Hanzo the Razor: Who’s Got the Gold? was Shintaro Katsu’s third and final film as the sex-crazed samurai. Things open with Hanzo’s two bumbling underlings doing a little night fishing at a remote pond when they are scared off by a sexy lady ghost. When Hanzo hears about the sultry spirit, his immediate reaction is, “Imma fuck it”. He finds the ghost, and soon learns through his patented fuck-and-interrogate method that she is only dressing like a ghost to scare people away, so they don’t go near a cache of hidden gold. Just as Hanzo uncovers the elaborate conspiracy, a bunch of Ninjas attack his home, and he mops the floor with them using his assorted booby traps and hidden weapons… and this is all before the opening title screen!
After the great pre-title sequence, Who’s Got the Gold settles down into a rather routine adventure for Hanzo the Razor. Katsu once again essays the role of Hanzo with badass swagger, and it’s fun seeing him acting like a total bastard in one more adventure. That said, it’s easy to see why they only made three of these things instead of thirty (as they did with the Zatoichi series) as there’s probably one too many subplots that prevent the film from really cutting loose.
Some of the subplots are solid (the best one involves Hanzo rescuing a condemned man with a terminal illness and using his skills to make a cannon), but really, the first ten minutes are far and away the best thing the movie has to offer. Still, there’s enough jaw-dropping moments (like when Hanzo infiltrates a blind man’s orgy) here to make it worth a look, especially if you’re a fan of Katsu. Despite the spotty plotting, Hanzo the Razor: Who’s Got the Gold makes for a fitting close to an entertaining trilogy of kinky samurai flicks.
AKA: Fangs of the Detective: Hanzo the Devil, the Soft Skin, and the Gold. AKA: Razor 3: Who’s Got the Gold? AKA: Hanzo the Devil, the Flesh, and Gold Coins. AKA: Haunted Gold.
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