430) The Devil's Temple (1969)

430) The Devil's Temple (1969) Dir: Kenji Misumi Not Yet Released Date Seen: December 4, 2009 Rating: 3.25/5

Some of the dialogue is decent and the visuals are amazing but all in all, it's just too stagey. See my mention of it in my piece on "Chanbara" archetypes for The Onion NY AV Club.

424) Destiny's Son (1962)

424) Destiny's Son (1962) Dir: Kenji Misumi Not Yet Released Date Seen: December 1, 2009 Rating: 4.25/5

Yowza, yowza, yowza. This is the Chanbara equivalent of an acid western. I feel as strongly about the brilliant preposterousness of this film as fans of Leave Her to Heaven do, I'm sure. It's especially amazing considering that Misumi went out to a career of generic Chanbara films, including some of the Zatoichi films and much of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. Crazy like a fox. See my mention of it in my piece on Chanbara heroes for The Onion NY AV Club.