Kazuo Mori

Directing

Kazuo Mori

Born — Died

1911-01-15 — 1989-06-29

Place of birth

Matsuyama, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

42 titles

Kazuo Mori, also known as Issei Mori, got his start as a jidai-geki director in silent films of the 1930s. In postwar years he became a leading director at Daiei, working regularly with the studio's familiar stars like Shintaro Katsu and Raizo Ichikawa. In the 1960s and '70s, Mori established himself alongside Kenji Misumi as one of the most dependable names in chambara franchise series, directing some of the best installments of Zatoichi, Kyoshiro Nemuri and Shinobi No Mono. Mori's work is marked by clear, intelligent storytelling and innovative camera techniques.

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

Shirazu no Yatarō poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shirazu no Yatarō

1954

Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection poster
7.0

[Period covered: 1595-1600] We last saw ninja Ishikawa Goemon, as he was about to be boiled alive. But a good ninja is both hard to find, and even harder to kill. With the help of the enigmatic Hattori Hanzo, Goemon lives to skulk another day, and sets his sights on bringing down the warlord who tried to turn him into soup – Toyotomi Hideyoshi. And as always, in the background, the suble hand of Tokugawa Ieyasu is pulling strings as he plots to rule all of Japan!

Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection

1963

The Birth of Judo poster
NR

Centered on a young college student who puts his youthful passion into developing true judo and the fiery mentor he admires and studies under.

The Birth of Judo

1955

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues poster
7.1

Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues

1962

Midori no nakama poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Midori no nakama

1954

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man poster
6.8

Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man

1965

I Was Tokichiro poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

I Was Tokichiro

1955

Wrath of Daimajin poster
6.3

In a mountainous region of Japan, Lord Arakawa kidnaps the men of nearby villages to use as slave labor, producing gunpowder from his sulfur pits. A band of young boys decide to rescue their enslaved fathers on their own.

Wrath of Daimajin

1966

Satan's Sword III: The Final Chapter poster
7.0

Disguised as a beggar monk, Ryunosuke is harassed along the road by the rowdy members of a country dojo or fencing school malingering outside their fencing hall. The third film in the Satan's Sword trilogy.

Satan's Sword III: The Final Chapter

1961

Jirocho Fuji poster
7.4

Legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho and his 28 henchmen travel the unruly path from a 'Fire Festival' in Akiba to a decisive battle by the Fujigawa.

Jirocho Fuji

1959

Zatoichi at Large poster
6.6

Blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi finds a robbed and fatally wounded pregnant woman, whose baby he delivers before she dies. He takes the baby in search of its father and finds the child's aunt, who is about to be forced into prostitution for want of a payment the dead mother was bringing. Zatoichi determines to save the woman from her cruel fate.

Zatoichi at Large

1972

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tree of Life

1947

Hanazakari otoko ichidai poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hanazakari otoko ichidai

1955

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Kiniro no ōkami poster
NR

A series of murders surrounds the 70,000 ryō in buried treasure hidden by the Kanayama Magistrate.

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Kiniro no ōkami

1953

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Karakuri yashiki poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Karakuri yashiki

1953

Duel at Omagatsuji poster
NR

The sword of the chivalrous warrior is drawn amid the struggle for a legendary sword and a plot to assassinate a young princess.

Duel at Omagatsuji

1951

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Coming Up of Kodokan

1953

Shinobi No Mono 6: The Last Iga Spy poster
6.3

[Period covered: 1637-1651] This is one of the most complicated plots of any of the Shinobi no Mono films! This film tells the story of Saizo’s son, Kirigakure Saisuke, who after seeing his father die at the Battle Of Shimabara, grows up to be an expert ninja. Before he dies, “Mist” Saizo tells his children Saisuke, and Yuri that they are not really brother and sister. She, in fact, is the daughter of the late lord Sanada Yukimura, and must be saved from the shogun’s forces. In the chess match of spy versus spy, can Saisuke defeat the shogun’s chief strategist, Matsudaira Izunokami at his own game? Showing many exciting ninja tactics, it is not to be missed.

Shinobi No Mono 6: The Last Iga Spy

1965

Female Police Officer poster
NR

A social drama about the first female police officer.

