Ninja III: The Domination (1984) User Reviews

Good example of '80s excess

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 31 March 2018]

NINJA III: THE DOMINATION is the last of Cannon's unconnected ninja trilogy, which began with the good ENTER THE NINJA and peaked with the excellent REVENGE OF THE NINJA. This one's the worst of the three but still a fun watch for fans of 1980s cheese. The extended opening sequence in particular is outstanding, featuring evil ninja David Chung going on a random massacre at a golf course and taking down innocent folk right, left, and centre. Things move down a notch after this point as his spirit randomly possesses a fitness girl with big hair and a fondness for this sleazy cop with the most chest hair you'll ever see on a guy - he makes Chuck Norris look bald. She occasionally turns into the evil ninja and kills some folk off, until good-guy ninja Sho Kosugi shows up to exorcise her and kick ass. Things culminate in a fun battle between good and evil. With cheesy effects, random plotting and lots of surreal violence, NINJA III: THE DOMINATION night not be art, but it certainly qualifies as a good example of '80s excess.

Be dominated by twist of story

[videorama-759-859391 · 6/10 · 25 February 2014]

You gotta admit, the stories intriguingly different in Ninja land, the action sequences spectacularly done, especially at the start, providing spectacular entertainment. An evil ninja, avenges those who have made a deadly mistake of killing him. Ninja rule, you can't outkill a ninja, only if you're a ninja. The evil ninja's spirit takes refuge in a woman's body, a hot body if that of Breakdance's Lucinda Dickey, who's angry moments are cute. She's a younger and sexier version of Mimi Rodgers. So now our hottie, who trains and works out a gym, while also working with power lines, is the "you don't mess with chick" who's killing bad guys, cops, and taking on gangs of thug. A young cop who falls for her, wanting to get into her panties, senses something weird, while really being deeply attracted to her, and to re-iterate, wanting to get into her panties. Dickey leaves a lot of her bloodshed in her wake, where it's time to call in a professional. Guess who that is. This action pic is a well staged spectacle, of "throw reality out the window" entertainment, and these ninja films always deliver hard on action, but only accept it for that ninja love. The "Body Shop" song used in other Golan Globus films, rocks too. A far fetched tale that of course will spark moments, of unintentional laughs, here's another one ninja fans like me, love.

Campy Martial Arts

[guyinrubbersuit · 4/10 · 11 September 2006]

I remember catching this movie on one of the Showtime channels. What stood out for me is that this movie takes place entirely in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm from there so I spot the locales easily.

Regardless, a ninja kills a scientist, because they wear yellow sweaters and golf, who is pursued by the police. It takes about half the police force to take him down and when they do eventually kill him, there are no discernible bullet wounds. His spirit lives on however when a woman finds her and touches his katana.

From then on, she periodically gets possessed and kills the police officers who killed the original ninja. Then another ninja from Japan comes to kill the evil ninja. This might be a plot device from the previous two films, or perhaps a plot hole. All I know is that this movie is very campy, bad and entertaining. This is something to watch with a tub of popcorn, and several friends and give it the MST3K treatment.

Just Great

[ebiros2 · 31 October 2011]

This is one of the many Golan - Globus made movie. They had series of low budget movies that were pretty entertaining. This is one of it.

For almost no reason at all (At least it's not explained in the movie), a guy comes into a cave looking for a hidden sword. He finds it, and the sword transforms him into a super ninja. He then goes out to a golf course, and kills a couple (Again it's not explained who they were) and gets chased by the cops. Cops shoots him with guns and shot guns, but the ninja guy doesn't die (Again no reason). Then he escapes, and meets a girl (Lucinda Dicky). Then a strange thing happens: The spirit of the sword transfers to the girl, and now the girl becomes the super ninja. Then the possessed girl goes out on the revenge on people that shot the first ninja guy. Now enter Sho Kosugi. He's a ninja too, and seems to know all about what's going on, and shows up at key locations (Again for no reason explained). How would they save the girl from the ninja possession ?

