Director: Go Ohara. Review: Adam Wing. Geisha Assassin is the debut feature from action choreographer Go Ohara. Having worked on low budget hits Death Trance and Chanbara Beauty, Go turns his attention to directorial duties and takes new girl Minami Tsukui along for the ride. Minami stars as Kotomi Yamabe, a cute but clinical assassin on a quest to avenge the death of her father. Along the way she takes on a series of fighters, including crazed monks, lightning fast ninjas and murderous demons. I think that pretty much covers the plot; lets get down to business then. There’s a good chance I could write this review on the back of a matchbox, there’s very little storyline to speak of and don’t get me started on the positive aspects of the film. That’s not a request; it’s just that there’s nothing good to say...
- 4/15/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
In honour of its release this week on R2 DVD, we have 3 awesome clips for you from Go Ohara's feature directorial debut Geisha Assassin (also known as Geisha vs Ninja).
The plot, such as it is (and clearly playing second fiddle to a feast of action scenes) goes something like this:
"As a young child, Kotono (Minami Tsukui) witnesses the slaying of her father, a master swordsman, by one of his most gifted pupils. Already trained in swordsmanship from an early age, she continues her studies and inherits her father's skills and his legendary weapon. Now, fully grown and adopting the persona of a beautiful geisha, Kotono sets out to avenge her father's death by confronting the man who killed him. But, the path to completing her quest is an obstructed one. To reach her goal, she must first conquer a succession of adversaries including deadly female ninjas, murderous monks,...
The plot, such as it is (and clearly playing second fiddle to a feast of action scenes) goes something like this:
"As a young child, Kotono (Minami Tsukui) witnesses the slaying of her father, a master swordsman, by one of his most gifted pupils. Already trained in swordsmanship from an early age, she continues her studies and inherits her father's skills and his legendary weapon. Now, fully grown and adopting the persona of a beautiful geisha, Kotono sets out to avenge her father's death by confronting the man who killed him. But, the path to completing her quest is an obstructed one. To reach her goal, she must first conquer a succession of adversaries including deadly female ninjas, murderous monks,...
- 4/6/2010
- Screen Anarchy
“Geisha Assassin” marks the directorial debut of Go Ohara, a man with a fine pedigree in the recent wave of low budget Japanese genre cinema, having worked as action choreographer on the likes of “Death Trance” and “Chanbara Beauty”. For his first film, he has stuck to what he does best with a tale of sword slinging vengeance that offers up a kinetic mix of old school martial arts and flashy modern techniques. The gorgeous Minami Tsukui makes her debut appearance in the lead role, coming up against all manner of opponents, including sexy female ninjas, crazed monks and even murderous demons. Having originally been released back in 2008, the film now arrives on Region 2 DVD via Mvm. The plot is simplicity itself, with Tsukui as Kotono, a beautiful young woman who dresses herself as a geisha and hunts down the man who killed her father when she was a child.
- 3/19/2010
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
Earlier today, details of director Go Ohara‘s next film Gothic & Lolita Psycho (Gosurori Shokei-nin) were finally sent out to the Japanese media. Unfortunately, the Japanese press release doesn’t seem to have much more information than was initially revealed when the project was first announced via the English-language genre film site 24Framespersecond.net back in December.
The film stars actress and gravure idol Rina Akiyama as Yuki, a girl who lives at home in peace until one day a unit of assassins breaks in and slaughters her mother.
In order to reveal the truth behind the seemingly senseless murder, Yuki transforms herself into a demon of vengeance by donning gothic lolita clothing, wielding a parasol as a deadly weapon, and adopting the Conan-inspired mantra “Suffer no guilt, ye who casts judgment in the name of God”.
Ohara, a former stunt man, has spent the past few years working as...
The film stars actress and gravure idol Rina Akiyama as Yuki, a girl who lives at home in peace until one day a unit of assassins breaks in and slaughters her mother.
In order to reveal the truth behind the seemingly senseless murder, Yuki transforms herself into a demon of vengeance by donning gothic lolita clothing, wielding a parasol as a deadly weapon, and adopting the Conan-inspired mantra “Suffer no guilt, ye who casts judgment in the name of God”.
Ohara, a former stunt man, has spent the past few years working as...
- 3/15/2010
- Nippon Cinema
Mvm have announced the UK DVD debut of Geisha Assassin, the feature directorial debut of former stunt man and action director/choreographer Go Ohara (Chanbara Beauty; Death Trance). This period martial arts action flick takes ‘old school’ martial arts movie conventions and drags them kicking and screaming into the 21st century with its non-stop barrage of lightning-fast swordplay and impressively realistic kick boxing and kung fu sequences.
As a young child, Kotono (Minami Tsukui) witnesses the slaying of her father, a master swordsman, by one of his most gifted pupils. Already trained in swordsmanship from an early age, she continues her studies and inherits her father’s skills and his legendary weapon. Now, fully grown and adopting the persona of a beautiful geisha, Kotono sets out to avenge her father’s death by confronting the man who killed him. But, the path to completing her quest is an obstructed one.
As a young child, Kotono (Minami Tsukui) witnesses the slaying of her father, a master swordsman, by one of his most gifted pupils. Already trained in swordsmanship from an early age, she continues her studies and inherits her father’s skills and his legendary weapon. Now, fully grown and adopting the persona of a beautiful geisha, Kotono sets out to avenge her father’s death by confronting the man who killed him. But, the path to completing her quest is an obstructed one.
