NINJA III: THE DOMINATION

US, 1984, 92 minutes, Colour.
Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, James Hong.
Directed by Sam Firstenberg.

Ninja 3 is the third in a series of martial arts films made by the Cannon Group. The original, starring Franco Nero, was an average piece of entertainment. The sequel, The Revenge of the Ninja, was set in Utah and was far more effective. This third film takes on something of the exotic (echoes of another, better film of its kind in 1984, Sword Kill). A young girl is possessed by a vengeful Ninja who resists annihilation when he is attacked and killed. She becomes a martial arts fury. The story has her trying to cope with her possession and her relationships, especially with the policeman trying to solve the mystery.

The situations are familiar, violent sequences and martial arts killings as well as pathos for the bewildered heroine. Needless to say, all is resolved at the end ... but? The vigorous heroine is played by Lucinda Dickey who received some prominence in Breakdance and its sequel Electric Boogaloo. She turns her Breakdance skills to martial arts competence.

A violent, slightly offbeat example of its kind