★ 6 / 10
Sho Kosugi must reactivate his ninja powers after
Jens B
Sho Kosugi must reactivate his ninja powers after his family becomes the target of the diabolical James Booth. His two children also get to jump right into the…
Sho Kosugi must reactivate his ninja powers after his family becomes the target of the diabolical James Booth. His two children also get to jump right into the fray—though the younger brother, in particular, takes quite a beating. *Pray for Death* (or *The 1,000 Eyes of the Ninja*?!) comes across as more "realistic" than the Cannon ninja films starring Kosugi; yet, it still works wonderfully as an 80s-style action-family movie, complete with a few unintentionally funny scenes. And the title song rounds the whole thing off perfectly.
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★ 8 / 10
With Sho Kosugi having parted ways with Cannon
DanTheMan 2
With Sho Kosugi having parted ways with Cannon after the ignominy of Ninja III, Pray for Death sees him back in the limelight once again, this time in a…
With Sho Kosugi having parted ways with Cannon after the ignominy of Ninja III, Pray for Death sees him back in the limelight once again, this time in a kaleidoscopic tale of vengeance told with pure ferocity, treading a fine line between grim brutality and a fearsome flurry of mystical martial arts mayhem. Designed as a way to toughen the image of the ninja back up in the eyes of audiences, the film does not pull punches when diving into more mean-spirited, exploitation territory, think Death Wish meets Batman. Director Gordon Hessler brings a vigorous beauty to the film's world, one that he showcases with stunning viciousness, thick with a palpable atmosphere of entropy, all before going completely off the rails in its final act. Delivering a sustained 15 minutes of the purest ninjutsu ultraviolence around, where plausibility is completely thrown out the window in favour of kickass action under the most ridiculous circumstances. This is only accentuated by the sheer intensity of Kosugi's performance, as his raging eyes transform him from a friendly, mild-mannered family man to a vengeful human weapon of mass execution with a snap of the fingers. It's certainly up there as one of his best and made all the sweeter by his continually impressive choreography. Equally great performances from Parley Baer and Norman Burton help round out the cast, all the while James Booth, who also wrote the damn thing, makes for a pretty despicable and ultimately sadistic villain. Sporting a fast pace, top-notch action, fantastic supporting players and Peggy Abernathy's incredible theme song, Pray for Death is essential viewing for any aspiring ninjologist and easily one of the best non-Cannon ninja films of the decade, a film of lofty ambitions full of just as much unintentional silliness as there is unflinching barbarity. It's a real Sho-stopper.
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★ 7 / 10
Pray for death is revenge excellence at its
ChrisCSH H
Pray for death is revenge excellence at its finest sho Kosugi is great as the revenging ninja. The film is often violent and brutal but the film definitely…
Pray for death is revenge excellence at its finest sho Kosugi is great as the revenging ninja. The film is often violent and brutal but the film definitely Pioneered the revenge film genre with films today like John Wick, ballerina and nobody.
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