This week on the B movie docket is Ninja III – The Domination    

 

Hello good people. And welcome to 50 B Movies: The Sequel. It’s bigger, better, and badder.  The original 50 b Movies covered a wide range of B Movies. There was everything from Thankskilling 3 to The Void. Some films were funny. Some were unintentionally funny. And some were mainstream with far-out concepts like zombie tigers. All in all, it was a hell of a list.

Why make a sequel? Because narrowing down a list of 50 B Movies To See Before You Die was arduous. With so many movies to watch, one can never really know if the movie is good. Sure sometimes 5 minutes in, you know it is a real stinker. Other times it might take a half an hour before one realizes they will never get that half hour back to their life. Poof. Gone. But all in all there are many great B Movies that didn’t make the original list.

So welcome back if you are a LRM reader and welcome if it’s your first time here. Be forewarned we will be treading deep into the bush to pull these B Movies. We aren’t rehashing anyone’s previous 50 or 100 or 1000 B Movies list. Nope. So, prepare yourself for 50 B Movies To See Before You Die: The Sequel. Bigger. Better. Badder. Oooh yeah.

WEEK 10 – Ninja III – The Domination (1984)

Is it a ninja movie or is it a horror movie? Ninja III – The Domination is two layers of B movie goodness wrapped in a cheesy and easily digestible, straightforward, no qualms about it bad@## ninja, horror, B movie. Try saying that three times fast. But be forewarned you may unintentionally summon the spirit of the vengeful Black Ninja. And he’s only into two things; killing or possessing your body.

Synopsis

A woman with ESP and an interest in ancient Japanese culture becomes possessed by the spirit of an evil warrior.

That was the synopsis I found online. In all seriousness, the synopsis could be a two-word eloquent phrase like ninja rampage. If this were the 90’s and you happened to stroll into your local Blockbuster video and up the aisle marked horror you might think it odd to find Ninja III – The Domination on the shelf. That is until you flipped it over and read “ninja rampage”.

The Monster

Out of all the B movies and mainstream movies that I have seen featuring ninja, I have never seen a movie where the ninja was the monster. Not live-action anyhow. But if we’re going to go there and step out of the realm of live-action, then Ninja Scroll is the only other feature I’ve seen where the ninjas were monsters. Because there wasn’t a villain in that film standing in the protagonist Jubei’s way that didn’t have some sort of monstrous element to themselves.

Still, Ninja Scroll pitted a sort of lone shogun against evil ninja types. But here the evil ninja is for all intents and purposes the film’s protagonist.  The closest live action comparison I can think of would be something like Tales From The Hood.  Now close your eyes and picture the late great Clarence Williams III as Mr. Simms. Remember how vengeful he was towards those cops that set him up for the fall? Great. Now replace him with the Black Ninja. Also, amp up the body kills. And throw in a ninja taking down a helicopter while you’re at it.

RELATED: Jeepers Creepers | 50 B Movies – The Sequel – Bigger – Better – Badder

So outside of Ninja Scroll, Ninja III – The Domination is the first movie I’ve seen to feature the ninja as a monster. Said ninja is known as the Black Ninja. He is a restless spirit out for vengeance against the LAPD. And he enacts vengeance by slicing, dicing, and impaling police officers like they were nothing more than a bunch of flies trapped inside a room with a vengeful ninja wielding a fly swatter.

The Black Ninja is a rampaging mystical lunatic trapped in the body of a food processor who sees all of LAPD as fruits and vegetables. Are you starting to get the point?

B Horror

How could an action-horror movie about mystical ninjas not be a B movie? Maybe if it were directed by some serious-minded auteur like Takashi Miike. Then it would be some dramatic musing on the dangers of being a ninja that battles both internal and external demons with psychological trauma while simultaneously getting off killing policemen.

Thankfully Ninja III – The Domination was directed by Sam Firstenberg. God bless him. He’s the man behind one of the most American types of ninja franchises to ever exist. That franchise being the aptly titled American Ninja starring the awesome Michael Dudikoff.

Can I interest you in a few films by the name of Revenge of The Ninja, Cyborg Cop II, or what about The Interplanetary Surplus Male and Amazon Women of Outer Space? Do I have any takers? Well, if any of those movie titles suits your fancy, I can guarantee Ninja III – The Domination is right up your alley.

Cheese

Ninja III – Domination packs a wallop of a punch the moment it comes on screen. It’s like being punched in the stomach after you’ve just eaten half an extra cheese pizza. I mean this movie doesn’t start out with the Black Ninja training in the mountains of Tibet with some ancient old ninja master. Nope. We’re thrown, splat onto a golf course. Here the ninja gets to work making mincemeat of… Golfers.

But that’s just to warm him up. Besides the ninja innately knows that by killing wealthy golf club members he’s bound to lure out the police, his true target. And boy does this ninja have a itch to scratch by the name of the LAPD. He’s a berserker comically using every tool in his ninjitsu inventory to lay waste to hundreds of the boys in blue.

And that all happens but there’s more. I’d go into it, but the films original synopsis pretty much gives that away. Let’s just say that death won’t stop him, and possessing a young dashing brunette is well within the grasp of possibility.

Why?

Director Sam Firstenberg is a real treasure to the world of B movies. And Ninja III – The Domination is quite the gem. Besides who doesn’t want to see a mystical sword wielding, dart shooting ninja unload all sorts of B movie mayhem?

Watch it where?

Ninja III, The Domination is available to watch on Amazon with a subscription to Epix.

How To Enjoy It

Break out the old Black Belt and Inside Kung-Fu magazines and do some perusing before you cut this throwback on the tube.

  FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play