Watari The Ninja Boy 1966 Based on a manga by Sampei Shirato, screenplay by Masaru Igami and Shunichi Nishimura, directed by Sadao Funatoko. A Japanese live action fantasy film. We watched the Blu-ray from Shout! Factory's collection of 1960s Japanese Tokusatsu films.
A local baddie is stirring up animosity between the Iga and Coga clans. Watari is a young lad who fights with an ax on a rope and some magical ninja techniques. He discovers someone has been kidnapping children and forcing them to become ninja slaves. It all ties in with the plan to make the Iga and Coga clans fight. Watari has to fight various ninjas, they don't do so well, the boy is deadly. He has help from a few of the kids.
There are plenty of fights and many die, including some kids. There's plenty of great looking, massive sets and models. It's entertaining, colorful and amusing. If you're a fan of the manga from that era this might appeal to you. The Blu-ray set seems to be an exclusive from Shout! Factory, I'm ordering one today. Hope the other films are as entertaining. There's a copy on Tubi you can watch, link above.
I Vampire 1957 Story by Piero Regnoli, screenplay by Piero Regnoli and Riccardo Freda, directed by Riccardo Freda, an uncredited Mario Bava was involved with the script and direction.From the IMDb trivia page:
Ricardo Freda made the film on a bet to producers that he could complete in 12 days. After day 10, Freda realized that the film couldn't be finished on-schedule. After his requests for an extension were denied, cinematographer Mario Bava re-wrote the script so that the film could be finished in two days, and directed the remaining scenes himself.
The IMDb says it was the first Italian horror film of the sound era. It was called I Vampiri in Italy, a chopped up version called The Devil's Commandment was released in the US, where it was also released as Lust Of The Vampire.
A mad countess has a pet mad scientist in her castle. His job is to keep her alive. He has a formula and a machine that transfer's the blood from young and healthy women to the countess. The young and healthy aren't able to survive the process. The bloodless bodies are starting to appear and the papers are saying it's the work of a vampire. There isn't any vampire. Just a horrible old lady who's insanely afraid of getting old.
Of course the process doesn't work so well after several treatments. A local reporter finds a couple of clues that help him and the police figure out who the villain is. It ends with plenty of murder.
It was mostly OK. While I wouldn't rush out to buy the Blu-ray I would take a download. You can see it on YouTube with English subtitles.
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