This is movie that's purely made for entertainment. As you can see, the premise of the story suddenly happens, and then just keeps going without any explanation, but you don't care because of Lucinda's physical charm. She's the most beef cake actress I've ever seen. Other supporting actors are pretty good. Whatever the reason, the producers knew what they were doing, because this is an entertaining movie.

It's a good movie, and is recommended for viewing.

Revenge of the 80's: Sho Kosugi's Cannon Films.

[Captain_Couth · 3/10 · 7 November 2004]

Ninja III: The Domination (1984) was the last of the trilogy. However Sho Kosugi would later extend the series life by making the sequels in the Phillipines (i.e. Nine Deaths of a Ninja). The filmmakers decided to do things differently with this third installment in the "Ninja" series.

A young and hot telephone worker (Lucinda Dickey) is slowly possessed by an evil ninja. She turns into a killing machine when she takes possession of a ninja sword she finds on duty. Sho Kosugi stars as a "good" ninja who picks up some bad mojo whilst searching for the evil ninja. His search leads him in the general direction of Lucinda. Now he knows where the evil ninja is, he pulls out his magic bag and fights him. Who will win the battle of good versus evil?

You have to hand it to the filmmakers for trying something different. Instead of rehashing the same old plot, they tried to add some mysticism to the storyline. The results are a mixed bag. But Sho Kosugi and Lucinda Dickey more than make up for it. Not as good as the last movie but better than the first.

Recommended for Sho Kosugi fans.

B-

xx

The Moral: "Only A Neeeeen-jah Can Stop A Neeen-jah!!!"

[lemon_magic · 4/10 · 30 July 2005]

You know, after the first few Chuck Norris movies, I got so I could tell that a movie was produced by Golan-Globus even if I tuned in in the middle, without ever looking at the credits or the title. What's more I could tell it was Golan-Globus within a minute of screen time. Something about the story structure, the goofy relationships between the characters, the mannered dialog, the wooden acting (spiked with the occasional outright terrible performance), the scene tempos and rhythms that made Albert Pyun look like John McTiernan, the paper-thin plots and not-ready-for-prime-time fight choreography...Golan-Globus has been incredibly consistent over the years in style, subject matter and point-of-view.

What can you say, it must work for them, since they've produced literally dozens of movies. You go to one of their productions, and you know exactly what you're getting. And it ain't brain food, folks.

"Ninja 3" is another piece of hackwork in a long line of products from the G-G sausage factory, and offers the typical limited pleasures to the movie-goers' palate. You've got a Bad Ninja, slicing up cops and criminals and anyone else who gets in their way. You've got a Good Ninja, pledged to stop him. You've got a Westerner thrown into the mix so we Americans can identify with him (or her in this case) and be reassured that "We can still beat those pesky Orientals at their own game." You've got a Love Interest (who is usually also the worst actor/ress in the film) fencing with the Hero. You've got your endless string of assaults, assassinations and lingering shots of men gurgling in agony while an arrow or throwing star sticks unconvincingly out of their eye, neck, or chest. You've got your Beefy White Guy/Bodyguards in Suits calling a Ninja a 'Son of A B*tch' and throwing a roundhouse punch, only to get his *ss handed to him. You've got a Final Confrontation between the Good Guy and The Bad Guy which goes on for 20 minutes and just sort of stops like a RoadRunner cartoon instead of reaching a climax or a resolution.

Ninja 3 is a little different, in that the plot revolves around a scrappy female athletic type getting possessed by the Bad Ninja, so she ends up killing a lot of the cops and criminals and Beefy White Bodyguards in Suits while under his spell. But all the other elements are there, as formal in their way as a Kabuki play or a Noh drama.

I actually thought Lucinda Dickey was pretty likable in this film. She's nicely muscled and curvy, has great cheekbones and some athletic 'ooomph' to her movements, and you can actually suspend belief enough to accept that her character could do some of the feats she pulls off in the movie. She can almost, but not quite, carry this thing. One extra start for her participation and good energy.

