London, UK.

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