Slaughter in the Snow (1973)

  This rounds out my Mikogami trilogy.  I have to say, you could probably watch all three films back-to-back and feel pretty satisfied with yourself.  One of the other girls at Krav Maga told me once that she and her boyfriend have "Bad Movie" nights. Depending on whether your criteria is legitimately shitty movies (anything with Seth Rogan or Kate Beckinsale) or just old crappy exploitation films, this could be a contender.  Get a few friends over, load them up with snacks and sake, and let the fun begin.

In the final part of the trilogy, Jokichi is on the road looking for the final boss that killed his family.  While stopped for a mid-day meal of pheasant, he is a surly bystander to a couple being threatened.  See, the guy is from the samurai caste and the girl is from the hinin caste.  By running away together to elope they have brought shame upon their families.  The guy's father paid some people to chase them down and kill them before they married, thus erasing the shame.  The guy immediately turns on his girlfriend, offering to kill her instead but gets killed by the goons.  They then decide to rape this poor woman before killing her as well.  They notice Jokichi just hanging out, not saying or doing anything, and tell him to get lost.  Then and only then does he get up and kill all the goons.  The woman is understandably upset by this since she had been begging for help and he ignored her.  So she starts following him.  They carry on to a waystation where a drunk ronin is trying to molest a woman.  He is stopped by some other guy named "Windmill" Kobunji, a master knife-thrower.  After Kobunji fucks up the ronin, he notices Jokichi and they talk.  Kobunji happens to be a knife for hire and has recently been hired by Chuji, the man Jokichi is looking for.  Both men start planning for their duel while headed towards a mountain pass.  Unfortunately for everyone, the ronin who got knifed was under the employ of Boss Tozo who puts a hit out on Kobunji.  He doesn't really care since he's already dying of tuberculosis but gets really upset when Jokichi takes him to the inn owned by the woman he saved after he collapses from the strain of traveling.  Jokichi nurses Kobunji back to health so they can have their duel but Boss Tozo kidnaps Ohara, the innkeeper, forcing Kobunji to come after her.  Oyae, the woman Jokichi saved who hates him, tells him about Tozo's plot before getting stabbed.

Whew.  There was a lot going on in this one.

These movies all look like they were filmed at the same time, considering that the first two both came out in '72 and this one the following year.  That probably explains why the continuity is so good.  I would have liked to see an actual conclusion but I suppose they were leaving it open for further installments.