Bullet Points: Pray for Death

There is a great deal of debate among Shô Kosugi fans on which of his revenge themed flicks is the better movie, Revenge of the Ninja or Pray for Death. Some Shô Kosugi fans have their definitive favorite, while others find it nearly impossible to choose between these two Kosugi classics. For them it would be akin to asking Shô Kosugi himself which of his sons is better… actually that’s not a good comparison, because everyone knows it is Kane.

And Kane’s superiority to his younger brother Shane is on full display in the subject of this edition of Bullet Points, 1985’s Pray for Death…

• The American Dream: Shô Kosugi plays Akira Saito, a true family man (and a secret ninja). Akira is married to his lovely wife Aiko, and they have two martial arts practicing sons, Takeshi and Tomoyo (played by Shô Kosugi’s real life sons, Kane and Shane) The Saitio family move from Tokyo to the United States with dreams of opening up their own Japanese restaurant.  Akira makes an offer on a building owned by old timer Sam Green. Sam and his wife ran a restaurant in the location for years, but when Sam’s wife died… so did the business. Sam is ready to retire and more than happy to sell his property to the Saito Family. But what Sam and the Saito Family didn’t know is that the local mob had been using a portion of the old Green property to stash stolen jewels. When a priceless necklace that was stashed there goes missing (thanks to two dirty cops on the mob payroll) It is believed that either Sam Green found it and that is why he has decided to retire OR that the new owner, Akira Saito is now in possession of the necklace… this now makes Sam and the Saito Family mob targets.

• Pure Evil: James Booth portrays one of the most vile human beings ever depicted in an action movie, Limehouse Willie. Willie is the ruthless right hand man of mob boss Mr. Newman (Michael Constantine), who not only does Newman’s dirty work but loves every minute of it. When Sam Green denies having the necklace or even knowing anything about it, Limehouse Willie kills him with a crowbar… For his next dirty trick, Limehouse kidnaps Tomoyo Saito (Shane Kosugi) while Tomoyo is on the sidelines watching his older brother Takeshi (Kane Kosugi) kicking the asses of some bullies who were trying to steal his sweet bike. Willie then uses Tomoyo as a bargaining chip and calls up Akira looking to make a trade… the necklace for his son. Akira shows up as instructed, but he obviously does not have the necklace and this is where the bad guys get their first taste of what Akira is capable of. Akira manages to save his son and the two escape and make their way back to the restaurant.. but it isn’t long before young Tomoyo finds himself in harm’s way again (c’mon Shane!) and this time Tomoyo drags his mother into it with him as they are run over by a couple of goons that Limehouse Willie paid to wait outside the Saito’s restaurant. Limehouse Willie is not content that Akira’s wife and son have been hospitalized, he wants them dead! Realizing that the hospital would be crawling with police, he does what any deranged criminal would do… he slices open his own wrist so he would have to be rushed to the very hospital that Aiko and Tomoyo are at… once inside, Willie poses as a doctor and gets into Mrs. Saito’s hospital room… he ends up killing her and it is implied that there was some perverse penetration involved.  Before he can kill Tomoyo, Willie has to make a run for it and does so by disguising himself as a cop.

• Revenge of the Ninja: Speaking of the cops, Akira is now fuming! All the police protection that was at the hospital and his wife still ended up dead!?!? It is officially time for him to stop being restaurateur Akira and start being ninja Akira. The easiest way to get there is through a montage and Pray for Death delivers a great “making a ninja sword” montage but the transformation is not complete until Akira dons his awesome helmet with a shuriken on the front!  With his ninja skills and arsenal, Akira makes his way to Mr. Newman’s compound where he takes out the entire mob with the exception of Limehouse Willie who manages to flee to a mannequin factory, the very factory that serves as the backdrop to Akira and Willie’s final confrontation!

As someone who is on the Revenge of the Ninja side of the Shô Kosugi debate, after re-watching Pray for Death for the purposes of this review, I can understand how some would think it is the superior film. The diabolical Limehouse Willie and the shuriken in the helmet gimmick almost made me want to change sides. And that is the best thing about the Kosugi debate… there really is no wrong side to be on.

There was absolutely no debate on whether or not I was going to include some Bonus Bullet Points in this review…

• If You Ever: …wanted to see Shô Kosugi hang on to the under carriage of a moving vehicle for miles (many of them highway), then this is the movie for you.
• Familiar Face: Norman Burton plays Lt. Anderson, the cop in charge in Pray for Death and the one who foolishly tells Akira not to take the law into his own hands. Action fans will recognize Burton as Forest Whitaker’s partner in Bloodsport. Burton was also one of the many actors to portray James Bond ally, Felix Leiter. Burton portrayed Leiter in Diamonds Are Forever.
• There’s No Such Thing Quote: “He must be watching too many ninja movies.” – Takeshi Saito
• If You Ever: …wanted to see a young Kane Kosugi ride around on a bicycle equipped with bad guy thwarting gadgets, then this is the movie for you.
• Written By: Pray for Death was written by Limehouse Willie himself, James Booth. This would be the first movie that Booth pulled double duty on but not his last. James Booth would also write and star in Avenging Force and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation.