This is the final film from the outrageously wacky Hanzo trilogy starring Shintaro Katsu. Who's Got the Gold? (or, as Google Translate calls it, "Honorable Spear-Wielder: Hanzo and the Night of the Oval Demon") is directed by Yoshio Inoue, who's too obscure a director to point out some of his other achievements, and written by Yasuzo Masumura, who directed Hanzo #2.
I personally consider this to be the weakest out of the three films. By now, we all know the shtick and there's plenty of rehash of ideas found in #1 and #2. I swear, you get so accustomed to Hanzo's modus operandi that, by this point, seeing him screw a woman suspended in a large hanging net becomes an ordinary everyday sight.
The movie begins promising, with Hanzo learning of a female ghost (played by Mako Midori from Blind Beast) haunting a swampy area. He shares with us that he had always wanted to f*ck a ghost, and so, through rape, he finds out that she's a fake ghost who's there to scare off the potential lurkers. It appears that there are large stacks of Shogunate gold hidden in the swamp, and that it's all a part of a massive conspiracy between high officials to steal the Shogunate's gold and loan it out to the destitute. Hanzo also meets up with an old friend, shelters a doctor who wants to build a Western cannon to expose Japan's crappy technology, and uncovers a ring of blind monks who have fun with the ladies during the koto instructions.
So, basically, this film goes from a Scooby Doo ghost mystery to a political conspiracy thriller ft. samurai loan sharks, blind monks who lead orgies with the officials' wives, and some good, old fashioned chambara action with a historical comment on Western pressure through military technology. All this with a protagonist who pours hot water over his d*ck and rapes women suspended in hanging nets. The viewing experience is topped off by zen visuals and a funky '70s soundtrack.
The more I think about it, the more this seems like the most bizarre trilogy in existence.