- 3/13/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Earlier this year, I bought a copy of Gô Ohara’s directorial debut “Geisha Assassin” (aka “Geisha vs. Ninja”) for next to nothing at a local convenience store, and it remains one of my all-time favorite blind buys. The film is undeniably hokey, but Ohara’s knack for fluid swordplay and incredible martial arts makes for one hell of an entertaining watch. What else did you expect from the action director of “Death Trance”, anyway? Fortunately for those with Region 2-encoded DVD players, this incredibly enjoyable flick is headed to your neck of the woods on April 5th. And while the disc appears to be a strictly bare bones affair, the movie alone is worth the suggested retail price. In other words, it comes highly recommended from someone who absolutely adores this sort of goofy stuff. Here’s a plot synopsis to help stoke the fires of interest: ‘Geisha Assassin...
- 3/11/2010
- by Todd
- Beyond Hollywood
British fans of cheesy, exploitative and down right campy action movies take note, Gô Ohara’s (‘Death trance’) debut movie as a director - the martial arts revenge flick Geisha Assassin (aka Geisha vs. Ninja) - will soon slashing its way onto UK R2 DVD. They’ve done a better job on the artwork than they did for the Us release, but the signature Kimono clad heroin from the original cover, is still conspicuously missing from the sleeve. She’s a Geisha with a big f*#ck-off sword killing Ninjas for petes sake, surely that’s half the fun of it all. Niggles to one side, at least it will now be out there, in all its low budget badness. Head down to see a trailer full of slice n dice…and yes of course...cue the overly sickly J-pop.
- 3/11/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
British fans of cheesy, exploitative and down right campy action movies take note, Gô Ohara’s (‘Death trance’) debut movie as a director - the martial arts revenge flick Geisha Assassin (aka Geisha vs. Ninja) - will soon slashing its way onto UK R2 DVD. They’ve done a better job on the artwork than they did for the Us release, but the signature Kimono clad heroin from the original cover, is still conspicuously missing from the sleeve. She’s a Geisha with a big f*#ck-off sword killing Ninjas for petes sake, surely that’s half the fun of it all. Niggles to one side, at least it will now be out there, in all its low budget badness. Head down to see a trailer full of slice n dice…and yes of course...cue the overly sickly J-pop.
- 3/11/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
British fans of cheesy, exploitative and down right campy action movies take note, Gô Ohara’s (‘Death trance’) debut movie as a director - the martial arts revenge flick Geisha Assassin (aka Geisha vs. Ninja) - will soon slashing its way onto UK R2 DVD. They’ve done a better job on the artwork than they did for the Us release, but the signature Kimono clad heroin from the original cover, is still conspicuously missing from the sleeve. She’s a Geisha with a big f*#ck-off sword killing Ninjas for petes sake, surely that’s half the fun of it all. Niggles to one side, at least it will now be out there, in all its low budget badness. Head down to see a trailer full of slice n dice…and yes of course...cue the overly sickly J-pop.
- 3/11/2010
- 24framespersecond.net
What do we have this week? Let's see, the Cannes premierer Wendy and Lucy which everyone seemed to love but me. Then we have the release of Gô Ohara's Geisha Assassin (aka Geisha vs Ninjas). Next is the Canadian horror from Maurice Devereaux End of the Line (review) which was released in Canada a few months back but now comes stateside. And last but not least is the micro-budget Brit horror Mum and Dad (review). I didn't particularly like this one but our London correspondent Ben Austwick loved it.
Trailers, synopses, amazon links and all that after ze break!
Wendy and Lucy
Purchase at Amazon
Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric...
Trailers, synopses, amazon links and all that after ze break!
Wendy and Lucy
Purchase at Amazon
Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric...
- 5/5/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Kudos to them for even releasing it in the first place - But this month’s award for “DVD artwork (and/or title change) most likely to confuse and misrepresent the actual film inside the box” goes to…“Well Go USA” for their release of Gô Ohara’s ever so slightly campy, Japanese - martial arts - revenge flick Geisha vs. Ninja. Re-branded and butched up for its American release as “Ninja Assassin,” there’s no hint of a leading lady in a Kimono on this front cover. Why? Because dresses are for sissies ya hear! Geisha Assassin follows the story of Kotono (Minami Tsukui), a beautiful geisha who inherits a secretly-guarded sword and uses it to pursue Hyoe, the man who killed her father. Throughout her quest to face-off against Hyoe, Kotono battles Japans most notorious female ninjas and assassins only to learn a hidden secret.
- 4/8/2009
- 24framespersecond.net
Kudos to them for even releasing it in the first place - But this month’s award for “DVD artwork (and/or title change) most likely to confuse and misrepresent the actual film inside the box” goes to…“Well Go USA” for their release of Gô Ohara’s ever so slightly campy, Japanese - martial arts - revenge flick Geisha vs. Ninja. Re-branded and butched up for its American release as “Ninja Assassin,” there’s no hint of a leading lady in a Kimono on this front cover. Why? Because dresses are for sissies ya hear! Geisha Assassin follows the story of Kotono (Minami Tsukui), a beautiful geisha who inherits a secretly-guarded sword and uses it to pursue Hyoe, the man who killed her father. Throughout her quest to face-off against Hyoe, Kotono battles Japans most notorious female ninjas and assassins only to learn a hidden secret.
- 4/8/2009
- 24framespersecond.net
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