Chokugeki! Jigoku-ken

I recently watched two immortal Sonny Chiba Karate classics from the great Toei Company in one night, one being "The Street Fighter" (1974) and the other this gem named "Chokugeki! Jigoku-ken" aka. "The Executioner" from the same year. I couldn't possibly say which of these two I enjoyed more, both deserve their status as true greats of Japanese 70s exploitation. Whereas Shigheiro Ozawa's "Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken" is a raw and ultra-brutal film in which the almighty Mr. Chiba plays a ruthless killing-machine of an anti-hero, Teruo Ishii's "The Executioner" is also very violent, but a lot more humorous. I was a fan of director Ishii before seeing this film for some of his awesome contributions to the Pinky Violence genre (such as "Female Yakuza Tale", 1973), and this awesome flick even increased my admiration for the man. "The Executioner" is an incredibly entertaining flick that delivers everything an Exploitation lover could possibly desire - from martial arts and brutal, bloody violence, to wonderfully odd, typically Japanese humor, eccentric characters, sleaze and gratuitous female nudity, a funky score and great cinematography - "The Executioner" has it all.

Three men, the skilled ninja Ryuchi Koga (Sonny Chiba), the deadly assassin and former drug detective Takeshi Hayato (Makoto Satô), and the criminal and death-row escapee Ichiro Sakura (Eiji Go) are assigned to crush a drug ring which, due to diplomatic connections, is unaccessible to the law... All three leading men fit their roles very well, Chiba, of course, being the main attraction. The film obviously took a lot of inspiration from Spaghetti Westerns, most obviously from Sergio Leone's 1966 masterpiece "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (the best Western ever made, and probably my personal choice for the best film ever). The 'introduction' of Satô, for example, was almost taken over exactly from Lee Van Cleef's introduction in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" - only that this one features explicit gore and loads of sleaze. The character relations are also somewhat resemblant of those in GBU, although the distinction between 'good' and 'bad' is even more vague. Eiji "Tokyo Drifter" Go is the one responsible for most of the funny bits. Sonny Chiba's martial arts are, as always, absolutely amazing, and they come along with loads of brutality. Chiba plays a more likable character here than in the "Street Fighter" films, but he's kicking ass the violent way all the same. Beautiful Yutaka Nakajima, who also played the female lead in "The Street Fighter", is once again a welcome addition in her role here. To sum up: "The Executioner" is brutal, stylish, action-packed and fun in equal measures, and an absolute must for fans of Japanese Exploitation cinema. Sonny Chiba, we worship thee!

This karate classic is one of a kind. Sonny Chiba is remember for his Street Fighter prowess plays a fighter with ninja skills who is recruited by a ex-cop now hit-man along with a another fighter who is a complete nincompoop and very sexy lady. They go after a drug syndicate who uses a deaf-mute as a pawn to their schemes. The death-scenes are a little more animated than gruesome. The fighting scenes are great as well. I liked the part where Sonny's character steps on the paint and painted the enemies up. More plans do come up, and the fighter wants to get more of his share of the cut. However, he trust in the boss is questionable. The crime syndicate gets more fighters to take on Sonny's character. Somehow, arrogance and egos clashed with some of the fighters which gave Sonny character an edge. This movie was rather corny in some areas, other than that, in was fun to watch in my opinion. A very big keeper. 5 stars!

EXECUTIONER (1974) is a contemporary crime thriller about a secret band of fighters recruited by a disgraced narcotics detective seeking to stop the flow of drugs into Japan. While diehard fans of the film's star, Sonny Chiba, are partial to this film, it may not satisfy those looking for the kind of martial arts thrills provided by the kung fu films that were coming out of Hong Kong at the same time. Chiba had considerable style and exceptional fighting skills but he rarely found a vehicle that knew how to exploit his talents properly. (My own favorite is his 1975 historical drama about post-war Japan, THE KILLING MACHINE.) Here he plays a man trained by his grandfather since childhood in ninja fighting arts but who has had little success finding his place in the world until he's recruited, with the promise of great wealth, to help fight the Japanese mafia. In fighting mode, Chiba gesticulates wildly and displays the intense faces that became his trademark feature in the STREET FIGHTER series of films (1974), but which seem out of place here given the more secretive, subtle nature of the ninja arts. He does use some ninja techniques on occasion, most notably sticking to the ceiling to avoid being spotted.

Chiba has a few good fight scenes, in some of which he takes on multiple opponents. In the big climactic finale, he faces a group of formidable opponents, including a pair of Caucasian wrestlers. However, there are long, silly patches in between as Chiba banters with his teammate, Sakura (Ryo Ikebe), a sex-crazed escaped con who's supposed to be a fighter also but never quite carries his share of the action. Providing a serious anchor to the proceedings is the venerable character actor Makoto Sato (also seen in MESSAGE FROM SPACE), who plays the former narcotics cop seeking to redeem himself. The film is violent and bloody, but not as over-the-top as the STREET FIGHTER films. There is also plenty of gratuitous, if not terribly attractive, female nudity (mostly involving non-Asian women).