Naturally, Sho Kusugi is in here, and he pretty much dominates the last 10-15 minutes of the movie. And just to show you how 3rd-rate and uninspired G-G movies are, the director and editor inter-cut the last climactic fight between Kosugi and the Bad Ninja scene with numerous reaction shots of Dickey and her boyfriend watching the life and death battle with an expression of mild bemusement. I'm serious...for all the emotion and reaction they show to the proceedings, they could be looking at a sea turtle in an aquarium at Marineland. I can only imagine how Dickey must have felt when she saw the finished product - she probably wanted to run the editor through with a katana for real because those reaction shots make her look like a complete idiot.

An enjoyable waste of time...but it definitely IS a waste of time. Maybe if you are a Sho Kusugi fan, or even a Linda Dickey fan you'd find it worth your while.

But why?...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 31 May 2022]

Right, well having sat through another ninja movie just the other night and actually enjoying it, I opted to sit down in its wake and watch the 1984 movie "Ninja III: The Domination" from writer James R. Silke and director Sam Firstenberg. I don't think I've actually seen this movie before now in 2022.

Truth be told, then I wasn't really harboring much of any expectations to this 1984 movie, as ninja movies usually were dubious in the 1980s. But still, I opted to watch it, and maybe I had been missing out on a great cinematic experience. And of course, when you sit down to watch a ninja movie, you do so because Shô Kosugi is on the cast list.

Well, first of all, no I hadn't missed out on anything at all. Even for a ninja movie, then "Ninja III: The Domination" was pretty far out there, bordering on being just downright bizare. I mean, you have a 1980s arcade machine that suddenly starts to blow projectile smoke at the leading actress, and then do a laser ray show on her face. And if that wasn't strange enough for you, then you also have a flying katana, a soaking wet ninja that becomes dry in an instant, and demonic spirit possessions. Yeah, "Ninja III: The Domination" has it all.

And as for continuity, well it was if they didn't even bother. The movie is just full of continuation flaws that can be picked up if you are observant to the props in various scenes.

I was expecting Shô Kosugi to be in the leading role, but that turned out to be something I just assumed, as he wasn't playing the leading part. So that was sort of a disappointment. But thankfully he was there and did add his usual grace to the movie. It was also fun to see James Hong here in this movie. As for the leading star, which is Lucinda Dickey, then it was somewhat of an odd choice for a leading performer.

"Ninja III: The Domination" didn't entertain me, and this is not a particularly enjoyable or glorious entry to the ninja movie genre.

My rating of "Ninja III: The Domination" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Best Female Ninja Movie Ever Made

[Carrigon · 7/10 · 1 February 2000]

This is probably the only female Ninja movie ever made. It's great as a B film and the action sequences are a lot of fun to watch. This movie is just so deliciously 80's. You'll never see another film like it. Check it out for some 80's retro fun.

Another Cannon crap-fest.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 1 February 2016]

Ninjas are notoriously hard to kill, but the black ninja in Ninja III: The Domination is tougher than most, effortlessly laying waste to a dozen or so cops after carrying out the assassination of a scientist, and then making his escape despite being caught in a hail of bullets. He eventually dies of his injuries, but not before his spirit has passed into the body of sexy telephone maintenance worker and part-time aerobics instructor Christie Ryder (Lucinda Dickey). Unaware that she is possessed by the malevolent ninja, Christie begins to date hairy policeman Billy Secord (Jordan Bennett), but whenever she is alone in her apartment (playing her arcade machine, doing aerobics, listening to her boom-box, or admiring her neon wall art), the spirit takes control of her body and proceeds to exact revenge on the policemen involved in the firefight. Will Billy fall victim to the black ninja's wrath before he can figure out a way to exorcise his girlfriend?

