Sure Death Revenge

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Hissatsu 4: Urami harashimasu Release Date: 1987 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Sure Death Revenge is number four in a five-part series. It is Japanese exploitation at its finest if, by fine, you actually mean pretty terrible. However, in addition to being helmed by my favorite Japanese exploitation director, it also has Sonny Chiba sporting a 70′s mustache. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the story is actually fairly badass and quite unusual for the genre. It’s a murder mystery, whodunnit jidaigeki (period film) that was actually pretty enjoyable, with a lot of slo-mo sword-fighting scenes with curious weapons and gushing blood. But other than the ridiculous forms of awesome that I just described, it does look like a made-for-TV movie, Chiba’s lack of sword-fighting ability is plain as day in slow motion, and it is overly long at two hours, which is why I’d only recommended for fans of the genre. For a Fukasaku film, it’s below par, but even a sub-par Fukasaku film is better than most.

The Yakuza Papers

	Rating: 5 out of 5 Original Title: Jingi naki tatakai Release Date: 1973 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

The Yakuza Papers consists of five complete films that tell the supposedly true tale of the gangland battle for Hiroshima and its surrounding areas. Set right after the end of WW2, the Yakuza capitalizes on the chaos from Japan’s economic and social collapse in the tumultuous post-nuclear era. Each successive film builds on the previous story with many of the same characters throughout. As their underground crime syndicate grows, so do the rivalries, internal struggles and underhanded deals. Because of the large ensemble cast, the complexity of the plot and the span of time that it covers, it may be a little difficult for the casual viewer to keep it all straight, but a little bit of rewinding never hurt anyone. The Yakuza Papers is a time-honored story about loyalty and brotherhood, and the lack thereof, with an excellent cast, great direction, a fine score, tons of brutal violence and gushing blood. If you are a fan of Yakuza flicks or Kinji Fukasaku, it is must-see viewing.

Shogun’s Samurai

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Yagyû ichizoku no inbô Release Date: 1978 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Shogun’s Samurai is not the best historical drama out there. In fact, Toei rarely produced the best of anything, but that’s fine. Toei films have their place. Shogun’s Samurai, a.k.a. Yagyu Clan Conspiracy, is an historical epic set in 17th century Japan full of intrigue, double-crosses and a whole bunch of morally-gray characters. It is as entertaining a film as you will find in the chanbara (samurai action) genre. With a spectacular, star-studded supporting cast including Sonny Chiba, Toshiro Mifune, Yoshio Harada and Etsuko Shihomi, and directed by none other than Kinji Fukasaku, you can’t do much better. The ethical incertitude of the story and its characters leaves you unsure as to whom to root for. The only certainty is that Chiba takes his comparatively small part in this film and runs with it. If it weren’t for his brooding, tough guy character making an appearance now and then, Shogun’s Samurai wouldn’t be half as enjoyable. For another movie where Chiba plays Jubei Yagyu, also directed by Fukasaku, watch Makai Tensho: Samurai Reincarnation.

Fall Guy

	Rating: 3 out of 5 Original Title: Kamata koshin-kyoku Release Date: 1982 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Fall Guy is a bizarre little movie. And I don’t mean bizarre as in intentionally trippy or artistic. More like bizarre as in do real people actually behave this way and why? Fall Guy is a movie based on a book, based on a play, based on a true story of a stunt man who fell down some stairs. Set up as a movie within a movie, it centers around three people who are all incredibly self-destructive; the egotistical actor, his pregnant lover and the man he pawns her off on. Fall Guy does share some similar elements with other Fukasaku films such as focusing on the bottom-dwelling lackey struggling and striving to make it to the top, and the fact that none of the characters are pure good or evil but a mixture of both. Fall Guy isn’t a bad movie. It has decent performances and even some humor, but I would only recommend this film to hardcore fans of Fukasaku.

If You Were Young: Rage

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Kimi ga wakamono nara Release Date: 1970 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

With If You Were Young, you can see the roots that eventually led to Battle Royale. Both stories feature young people trying to overcome a system that is oppressive and hopeless. This film is about a group of under-educated 20 somethings who concoct a plan to buy their own dump-truck. By doing so, they can gain independence and free themselves from the petty crimes and terrible jobs that make up their irredeemable lives. The premise is alright but the over-acting and overly-dramatic way in which it was filmed prove the inexperience of its filmmaker. If You Were Young is not Fukasaku’s best early work. But, if you’re curious to see the progression on a topic by a filmmaker from his early days until one of his last films, this film would make a nice preamble to Battle Royale.