Female Police Officer

1947

Deadly Swords in Search of Hidden Gold poster
NR

The secret map of the treasure of Kenzan was stolen out of the house of a former soldier in Awa. A fight over the treasure that the map shows happens among the Rozyu, a Ronin, a thief, and the Hyodo family. Is the treasure there? Who will get it? Masakazu Tamura plays the role of a ronin from Edo, Hayato Arakida, from the Mumyo Tenshin school dojo and a swordmaster working for Lord Awa. The film is based on the original work of Kyotaro Nishimura. A period show with a fierce fight on a raft going down a river and romance.

Deadly Swords in Search of Hidden Gold

1983

The Man Disappears Yesterday poster
NR

Tired of everyday life, the 8th Shogun Yoshimune flees Edo Castle and asks Ooka Echizen to become his personal assistant. In a rice shop, Yoshimune meets a simple ronin Ohashi Kenshiro, and receives permission to stay at his house, but a mysterious corpse awaits him in the house... And then the second, third and fourth murders occur...

The Man Disappears Yesterday

1964

The Blind Menace poster
6.9

This is the story of a blind masseur who tricks people, steals, and kills; he is the anti-Zatoichi.

The Blind Menace

1960

I Am Being Targeted poster
NR

A thriller of deduction and duels, in which a newspaper reporter bravely takes on a gang in the city’s skyscraper district over a mysterious recording by a diva.

I Am Being Targeted

1950

Nagasaki no yoru poster
NR

A mysterious magician with a Japanese mother who came to Nagasaki’s Nankin-machi from the mainland in search of his father’s killer.

Nagasaki no yoru

1955

Yoidore nitōryū poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Yoidore nitōryū

1954

Hana aru dotō poster
NR

An emotionally charged tale of love and passion set on a remote island lighthouse, where a mysterious woman arrives out of nowhere to cast a shadow over a wedding.

Hana aru dotō

1951

A Killer's Key poster
7.8

A lone wolf assassin, masquerading as a traditional dance instructor named Nitta, is called in to avert a potential financial scandal that threatens to engulf a powerful yakuza group with ties to influential figures in the political establishment.

A Killer's Key

1967

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tebukuro o nugasu otoko

1946

Vendetta of a Samurai poster
6.6

Mataemon Araki, a renowned swordsman, helps a young man find vengeance.

Vendetta of a Samurai

1952

The Swishing Sword poster
8.0

A beautiful girl who seeks revenge, disguises herself by dressing up in men's clothes, geisha, etc. A young swordsman helps her uncover the plot and take revenge.

The Swishing Sword

1958

A Certain Killer poster
6.9

A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.

A Certain Killer

1967

Fighting Fire Fighter poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Fighting Fire Fighter

1956

Yari-odori gojūsantsugi poster
NR

A spearman who had long admired the samurai rises up after learning of cruelty of the samurai class.

Yari-odori gojūsantsugi

1946

Assignment Cloud poster
2.0

A sequel to the popular "The School of Spies", this film continues the adventures of one of the graduates who is assigned to crack a powerful spy ring working out of Kobe. Various people are suspected but, finally, it seems that an Army captain and his geisha friend might lead them to the ring.

Assignment Cloud

1966

Mission: Iron Castle poster
6.3

The Shinobi-no-Mono series was so successful that Daiei Studios dipped into the well one more time, making the best 60′s B&W ninja movie ever seen in the otherwise color-dominated year of 1970. Issei Mori directs Hiroki Matsukata as the reluctant leader of a small band of spies charged with kidnapping a noblewoman from a heavily ninja-proofed castle. The finality of the air slowly began to fill like smoke, and in all that had become dark the loyalty of the Ninja who dared to go shone like light as they entered a world shrouded in mystery. Things do not go as planned in what is possibly the darkest and most fatalistic of the already noir-ish 60′s fare. Both the decade and it’s distinctive style of shinobi cinema went out on a high note with Mission Iron Castle.

Mission: Iron Castle

1970

Ōsaka chōnin poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ōsaka chōnin

1942

Easy Money poster
NR

An action-comedy about three men who try to bilk money out of gambling dens.

Easy Money

1970

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Case Files of Zenigata Heiji: The Human-Skin Spider

1956

Bad Reputation: The Notorious Harbor poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Bad Reputation: The Notorious Harbor

1963

Three Young Samurai poster
6.7

During Japan's Warring States period three young Tokugawa vassals head their separate ways after Takeda Shingen's forces overran their castle. When they next meet they have all joined opposing sides.

Three Young Samurai

1961