Much like its Italian brother genre, the spaghetti western, Japanese chambara of the early 70's, after the golden age of samurai cinema in the 60's, was in desperate need for a breath of fresh air, for new ways to satisfy an audience tired of the same old offerings. SHADOW HUNTERS belongs to that particular niche that saw more titillating and bloodier pulpy b-movies bordering heavily on exploitation and infused with purely comic book sensibilities.