Produced by the Cannon Group, who were responsible for countless crap-fests during the 1980s, Ninja III: The Domination is pure, unadulterated trash, with inept direction from Sam Firtsenberg, dreadful performances from everyone, terrible martial arts choreography, and hopeless special effects. The film opens with a poorly executed action sequence that quickly sets the amateurish tone: the black ninja unconvincingly beats up some bodyguards, (stopping one by blowing a dart into the barrel of his gun), kills his target with ease, outruns a police car, and then jumps onto the car and punches the driver through the roof (the car, which was trundling along at approximately 15mph, then flies 40 feet through the air). After this, the ninja climbs up a tree, leaps onto a helicopter, and kills the pilot by throwing a shuriken with his foot!

This, however, is far from the worst part of the film…

A supposedly sexy scene in which Christie seduces Billy by straddling him and pouring fruit juice down the front of her shirt is ham-fisted in the extreme. A scene inspired by The Exorcist, in which Christie visits Japanese spiritualist Miyashima (played by James Hong), is unintentionally hilarious, the poor girl happily allowing herself to be restrained via chains and a harness, after which she spews green smoke into Miyashima's face (it's far less messy than pea soup) and spins around at top speed like a human windmill. Another craptabulous moment sees Christie, possessed by the ninja, tracking one of the cops to a health spa: as he frolics in a jacuzzi with two bimbos, Christie slips into the slinky black swimming costume she just happens to carry around with her, enters the water, makes out with the cop, and then kills everyone!

Other unforgettably dumb moments include Christie (possessed) crushing a ball from a pool table with her bare hands, several impromptu aerobics/dance scenes (allowing for lots of shots of Dickey in lycra!), a battle between the black ninja and some monks on an assault course inside a Japanese temple (?!?!), and the black ninja disappearing into the ground like a drill after fighting good ninja Yamada (Shô Kosugi).

There is no denying that Ninja III is a really, really, really bad film, but, with so much craziness, it is hard not to be entertained at least a little bit. Even if it is only by Dickey's dancing.

Ninja III:The Domination

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 19 December 2010]

The ENTER THE NINJA saga continues except this time there are supernatural elements included. Sho Kosugi returns in more of a supporting part as Yamada, seeking revenge against the evil Black Ninja(David Chung)who murdered his father in Japan. This Black Ninja is a Japanese assassin who takes out a scientist and his security on a golf course before the LA PD come looking for him. Before succumbing to injuries from a plethora of gunshot wounds by police officers, Black Ninja annihilates half the Los Angeles police department using only his sword and martial arts combat techniques. Black Ninja is able to escape and comes in contact with Christie(Lucinda Dickey; CHEERLEADER CAMP), who works for the telephone company(and is an aerobics instructor), possessing her with his spirit, forcing upon her his magic sword. Christie falls for a cop(Jordan Bennett), but is forced against her will to assassinate the remaining police officers responsible for the bullet wounds which finished off Black Ninja. Yamada will need to remove the evil spirit from Christie's body, induce said spirit to reenter the stiff corpse of Black Ninja.

While I admit there are plenty of silly special effects sequences which include objects moving around by themselves, an arcade machine emanating a laser light(into Dickey's face), and lots of steam spraying throughout Christie's house, there's still lots of martial arts action for fans of the genre. The opening sequence goes on for a cool twenty minutes as Black Ninja lays waste to everyone in his sight, hopping over police cars, roping trees and climbing them with ease, knocking police officers for a loop. Dickey has one impressive fight scene where she wipes out weight-lifting heavies picking on a girl outside the exercise facility. Kosugi and Dickey(or maybe her stunt double)go at it in an abandoned building where the floors and walls are brittle to the point where bodies fall through them rather easily. There's one exciting scene where a possessed Dickey in ninja attire attacks LA PD attending the funeral of one of their own, using bow and arrows, before giving chase which leads to her first meeting with Kosugi. And of course to top it all off Kosugi and David Chung have their thrilling sword play at the very end which escalates into a rocky, mountainous region to conclude this movie. So if you can get past the rather cheesy premise and fantasy moments, there's enough to recommend I believe. That said, the bonkers possession plot might actually earn NINJA III:THE DOMINATION a cult following; I imagine such craziness will appeal to an audience which embraces Dickey running around her room attempting to evade Black Ninja's evil presence or the scene where James Hong evokes the spirit while Christie is in restraints(her hair streaked gray and face white, body spinning forward, Dickey beckoning for rescue as Black Ninja takes control, forewarning Hong to leave well enough alone).