Black Rose Mansion

	Rating: 2 out of 5 Original Title: Kuro bara no yakata Release Date: 1969 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Black Rose Mansion is a melodrama through and through. The beguiling vixen who seduces all of the men in this film is actually played by a man and not very convincingly at that. I kept hoping that there would be some sort of explanation for this odd casting choice worked into the film. Alas, no. Everyone goes about their business of hopelessly falling in love with her while playing deaf, dumb and blind to her gender. The key to the mystery is that Black Rose Mansion was intended as a follow up to Black Lizard which also stars Akihiko Maruyama in drag. Black Lizard is a noirish film based on a story by Rampo Edogawa and starring our friend Maruyama in a much more intelligible role. Black Rose Mansion is only worth watching if you are a die-hard Fukasaku fan as he co-wrote and directed this regrettably unfulfilling film. I hovered between 2 and 3 stars but, even if they had cast a woman to play the part of the woman, I probably still would not have liked this film.

Blackmail is My Life

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Kyokatsu koso Waga Jinsei Release Date: 1968 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Blackmail is My Life is yet another skillful anti-hero film from Kinji Fukasaku. In post-war Japan, four people unable to survive on legitimate work stumble upon a way to earn a living through blackmail. Like most of Fukasaku’s work, this film is a compelling take on shades of morality. The protagonists are neither good nor bad but are merely exploiting people who are more corrupt than they are themselves. Beautifully composed with a nod to Seijun Suzuki (the characters repeatedly whistle the theme from Tokyo Drifter), Blackmail is My Life is not the best of Fukasaku’s early films but it is still well worth watching if you are a fan of 60′s Japanese crime dramas.

Cops vs. Thugs

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Kenkei tai soshiki boryoku Release Date: 1975 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

This story may seem a little familiar; two friends, a yakuza gang boss and a cop, try to maintain their friendship while being true to their professions. They are at odds with a corrupt system of politicians, police and gangsters while remaining loyal to each other. No matter how much they try to insulate themselves from the outside world, in the end, they are still on different sides. Neither the cop nor the thug, the politicians nor the police are uncontaminated by corruption. While the plot may not be altogether original, the performances lift Cops vs. Thugs above the typical genre film. Kinji Fukasaku is the undisputed master of 70′s yakuza films.

Street Mobster

	Rating: 5 out of 5 Original Title: Gendai yakuza: hito-kiri yota Release Date: 1972 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

Before the opening credits are over, you will know whether you’re going to like Street Mobster or not. It is a pretty brutal account of Japanese thugs featuring gushing blood, rape and plenty of violence. Bunta Sugawara plays an exceedingly hotheaded street punk who just got out of jail after 5 years and is looking to carve out a piece of the Yakuza territory for himself. He will stop at nothing to get it and bow to no one. The basic premise of the movie reminds me a lot of Sympathy For The Underdog which was also co-written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku the year before Street Mobster was released. Noboro Ando who plays the boss that takes Sugawara under his wing was an actual Yakuza gang boss before becoming an actor and the scar on his cheek is real. If you like ultra-violent 70′s Japanese films, Street Mobster is among the best of the era.

Sympathy For The Underdog

	Rating: 4 out of 5 Original Title: Bakuto gaijin butai Release Date: 1971 Director: Kinji Fukasaku Netflix Link IMDb Link

After serving 10 years in prison, Gunji finds his Yakuza clan has fallen apart and his territory has gone to a large syndicate from Tokyo. Koji Tsuruta is perfectly cast as Gunji, the aging, outlawed yakuza. Gunji is cool as ice with courage to spare as he and only six of his former brothers set out to conquer the Okinawan underworld. Set in the years following WW2, this film scrutinizes the chaos of Japanese society under American occupation. Sympathy For The Underdog is aptly named as, in the end, you do find yourself hoping that this band of hardened anti-heros attains their goal. This was the last Fukasaku film with the highly popular Japanese actor Koji Tsuruta.