Pray for Death Reviews

In PRAY FOR DEATH, the Ninja hero wipes out an entire army of American gangsters with a grace and efficiency that would make DEATH WISH star Charles Bronson drool with envy. As the film begins, Akira Saito (Sho Kosugi) and his wife (Donna Kei Benz) decide to move with their two sons from Japan to America. Before he leaves, Saito visits a temple where he remembers his past as a Ninja warrior. The family arrives in the US, but unknown to Saito part of the storefront he has purchased is used by a local gang to fence stolen property. When a priceless necklace is missing from the storefront, one of the gang leaders (James Booth) assumes that Saito has stolen it and, in retaliation, kidnaps one of his sons. Saito fights back as the battle rapidly escalates. Ninja films exist primarily for one reason--to thrill certain impressionable audiences who are awestruck by the physical feats performed by the Ninja warriors. The films usually present nothing but highly stylized, carefully choreographed fight scenes, which owe their style to the theatricality of the kabuki stage. PRAY FOR DEATH, has a minimum of fighting, however; working from a believable script, it concentrates instead on creating real characters. The performances are all surprisingly adept, and the photography is impeccable. PRAY FOR DEATH isn't merely a good Ninja film, it's a good film, period.