REVENGE OF THE SHOGUN WOMEN (1982) ****

From the makers of the excellent 3-D Kung Fu flick, Dynasty comes another awesome chopsocky classic that utilizes exploitation pioneer Michael Findlay’s “Super Depth” 3-D process.  It’s chockfull of stuff flying out of the screen.  Usually, whenever I review a 3-D movie, I give a rundown of all the 3-D effects that leap out at the audience.  If I did that for Revenge of the Shogun Women, this review would be ten-thousand words long.  Just know that tons of swords, fireballs, spears, arrows, sticks, lanterns, and poles jut out of the screen at a breakneck pace.  Many of these effects occur during a scene transition, which effectively works as a jump scare.  (I jumped more than once.)  If that isn’t a recommendation, I don’t know what is.  

Like Dynasty, Revenge of the Shogun Women is a rather typical Kung Fu movie that is enhanced by the omnipotent 3-D effects.  This one has an added dose of the rape n’ revenge genre, which gives it a little bit more of a nastier edge than Dynasty.  There’s also a terrific synthesizer score that sounds like something John Carpenter would’ve cooked up, which helps heighten the tension.

Bandits roam from village to village, ransacking homes, killing men, and raping women.  The rape victims are then sent to convents where their heads are shaved, and they are taught Kung Fu.  When the bandits interrupt a doctor and his bride’s nuptials, they turn to the Shogun Women for help.  The bald Buddhist babes eventually agree to help battle the bandits. 

The effects are gratuitous.  If you’re one of those people who like 3-D movies to admire the depth and scope of the frame, then this isn’t the flick for you.  If you’re like me and want to see a 3-D film that takes full advantage of the medium and constantly bombard the audience with stuff popping out at the screen, then this is the movie you’ve been waiting for.  This is the kind of 3-D film where a character says they’re going to a carnival, and it doesn’t advance the plot at all.  It just gives the filmmakers an excuse to film sword swallowers, knife throwers, and flame eaters hurling more crap at the audience’s eyeballs.  There’s also a great moment when the main Shogun Woman reveals her identity to the villain, triggering a rapid-fire array of flashbacks that play like a greatest hits compilation of all the 3-D effects that previously occurred in the film.  That is to say, it’s awesome.

AKA:  13 Golden Nuns.  AKA:  Revenge.  AKA:  13 Nuns.