Ninjavember: Pray for Death (1985)

 Pray for Death (1985) dir. Gordon Hessler, Trans World Entertainment 

Sho Kosugi, ninjas, what else more do you need in a movie?

Akiro Saito (Kosugi) is your typical saleryman. His wife Aiko (Donna K. Benz) wants the family to move to America, for the safety and the opportunities. What she and their two sons don't know if Akiro is in fact a ninja!

A ninja with a past as it turns out. It seems some time ago, a masked figure tried to rob his master Koga (Robert Ito). Akiro had little choice but to kill him, but under the mask? Akiro's brother Shoji! As master and student have a last spar, Koga makes it clear that while Akiro can leave Japan he can't leave his past so easily. 

Moving into an apartment, they met with Sam Green (Parely Baer) the landlord. He owns the building, including the closed off cigar store downstairs. The closed store is a tempting place though, as corrupt cops Trumble (Charles Gruber) and Daly (Matthew Faison) decide to use the place as a drop off for some stolen gems. Both cops are in the pocket of Mr. Newman (Michael Constaintine). 

Daly, however, opts to go into business for himself and swipes the gems. Which causes problems for everyone when Mr. Newman's number one guy Limehouse Willie (James Booth) stops by the following day. When he fails to find the gems, he leaps to the conclusion that Mr. Green obviously stole them but is in the middle of trying to flee the country.

So he tortures the old man to death. When this fails to work, Willie is forced to admit that he was wrong-it must be the Saito family!

So he targets the kids first. He kidnaps Tomoya (Shane Kosugi) and beats Takeshi (Kane Kosugi), with a warning to their dad to deliver the gems or else. Naturally Akiro is puzzled and does some investigating. He figures the thief is left-handed and wore a gray suit (Daly in other words). When he informs Willie of this, the goon doesn't take his perceptions being questioned. After the boy his rescued and all his thugs beaten, Willie is forced to admit that the Saitos don't have the gems-so now he has to kill them because they know too much!

Aiko and Takeshi are run over by some of Newman's men. Akiro has had enough, so he sneaks aboard Willie's boat and makes it clear any further actions towards his family will end poorly. Willie then decides to murder Aiko. This fails to pacify Akiro who decides to forge himself some new weapons just for the sole purpose of killing everyone Newman and Willie know. 

Ok, more than a bit of Revenge of the Ninja going on but it splits off to an insane degree. The stunts, the fights, everything is maxed out and it is wonderful.