The Trail of Blood

In this first bloody installment of the Mikogami trilogy, world-weary yakuza samurai Jokichi is tired of the criminal life and decides to go straight -- a choice his mobster cohorts violently oppose. After the yakuza slaughter Jokichi's entire family, the samurai's only reason to live is to watch the killers die. A tale of revenge ensues, complete with the requisite hacking of limbs and buckets of blood.

Feedgeist

» Queued up by 14 people

DP 384370 DM 1441234 Steve Shin Jimmy Dogs SR 496207 JC 84226 Muggs schizosmurf Dlukenelson T-Bone MB 277665 JB 1787295 Dartofharkness Photo Heathen

» Reviewed by 1 person

The first film in a trilogy finds Yoshio Harada as a drifting samurai, Jokichi Mikogami, who finds kinship with a prostitute he helps save from a yakuza boss vying for her attention. For three years, he quits the gangster life and finds happiness as a family man and a craftsman only to be reluctantly drawn in again. When his bucolic family life is destroyed, he learns the names of the three vengeful and jealous yakuza bosses who are responsible. Jokichi will stop at nothing to exact his revenge. The story is pretty formulaic for a samurai film but, Yoshio Harada breathes new life into the wandering samurai seeking revenge character. The fact that the story is spread out over three films gives the viewer the luxury of back story and allows an emotional investment in the characters and their circumstances. If you like Trail of Blood, make sure to watch the other two films in the trilogy, The Fearless Avenger and Slaughter in the Snow.
- pterosaur