Silly but enjoyed it. To an extent.

[Stevieboy666 · 5/10 · 5 January 2019]

The spirit of a dead ninja possesses a young woman, who then carries out a killing spree on the policemen responsible. Normally I wouldn't be interested in anything with the word ninja in the title but as this was described as a martial arts action/horror movie, and I'm a total horror nerd, I had to see it. Starts off with a sequence of ridiculously far fetched ninja fight scenes, and at this point I had little hope. But then as the main characters are introduced and develope I began to get hooked in. The revenge killings at times play like a slasher movie and the possession scenes added more welcome horror to the mix. Great use of the desert locations, and I enjoyed a trip down memory lane to the fashions and sounds of the mid 80's. Turned out better than expected. I may even start checking out the other Ninja movies!

Best movie ever made? I think yes.

[trusty · 10/10 · 20 April 1999]

Wow. I've never seen nor heard of this film. It just came on tv (2:00 am) and I am in complete awe. Setup: a bunch of rich fat cats are out golfing. One knocks a ball into the rough. It lands by a NINJA!!!! A tuxedoed man walks over to pick the ball up. The ninja grabs it. Crushes it in his hand. Man pulls gun. Ninja pulls blowgun. Ninja blows dart into gun barrel. GUN EXPLODES!!!! This is just the beginning of the greatness, people. Everyone must see this movie. 10 big ol fat stars from trusty.

Favorite ninja movie

[tdswelding · 7/10 · 21 January 2014]

When I was a kid I was all about ninja's Ninja movies, and sho kosugi.( main ninja in this movie) I probably watched this thing 100+ times. Sho kosugi just looks cool in his costume and his weapons and techniques are Always awesome. This has some cheesy 80's stuff in it but It's still an awesome movie. Look his sons Shane and Kane up too. They were featured in a lot of his movies but as they grew up They made some awesome movies themselves. Having Tarantino make a ninja movie using the kosugi Family would be a dream come true and the baddest ninja Movie ever made. Check this one out you'll see what I mean. Then go on to revenge of the ninja, pray for death, and his sons movie blood heat. No need to thank me. Your welcome.

Yet another reason why I distance myself from the rest of humanity

[McStallen · 1/10 · 12 October 2005]

I saw this movie a few years ago, and man I never want to golf again. I mean ninjas apparently have no respect for the game of golf or the way it has evolved. And I'm not talking about "victimless" stuff like forging a scorecard. No no- Based on what I've seen here, they shamelessly massacre policemen and golfers alike on hallowed country club grounds. Judge Smailes would be spinning in his grave. And do they repent for said sins? No no, based on what I have seen here, the typical response by a slain ninja is to take over the body of a buxom female telephone repairwoman and seek revenge. I find this morally reprehensible, and needless to say, after viewing this nonsense, I not only stopped golfing and talking on the telephone, but also decided to stop feeding the homeless.

Obviously the best in the 'Ninja' series

[Michael_Pilkington · 17 June 1999]

A highly unusual formula ("The Exorcist" meets "Enter the Dragon") is injected into routine martial arts film. Martial arts action (and there's plenty of it) and second rate special effects compensate for lousy acting. An innocent woman (Lucinda Dickey) is possessed by the spirit of an evil ninja assassin (David Chung), causing her to murder the police responsible for his "death." It's Sho Kosugi ("Enter the Ninja," "Revenge of the Ninja") to the rescue as he tries to rid the spirit and destroy the ninja once and for all ("Only a ninja can destroy a ninja"). Best in the series, but only one complaint: Kosugi has very little screen time. My evaluation: **1/2 out of ****.

