The Internet Archive posted the Ninja Death Trilogy last week and I watched them today. I hadn't seen them before. I hadn't even heard of them. Nice to find something new, huh. I downloaded the MPEG4 version and played them on my pc using the VLC player. They aren't the best looking, sourced from a poor vhs tape by the look of them, but they are watchable. There was a widescreen dvd release out in the US but it's out of print now. They are also available in the Martial Arts 50 Movie Pack Collection. Looks a like a lot of crap on that set. Some of it could be ok but I have my doubts. I have wrestled with these 50 Movie Packs before and taken a beating.
Ninja Death Trilogy is really one long story; each movie picks up where the previous left off. The first movie is much more comic and entertaining. There's a lot more nudity and sex than I expect from a Chinese Kung Fu movie. These were made in Taiwan in 1987. Usually there's a fight every few minutes but this one alternates sex scenes with fight scenes. It's all action I guess. In the first movie Tiger is working at a whore house and he's secretly getting martial arts training from a master who is disguised as a begger. Tiger is also secretly the son of the sister of the Japanese Emperor. Even Tiger doesn't know it. There's a bad Master, all dressed in gold lame, who wants Tiger and his mom dead. He's got Tiger's dad under a spell and 
he uses a flute to make him kill. Dad wears the demon mask and dresses in red when he fights. The bad Master has a lot of Ninja's working for him. They dress in black and leap about, poking people with pointy bits. When the bad Master finds out who Tiger is he goes all out to kill him. It takes 3 movies to work all that out. There isn't hardly any nudity in the second and third movies, it's mostly all fighting, intrigue or training. Tiger's old master is killed along the way and Tiger has to trust some other people who want to keep him and him Mom from harm. They help train Tiger to take on the bad Master. After freeing Tiger's dad the two of them manage to finish off the golden robed evil one. Sadly Tiger's dad dies and they bury him. Tiger and mom and Tiger's new girlfriend exit stage left. Fun for those in the mood for average chop socky fare.
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