The fierce father-and-son Ronin team Ogami Itto, (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and toddler Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) slash their way through an army of sword-fodder as they hunt down a tattooed (and frequently top-less) female assassin in this, the fourth installment of the delightfully gruesome 'Baby Cart' series. The film opens with the lovely bare-breasted killer making short work of some adversaries and just gets better. The scene where Itto is ambushed in a temple by some particularly cunning (and short-lived ninja) is a standout and the odd processions of masked musicians that threaten the titular twosome add an almost surreal feel to the Edo-era blood-letting. Wakayama continues to be excellent as the innocuous-looking, somewhat aged and over-weight, ex-executioner, proving himself to be surprisingly agile in the lengthy action set-pieces. Little Daigoro is also very good (the studio had an excellent baby-wrangler) and gets to participate in the carnage even more in this film (by activating the some of the various death-dealing gadgets hidden in his lethal baby-buggy). Like the previous films, honour plays a large role (often determining 'good' vs. 'bad' deaths) and adds an unexpected depth to stories that are punctuated by dismemberments, bisections, and hissing gushers of crimson blood. Good, drippy fun.