Frankly embarrassing sequel

[HaemovoreRex · 3/10 · 7 June 2006]

Following the movie that represents the pinnacle of the 1980's Ninja genre namely, 'The Revenge Of The Ninja' salivating fans were 'treated' to this bizarre offering that mixes Ninja shenanigans with spiritual possession....the end result being not dissimilar in nature to that somewhat horrifying experience when one spies a nugget of human poop floating menacingly towards oneself in a public swimming pool.

Take for instance the supposed 'action packed' introduction which is set of all places on a golf course(!) Here we witness an evil green clad ninja slaying a group of golfers for apparently no discernible reason whatsoever (although I must admit that the shallow elitist attitude adopted by many participants of this particular sport does irk me somewhat though...hmmmm perhaps THAT'S why he murdered them?.....yep I can relate to that after all). Actually later in the movie we are told that one of the golfers was a top scientist but this story line is never elaborated upon nor alluded to ever again!!!

Anyway back to the intro, the police proceed to surround the golf course and basically shoot the absolute hell out of the assassin....and they have to keep on shooting him because he just won't stay down!!! Yes literally hundreds of rounds are pumped into him and STILL he gets up to slay evermore of the law enforcement numbers.

Finally (after what seems like an eternity) our miscreant detonates a smoke bomb and disappears.....or so it seems, for in actual fact he is merely hiding beneath the soil and upon our decidedly gormless officers leaving the scene to search for his body, he crawls out from hiding and staggers away.

We next see the lovely Lucinda Dickey, a truly beautiful actress and in superbly fit physical condition, here playing a telephone repair worker. From her high vantage point she happens to spot the dying (AT LAST!!!!!) ninja. However, upon closer investigation the man, supposedly on his last legs suddenly leaps upon her and grapples her to the ground. After a bit of a struggle our feisty heroine manages to break free luckily but doesn't count on the ninja possessing hypnotic powers and she inevitably succumbs to them. It is at this point that the dying ninja actually projects his soul into our heroine! His intention is to use her corporeal form to slay those officers who killed him (the few he didn't actually manage to wipe out initially!)

From this point on, throughout the film, whenever our heroine spots one of the aforementioned officers she is subjected to some overwhelmingly awful cinematic scenes of flashing lights, smoke effects and the sword that the ninja bequeathed unto her levitating towards her in a most wobbly manner!

To make matters more complex, a particularly irritating police officer (who sports enough back and shoulder hair to put an average yak to shame!) persists in trying to win her affections (in a most bloody annoying manner!!!)......well of course it doesn't take the gift of preconception to work out that in a rather feeble 'shock' (less) twist towards the end of the film, HE is revealed to be one of the officers she must slay!

But wait there's some hope yet!

Step forward the one and only Sho Kosugi!

Yes, THE ninja himself and looking here as cool as ever! Golf club news obviously travels fast and upon learning of the said events that transpired there, he flies all the way from Japan to sort the situation out (suspecting the worst!) In a brief sub story (that amounts to all of a few seconds!) Sho's interest in this particular ninja is demonstrated to be personal after the said villain is shown to have murdered Sho's father/teacher(?) and blinded one of Sho's eyes (thus necessitating Sho to wear a really decorative looking sword guard eye patch!)

After stealing his dead nemesis's body from the morgue and then tracking down our heroine who provides an unwitting abode for the evil soul, matters climax at an oriental temple (seemingly in the middle of nowhere) where our man Sho manages to reunite the two disjointed aspects.

Now reanimated from the dead, the evil ninja and Sho battle it out in traditional ninja style with swords with the winner being........well yes you can probably guess.

Really this movie has only two things going for it, namely the always excellent Kosugi (who looks absolutely fantastic in the role as always) and the lovely Miss Dickey. What a shame that the material they found themselves in here is such a rancid pile of ordure.

