Yakuza keibatsu-shi: Rinchi!

YAKUZA LAW: LYNCHING! is one of the latter films in Teruo Ishii's JOYS OF TORTURE series, and is honestly the only one I've had the chance to see as of this writing. It is a strong entry that deals with the subject of Yakuza principles, and the penalties for not abiding by their codes.

The film is divided into three parts - the first two taking place in feudal Japan, the last segment being more "modern" and set in the late 1960's. All three deal with those that have broken the Yakuza code, and their subsequent torture and dispatch. The last part is played more like a 70's style crime film, and feels somewhat mis-matched against the other two segments - but is still an enjoyable addition to the film.

There's plenty of violence in this one for those that are looking for that - a good bit happening before the opening credits are over. I think that this one will be of interest to most who enjoy the 60's/70's era samurai/pinky films. Strangely enough - there's no actual lynching taking place. There is a scene where a guy is hung (by his torso) from a helicopter and dragged around a beach - but I don't think that really qualifies as "lynching". Not as strong as the "unofficial sequel" to Ishii's first JOYS OF TORTURE film - SHOGUN'S SADISM (aka OXEN SPLIT TORTURE) - but definitely in the same vain. LYNCHING! is definitely worth a look to Japanese exploit fans. 8/10

In the violent world of the Yakuza, if you break the rules then you must pay the price. Since this usually involves the removal of a body part with a sharp knife or sword, or even a hideous death, members of these bloodthirsty Japanese crime families had better think twice before screwing over their pals.

Spanning several centuries, starting in feudal japan and ending in the present day (ie. the late 1960s), Yakuza's Law:Lynching consists of three stories all dealing with betrayal and punishment within the Yakuza system. These tales are rather mundane in nature but are lifted by some wonderfully gruesome acts of brutality.

In the first two segments, fingers are removed, eyeballs and tongues are cut out, and sword slashes result in fountains of blood. In the last segment, the modern day Yakuza get creative, dragging victims along by helicopter, encasing them in cement, and crushing them in car compactors.

I consider the jazz-scored groovy last section to be the best of the stories, since it also has a rather sleazy feel to it, with sexy babes also involved in the nasty goings on. On the whole, I certainly wouldn't class this movie as essential viewing, but it should be of interest to fans of Japanese cinema, crime films, and, of course, gory exploitation flicks.

Didn't like this one very much. It's an anthology film, with three chapters, progressing from what appeared to be the Tokugawa Shogunate, to Meiji era, to the 60's (can't be positive about any of the time periods).

Basically the flimsy plots are just an excuse to have Yakuza commit brutal acts on each other and throw lots of fake blood around. I can see how this may have been shocking or trail-blazing at the time of release, but I found it quite boring now. Without the shock value, the movie really has no center. The stories get progressively better - the first (amazingly, starring Bunta Sugawara, who usually improves anything he's in) is terrible, the second and third are slightly better.

Sidenote - the actor who plays the alien in Goke has a small role in the final piece as a weird yo-yo obsessed Yakuza.

This rousing, splendidly blood-thirsty portmanteau of lurid Yakuza conflict erupts in a bloody tsunami of gruesome eye-gouging, grisly evisceration, throat slashing and sanguineous Katana kills! Maestro, Teruo Ishii's infamously brutal trilogy of dramatically vengeful, gratuitously gore-grizzled Yakuza mayhem has manifestly lost none of its power to shock! Dynamic performances, visceral action scenes, diabolical treachery, desperate love, and hard won honour, 'The Yakuza's Law Lynching' is eventful, intelligent, bracingly violent Japanese exploitation at its most excitingly mean spirited. Vicious betrayals, Machiavellian plots, and savage, bullet-blasted reprisals,'The Yakuza's Law Lynching' remains entirely credible, a brutish, extraordinarily bellicose, generously crimson-splattered, eye-bogglingly cruel Torture classic. These three indelibly barbaric tales graphically portray the grimly mortal fates of those individuals who break the gleefully enforced Yakuza laws, since they do so at their own considerable peril!

I have seen other films of Teruo Ishii, including his torture films like "Orgies of Edo," which I liked immensely. This Yakuza genre film however, lacks the artistic merits of those other films. It also lacks a coherent or interesting story-line, offering only cheap and ugly gore effects. There are actually 3 stories told in one film, which is the same formula Ishii used for "Orgies of Edo." Unfortunately the stories were so insipid and uninteresting that I couldn't tell when the first one ended and the second began. This film really has nothing to offer, and it is the worst film of it's kind that I have seen. It is a waste of time.