This comedy-action-farce received its world premiere at the Okinawa International Movie Festival in March and represents a new type of chambara (samurai sword action) film. The action is plentiful but tongue is planted firmly in cheek for the story and characters.

Torakage (Takumi Saitō) was a legendary samurai able to defeat all others, but he’s retired to an idyllic, simple farm life with his wife Tsukikage (Yuria Haga) and five-year-old son Kogetsu. He’s ambushed by his former leader, an evil princess, and forced into a dangerous mission to get the “silver scroll” from a neighboring castle to go along with the “golden scroll” she already possesses.

Filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura is well known for his Ed Wood-type B-movies like Tokyo Gore Police and Helldriver. He often acts as both director and makeup artist, specializing in arresting and super-cheesy effects. This is all in evidence here, including creatures with eyes all over their heads and various demons.

Though the action sequences are generally second-rate, there are some funny and clever bits, like when Torakage is trying to climb the walls of the enemy fortress and they drop boulders on him, a human mock-up of a pachinko machine. Good for a laugh if you like over-the-top “extreme” cinema. English title: The Ninja War of Torakage. (94 min)