Director Kihachi Okamoto's inky action-comedy (based on the same novel as Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, Kill!) pokes fun at samurai flicks and Italian giallos. When two swordsmen roll into a new town -- one a former farmer and the other a retired samurai warrior -- they intend to lead normal lives. But the troubles of a band of rebels fighting the vile local clan leader convince the pair to pick up their weapons again.