Oh well, to be fair, I've seen a lot worse than this in my time although I certainly still can't recommend this other than to those desperate to complete their Sho Kosugi/Ninja movie collections.

The worst piece of crap I ever seen

[Rayniack · 1/10 · 17 November 2007]

You can only describe this with one word and that would be WOW!!! Wow, I really did not think piece of crap like this could ever be released. If you watch a movie titled ninja then you expect to see at least some cool martial artists, right? However, none of these guys know any martial arts whatsoever and it seems like they went to china and picked the first people they saw on the street and trained them for a day in martial arts, that's the level of their martial arts skills! The actors are way overacting, the special effects are ridiculous and there is not any plot that makes any sense. This is the worst martial arts movie I've ever seen and I have seen plenty!

Shamelessly exploitative, often laughable.

[gridoon · 3/10 · 16 December 1999]

"Ninja III" is not quite as bad as "Enter The Ninja", the first part of this "trilogy", but it's still a very bad movie. It will hardly please the fans of martial-arts movies, because there isn't enough action, but even the action scenes themselves are often spoiled by laughable excesses and needless violence. As if the film wasn't already weak enough, the filmmakers turn parts of it into an idiotic "The Exorcist" rip-off. The only redeeming value is the winning presence of the actress who plays the "dominated" heroine; she is a beautiful and athletic woman, which the director doesn't forget to exploit in various sleazy ways - she just happens to be an aerobics teacher. I don't mind a little soft-core exploitation, but it must not pretend to be something else.

Truly Jaw-Droppingly Bizarre

[mamaeileencrawford · 7/10 · 20 May 2019]

If you've ever wondered what might happen if someone took Flashdance, The Exorcist, and a whole bunch of kung-fu movies and put them into a blender, it might look something like Ninja III: The Domination.

Granted, I haven't seen the previous Ninja films, but I was told that this one was the one to see. It's certainly an experience I'll never forget. When an evil ninja is killed by the police, a phoneline repairwoman sees him crawling through the bushes below her and she tries to help him. Instead, he dies and she gets possessed by his spirit and starts spewing V8 juice on herself, levitating, and turning on all the red and green filtered lights she can find.

This movie truly does defy description. I can't say it's good, but it's more fun than you'd imagine and you'll never be bored.

Disco Meets Martial Arts Meets The Exorcist Meets Flashdance...

[Gislef · 2/10 · 15 December 1998]

...and boy is the collision deafening. A female telephone lineman is taken over by the spirit of a recently-deceased ninja, strips down to her undies, pours tomato juice on her body so her boyfriend can lick it off, performs a seductive dance, then goes off to kill the policemen who killed the ninja she's possessed by. Only to be hunted down by a one-eyed ninja master. Just like in real life, eh? Enlivened only by Sho Kosugi's martial arts choreography (and his declining to put his obnoxious kids in this one), you really have to see this to believe it. It's the ultimate mix of totally at-odds genres.

"I don't have any coffee in my apartment. But I do have some V8 juice..."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 7 April 2014]

A ridiculously hard-to-kill evil ninja wearing guyliner and sporting a Moe Howard haircut is shot to death by police. Before he dies he manages to transfer his soul into a sexy telephone line repairwoman and part-time aerobics instructor named Christie (Lucinda Dickey). Now Christie finds herself blacking out and becoming possessed by the evil ninja, who wants vengeance on the cops who killed him. One of those cops is a hirsute young man that Christie has just recently invited into her vagina. Now one-eyed good ninja Yamada (Shô Kosugi) must exorcise the evil ninja from Christie and destroy him once and for all.

Cannon classic from the '80s that will pretty much rock your face off so don't say you weren't warned. Big-haired beauty Lucinda Dickey branches out from her Breakin' movies to show the world she's got mad ninja skills. Jordan Bennett brings sexy back in a big way, representing the hairy men of the world quite well. Shô Kosugi, bless his heart, just doesn't know what they signed him up for. He gives it his all, though, and is probably the best actor in the film. James Hong has a memorable scene as an exorcist with a huge fake wart on his face.