Japanese samurai films were often distinguished by elegant camerawork and stately, formal compositions. The swordfights were photographed full-frame with all of the action contained in the widescreen image as the camera operator simply followed the actors as they fought, without a lot of intercutting or cutaways. The people who made those films, however, did not work on Chiba's films, which were often undermined by excessive handheld camerawork and awkward compositions. This film may not be the worst offender (that would be CHAMPION OF DEATH, 1975), but the camera is still generally either too far away or too close to the action. It sometimes moves around within a scene for no reason and too often settles on a composition cluttered with unnecessary objects in the foreground. The loud, jazzy, 1970s score is much too intrusive as well.

The big problem with Chiba's films, for many fans, is that there simply weren't enough fight scenes and when they did occur, no matter how well staged they were, they were badly photographed. His films are not as focused as comparable Hong Kong films of the era. One need only look at THE CHINATOWN KID (1977), starring Alexander Fu Sheng, for a model of how a contemporary crime drama could use martial arts effectively without disappointing the audience or wasting the skills of the performers. One wishes Chiba had gone to Hong Kong to make kung fu films with such master directors as Chang Cheh (THE CHINATOWN KID) and Lau Kar Leung (SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA). The HK filmmakers knew how to showcase their performers (Gordon Liu, Alexander Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan Tai, the Five Venoms, etc.) and provide numerous, intricately staged fight scenes that allowed the fighters to show their stuff. Interestingly, one of Chiba's co-stars in EXECUTIONER is Yasuaki Kurata, who is better known for the numerous HK kung fu films he made (over a period of 25 years), including THE ANGRY GUEST, SHAOLIN CHALLENGES NINJA, LEGEND OF A FIGHTER, NINJA IN THE DEADLY TRAP and FIST OF LEGEND (where he squares off with Jet Li). Sadly, Kurata has only one brief fight scene in this film. No wonder he worked so often in Hong Kong. (Chiba later did turn up in HK films, most notably the 1998 fantasy adventure, THE STORM RIDERS, which relied more on computer effects than on genuine martial arts skills.)

All that said, however, EXECUTIONER is an eminently watchable action film and is, of course, a must for Chiba's fans. The 83-minute print seen on the Crash Cinema DVD release in the U.S. is quite scratchy and choppy in places, but the letter-boxed image is otherwise sharp and beautifully transferred.

I'm currently battling a long standing and gravely serious addiction to 70's B-pictures. Blaxploitation, kung-fu, pinky violence, spaghetti westerns, monster movies, Russ Meyer flicks, Italian crime movies - the effects of such an addiction can be gargantuan. However, the crime of many artifacts from the dead era of true 'trash' cinema is that they simply tend not to quite live up to their own hype. See, all these movies had was poster art, outrageous titles, taglines and perhaps one star attraction (like Sid Haig, Franco Nero or star of The Executioner, Sonny Chiba).

However, there is on occasional a movie that comes you way which meets and exceeds your wildest fantasies - Mario Bava's Rabid Dogs, Larry Cohen's Q The Winged Serpent, Giuliano Montaldo's heist film Grand Slam, Sergio Corbucci's Death Rides a Horse - these are all movies that are actually as good as they sound. The Executioner is one such film - it will surpass your wildest grindhouse dreams.

This movie is so stacked with raw humour, outrageous action scenes and sheer entertainment factor that it almost goes beyond belief. I simply can't overstate the pleasure that awaits you with this one - get some friends together, get some beers out, maybe roll yourselves a 'camberwell carrot' or two, and bask in the absurdity and outlandishness of this - Sonny Chiba's FINEST, most hilarious film.

It'll will restore your faith in exploitation films... and maybe, just maybe it will be the best 90 minutes of your entire life.

This film starts out with an older guy and a young (and very attractive) lady recruiting three karate experts to take on a dope ring. Sonny's character was trained in the ninja arts, but has fallen on hard financial time. One of his cohorts is an ex-cop who is now a hit man and the other is a sleaze ball who Sonny has to break out of prison. After some cheap attempts to develop the plot and Sonny kicking ass, they go after the syndicate head while he's having some kind of party.

It's a little weak on the plot and there's way too much of the sleazy guy trying (in vain) to hook up with women, but it does have some pretty cool karate action. Sonny and the ex-cop banter back and forth, which gets a little annoying after a while. The sleazy guy doesn't really do much, except for shamelessly hitting on women (his character didn't advance the plot a whole lot), and some of the other karate experts were unremarkable.

Recommended only to true blue Chiba fans.