Lucinda Dickey takes aim at unsuspecting police officers in Cannon Films' NINJA III: THE DOMINATION.
a gravely injured ninja assassin (David Chung), who transfers his spirit into her before expiring. Without realizing her actions, and now possessing all the dead man’s martial skills, Christie seeks out and murders the re- maining police officers respon- sible for the death of this “Black Ninja.” New boyfriend Billy (Jor- dan Bennett) is understandably perplexed by Christie’s strange behavior, but his own situation is more urgent as he is unknowingly one of her future targets. Arriv- ing from Japan to the rescue is one-eyed master Yamada (Sho Kosugi), the only one who can help because—as these movies always proclaim—“only a ninja can destroy a ninja.”
Following the worldwide
success of ENTER THE NINJA (1981) and REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983), Cannon Films opted to add a female lead and genre elements into their next installment. The resulting hy- brid of Hollywood-style ninjutsu and possession tropes from THE
8
EXORCIST is a campy delight, with no shortage of absurdity, including one of the silliest exor- cism sequences of the era. In the final act, the Black Ninja’s con- sciousness and body are reunited and the picture suddenly trans- forms into a zombie movie, with possessed monks and even an earthquake figuring into the cli- max. The action is plentiful and reasonably well-choreographed, though in the wake of the prob- lems the company had with the MPAA over REVENGE OF THE NINJA, there is noticeably less bloodshed than before.
The 1080p 1.78:1 presenta- tion looks very good, making for a substantial improvement over the elderly MGM/UA videocas- sette, and the DTS HD Master Audio presents the picture’s ba- sic Dolby Stereo mix effectively. A commentary with director Sam Firstenberg (BREAKIN’ 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO) and stunt coordinator Steve Lam- bert is included, but moderator Rob Galluzzo has done little
preparation and allows Lambert to drone on about the stunt se- quences, describing things that are readily apparent to the viewer. A fairly extensive photo and ad gallery (highlighted by a poster from Italy, where the movie was inexplicably called TRANCERS) is also included (but not the theatrical trailer promised on the case), along with a DVD offering the same content.
THE PETE WALKER COLLECTION 1971-78, Redemption/ Kino Lorber, $89.95, BD By Shane M. Dallmann
Redemption’s new four-disc Blu-ray set sampling the works of the deliberately controversial British director may carry the same moniker as the previous Anchor Bay UK release, but THE PETE WALKER COLLECTION is not an exact replica of the set we reviewed back in VW 127:65. New supplements have been added to
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