Highlights include the evil ninja being chased and killed by police in a hilariously long sequence, a seduction scene involving V8 juice, Mr. Ochmonek from ALF in his boxer shorts, and ripoff scenes of both Exorcist and Poltergeist. If you're a fan of '80s ninja movies or a fan of Cannon/Golan-Globus productions, you'll definitely love this one. You'll learn a lot about ninjas in this movie and every bit of it is true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Every bit of it is true.

Ninja III: The Dumb Creation

[culwin · 4/10 · 24 February 2001]

Wow, this movie is bad. Think "Flashdance" with ninjas. The worst part is when a sword is supposed to be floating in midair, but you can see the strings. Or maybe the worst part is the gigantic eye patch (that looks like a coaster) that the good ninja wears. Actually, there are so many bad parts, I can't make up my mind which is the worst. I can't believe anyone actually put up the money to have this thing made. The only redeeming value is that it is good to laugh at.

Lucinda Dickey's back

[chris919 · 8/10 · 11 December 2005]

This is a pretty silly film, including what may well be the least erotic come-on ever to make it to the big screen (the heroine pours V-8 all over herself and invites the hero to lick it off -- yuck!). And yet it also features the resplendent Lucinda Dickey in what is far and away her most erotic performance. In those long ago days, women -- even action heroines -- with real muscles were a rarity, and I can still remember the way my jaw dropped when Dickey took off her shirt, revealing the most powerfully built female back and biceps I'd ever seen. Dickey's beauty and vitality carry the film: she could have been a female Schwarzenegger if anybody had had the vision to promote her.

another sho kosugi ninja film

[tnman26 · 6/10 · 6 November 2001]

When i first saw this ..it was in my ninja phase as a kid...so then i absoultly loved it..but over all its a ok movie from the cannon people..sort of a cross between the exorcist and any number of ninja movies..its pretty good...if you like action and martial arts..the chick in this movie is the same one from breakin and breakin 2 ...very hot!!!1

That is no municipal golf course...

[athies · 2/10 · 12 April 2021]

I watched this on my neighbors HBO. I was very young and had never been exposed to ninjas. This was the basis for all my ninja relationships in the future.

At the time I had not idea this was the culmination of a ninja trilogy, nor did I know of the word "culmination".

I have not seen this movie since then, but I don't remember any drug use.

That blow dart show was incredible.

How did the golf course security know there was anything going on so quickly. They victims should have been dead in the sun at least until the next party played through.

The thing that always keeps you grounded as a ninja is having to hold your scabbard as you run.

And again, the ninja would have been long gone by the time the police showed up.

Convenient there are a load of hand hooks on the underbelly of the helicopter.

"Hold on I'll get him"? You need a pilot! Good thing he died.

When I was this young I never thought about flying a chopper behind a hill abs making an explosion to avoid crashing the copter for real.

The jump when being shot is ludicrous.

How many telephone pole operators where women in 1984?

She doesn't "use" soft drinks? Is this the drug use I was warned about? Nowadays that's be product placement.

Who had arcade games in their apartment in the mid 80s?

The woman in the foreground struggling to use the weight machine is hilarious.

Nowadays you'd call this cop a creep.

No one is gonna help her?!

I love the guy she sends stunning uncontrollably across the alley and into a brick wall.

She could get charged with assault! How about the four rapists!

He is Gina get mad! F him.

Is she a vampire freak?

This jerk cop is way too hairy. It's gross.

Two women they were okay with a third is too much?

You looked everywhere? How about her apartment idiot.

How many cops chomp on cigars?

The voice over the phone is creepy.

Are those diamonds she had under her bed?

Shooting into the wild. Nice policing.

If more people opted for cremation there wouldn't be so many tombstones to smash heads into.

Zombie monks from The Old Temple on the Hill! Should like a first edition module.

This cop really hasn't don't anything.

They don't seem alarmed at all.

Boy I was stupid to like this film so long ago.