Pray for Death (1985)

After a peace loving Japanese immigrant and his family become victims of a crime syndicate, a master ninja emerges.

Director:

Gordon Hessler

Writer:

James Booth

Stars:

Shô Kosugi, James Booth, Donna Kei Benz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shô Kosugi	...	Akira Saito
James Booth	...	Limehouse Willie
Donna Kei Benz	...	Aiko Saito (as Donna K. Benz)
Norman Burton	...	Lt. Anderson
Kane Kosugi	...	Takeshi Saito
Shane Kosugi	...	Tomoya Saito
Matthew Faison	...	Sgt. Joe Daley
Parley Baer	...	Sam Green
Robert Ito	...	Kaga
Michael Constantine	...	Mr. Newman
Alan Amiel	...	Vinnie Seline
Woody Watson	...	Cohen
Charles Grueber	...	Sgt. Trumble (as Charles Gruber)
Nik Hagler	...	Pirelli
Chris Wycliff	...	Joe Benson

Storyline

Akira Saito, a Japanese businessman lives in Tokyo with his Japanese-American wife Aiko and their children, Takeshi and Tomoya. When the family has a chance to move to the United States so that Aiko can teach the children about their American heritage, they pack up and head for Houston, Texas and run a restaurant. This is where the trouble begins. A band of crooked cops store stolen goods in the back room of the restaurant and unknown to the Saitos family, a priceless necklace (the Van Atta necklace), is wanted by a local syndicate. When one of the dirty cops decide to take the necklace for himself, the syndicate goes after the previous owner of the restaurant, then after the Saitos'. When one of the boys is kidnapped by top thug Limehouse, Akira quietly rescues him. However, when Aiko and Tomoya are run down by Limehouse in an effort to get the necklace, Akira has had enough. For years, Akira has kept a dark secret. Akira finally decides to unleash his dark side.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | ninja | mob violence | blowgun | blood | 

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Taglines:

The Master Ninja is Back.

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

A nindzsa imája a haláláért

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pray Films, Trans World Entertainment (TWE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Van Atta necklace is a reference to producer Don Van Atta, who produced the film.

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Quotes

Limehouse: I'm going to rip your stinking guts out.

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Connections

Featured in Matilda (1996)

User Reviews

not one of Shô Kosugi's best movies

this is not one of Shô Kosugi's better movies.it's an action drama/revenge film.it takes awhile to get going and once it does,it's fairly slow throughout most of the running time.i wouldn't say ti was boring,but it was close.the fight scenes were OK,but not spectacular.the characters were your typical two dimensional stereotypes for the genre.there's nothing very memorable about the movie.once the end credits rolled,that was it.really stays with you about it.i wouldn't really recommend it unless you're really bored and have nothing else to do.i would recommend Revenge of the Ninja and Enter the Ninja,both superior films starring Shô Kosugi.for me,Pray for Death is a 5/10