Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)

Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983), an early offering from Kinji Fukasaku, director of the Lord of the Flies-flavored horror flick Battle Royale (2000), is the stuff of Quentin Tarantino’s wet dreams: Japanese Princess Shizuhime (Hiroko Yakushimaru) must band together with a clan of eight samurai after a legion of undead destroys her family. There’s even an appearance by martial arts legend Sonny Chiba (seen recently in Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 [2003]). In one of the film’s gorier highlights, witchy Mari Natsuki takes the term “bloodbath” far too literally and goes skinny dipping in a pool full of the red stuff!