Good Evening all !
The other week I purchased a film that really caught my eye called Massacre Gun, as I love Asian cinema and decided to give this one a go. It came with both DVD and Blu ray formats for a very reasonable price of just £8.99. Arrow Video the masterminds of restoring classic 70's and 80's horror B movies as well as a few timeless classics, have given this Japanese Yakuza flick the same treatment.
With newly translated subtitles and restored high definition 1080p quality, as well as some very interesting special features with interviews etc. This film was well worth the money I have to say.
I love Arrow Video's films and most of the films they publish are hit or miss. The titles to truly hunt for are one's such as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "VideoDrome" and "Society". As well as some underrated B-movies such as "Street Trash" and "The deadly Spawn". Now this is all good and dandy they also release some utter crap such as "Microwave massacre" and "The stuff".
The artwork on all of Arrow's DVD's are awesome and gives them a fresh new look that is appealing to look at, especially as they feel like an old 70's/80's VHS cover that has some interesting novelty. And there is also the reversible sleeve with the original Art also.
But enough about this, lets get into the film itself.
The story is about hitman Kuroda who refuses to continue working for his Yakuza boss after he is forced to kill his lover. (Which he does). Kuroda's other two brothers, Eiji who owns a Jazz nightclub and Saburo who is an up and coming boxer. Are both outraged that he murdered a person he truly loved, so Kuroda quits and a mob retaliation occurs resulting in an all out turf war between factions.
The cinematography and directing is surprisingly good for a low budget film as the gritty black and white gives a gorgeously dark atmosphere to this noire spectacle, it looks especially gorgeous on Blu Ray which adds to the fantasticness. (That's a word I made up). For a film made in 1968 it is very violent from blood splattering in all directions the eye can see as well as some brief nudity. It surprised me as this was a film made in the same year Night of the Living dead was released which also broke new ground in the horror genre containing graphic scenes of Zombies feasting on human flesh.
If you cannot stand subtitles, then this movie isn't for you as there is no way to put on English dubbing. Which is how it should be as most dubbing in International films is really rather crap. But if you're not bothered about reading them then you will perhaps have a blast watching this. The story is very different which gives something different for the noir genre, but nothing that changes it completely. As well as character names being tricky to remember that can make the viewing experience confusing on identifying who is who.
Apart from that this film is very good and has lots of replay value.
-Gabe
But enough about this, lets get into the film itself.
The story is about hitman Kuroda who refuses to continue working for his Yakuza boss after he is forced to kill his lover. (Which he does). Kuroda's other two brothers, Eiji who owns a Jazz nightclub and Saburo who is an up and coming boxer. Are both outraged that he murdered a person he truly loved, so Kuroda quits and a mob retaliation occurs resulting in an all out turf war between factions. The cinematography and directing is surprisingly good for a low budget film as the gritty black and white gives a gorgeously dark atmosphere to this noire spectacle, it looks especially gorgeous on Blu Ray which adds to the fantasticness. (That's a word I made up). For a film made in 1968 it is very violent from blood splattering in all directions the eye can see as well as some brief nudity. It surprised me as this was a film made in the same year Night of the Living dead was released which also broke new ground in the horror genre containing graphic scenes of Zombies feasting on human flesh.
If you cannot stand subtitles, then this movie isn't for you as there is no way to put on English dubbing. Which is how it should be as most dubbing in International films is really rather crap. But if you're not bothered about reading them then you will perhaps have a blast watching this. The story is very different which gives something different for the noir genre, but nothing that changes it completely. As well as character names being tricky to remember that can make the viewing experience confusing on identifying who is who.
Apart from that this film is very good and has lots of replay value.
-Gabe
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