Pray for Death

Pray For Death
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gordon Hessler
Written by	James Booth
Starring	Sho Kosugi Norman Burton James Booth Kane Kosugi Donna Kei Benz Michael Constantine
Music by	Thomas Chase
Cinematography	Roy H. Wagner
Edited by	Bill Butler Stephen Butler
Production company	Transworld Entertainment
Distributed by	Transworld Entertainment
Release date	9 August 1985
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Japanese
Budget	$4,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	Unknown

Pray For Death is an independently made 1985 American martial arts action-thriller drama from Transworld Entertainment, directed by Gordon Hessler, that stars Sho Kosugi, James Booth, Norman Burton, Michael Constantine, and, the lead's son Kane Kosugi.

A retired Ninja warrior, now married to an American woman, moves to Los Angeles at his wife's request in order to begin a new life for their two sons. Shortly after their arrival, he is mistakenly drawn into a protracted conflict with an L.A. crime boss and his vicious henchmen. He is forced by a series of brutal circumstances to come out of retirement and bring the criminals to justice ... Ninja justice.

Plot

At the insistence of his American-born wife, Aiko (Donna Kei Benz), Yokohama salaryman Akira Saito (Sho Kosugi) decides to immigrate from Japan to the United States, her birthplace, to raise their two sons Takeshi (Kane Kosugi) and Tomoya (Shane Kosugi). Unknown to his family, Akira is in fact a highly skilled Ninja, who had faithfully protected the secrets of his temple minded by his adoptive father and sensei, Koga. Years before, Akira's brother, Shoji (also raised and trained by Koga) sought to steal from the temple while in disguise, forcing Akira to engage him in battle and kill him. Akira's meditation on this matter is disrupted by an attack from Koga to encourage him to wipe the guilt from his mind before it kills him. Akira announces his intentions to move to America to start a new life, to put the shadows of the ninja behind him. Koga makes him swear never to reveal their secrets, and gives him a ninja helmet as a gift, while reminding him he can never leave his shadows behind.

In Los Angeles the Saitos meet with Sam Green, the widowed owner of a closed restaurant and apartment that Akira and Aiko have bought. After the sale is completed, the cigar store area of the building is broken into by police Sgt. Trumble (Charles Greuber), a corrupt cop, along with his partner Sgt. Joe Daly (Matthew Faison). Both work for local mobster Mr. Newman (Michael Constantine). Daly removes loose floor boards and puts a large white box underneath, containing the Van Adda necklace. However, he reconsiders and double-crosses the mob, taking the necklace. The next day Newman's enforcer, Limehouse Willie (James Booth), waits until the building is deserted, only to discover the necklace is gone. Seeing Sam Green's packed luggage in his car, Willie incorrectly surmises that he's skipping town with the jewels. He brutally kills Green, even though he doesn't find the necklace. His suspicion now falls on the Saito family.

The next day, as Akira and Aiko enjoy their first day of business as "Aiko's Japanese Restaurant", Tomoya and Takeshi go out to the local store and are confronted by local bullies eyeing Takeshi's bicycle. Tomoya, who has a red belt in karate, defends his younger brother and beats up the bullies. During the fight, Willie abducts Tomoya and leaves Takeshi with a broken nose when he tries to stop him. Willie phones Akira demanding that he deliver the necklace (of which he knows nothing) to Pier 25 in exchange for his son's life. Curious, he goes into the cigar store and finds the broken door lock, the loose floor boards, and a grey thread from Daly's suit jacket, which shows Daly is left-handed.

Akira arrives empty-handed at the pier and boards one of the ships and is restrained by Willie and his men. Akira's claims that it was a left-handed man in a grey suit that took the necklace. Willie cuts him across the chest and threatens his son with a blow torch. Akira smashes the light above his head and uses his ninja skills to escape with Tomoya. He listens to Aiko and goes to the police the next day. Meanwhile, although Willie is convinced that the necklace isn't with the Saitos, Newman still wants them eliminated because of what they know.

At the precinct, Akira speaks with Lt. Anderson (Norman Burton). Both Trumble and Daly are there as he identifies Willie from mug shots. Anderson can do nothing to keep him away from the Saitos without evidence, so Akira agrees to help him obtain it. Daly informs Newman and is assured Willie will clean up his mess, but also says they need to have "a little chat".

At the Saitos' apartment, Takeshi accidentally kicks his soccer ball out the window, and Tomoya goes out to recover it. Aiko chases after him and both are run down by Newman's thugs stationed outside in their car. Akira arrives seconds afterwards and recognizes the thugs from the night before and gives chase in his car, then on foot. The resulting struggle results in both men being killed. Tomoya is on life support at the hospital, while Aiko is bruised but still being kept overnight for observation. Anderson arranges for police protection to guard them.

Akira sneaks on board Willie's yacht during a party and cuts the power and sneaks up behind him. With a knife to Willie's throat, he warns him to stay away from the Saitos or he "will pray for death". Akira has vanished by the time the lights come back on. Ignoring the threat, Willie sneaks into the hospital and murders Aiko, but is stopped by Anderson and his men before he can also kill Tomoya. He is able to escape during the confusion. Akira returns to the hospital to have a moment with his wife's body. He swears he will make Willie and his men pay for destroying their dreams by returning to the ninja shadow world. He takes Tomoya out of hospital care against Anderson's warnings that they cannot guarantee police protection if he does so.

Elsewhere, Daly and Trumble meet at a restaurant. Willie shows up and murders them both for their treachery.

Akira relocates the boys to a warehouse. Behind closed doors, he performs rituals that signify his return to the ways of ninjitsu, and, with a makeshift forge, he creates a new ninja-to sword blade. In full ninja garb, Akira prays to Aiko's spirit before donning the helmet his father gave him. He attacks Newman's mansion, dispatching Newman and all his henchmen in what quickly becomes an all-out massacre. Willie is able to escape, but Akira later confronts him when Willie shows up at the warehouse. They fight a protracted duel to the death until Willie ultimately winds up being pinned through his wrists by Akira to a long buzzsaw platform. The spinning blade draws in the mobster and slowly slices the screaming Willie in half.

Cast

Reception

The film was unfavorably viewed by some film critics.^[1] However, the USA Today critic and "drive-in" movie reviewer Joe Bob Briggs, both praised Sho Kosugi, with the USA Today stating "Sho Kosugi ... the hottest kick since Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee"!^[2] and Briggs praising Kosugi as "the best kung fu man since Bruce Lee" and ranked the film high on his 10-best list for 1986.^[3]

Home video

Pray for Death was released on Blu ray by Arrow Releasing on a special edition, which contains the following:

• A (1080p) high definition presentation from a transfer of original elements by MGM of the film's unrated version.
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• A new interview with star Sho Kosugi.
• Archive interview and Ninjutsu demonstration with Kosugi from the film's New York premiere
• Original theatrical trailer.
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin.
• Collector's booklet featuring an extract from Sho Kosugi's book "Yin-Yang Code: The Drums of Tenkai-Bo".

References

External links

• Pray for Death on IMDb