"Actor: Makoto Sato"

• I, the Executioner (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/01/2024) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A man brutally murders a woman after forcing her to write the names of four others. As the murders pile up, the police investigate the links between the victims and how they may be connected to the suicide of a young boy in the same building. Directed by Tai Kato (By a Man's Face You Shall Know Him), a former apprentice of Akira Kurosawa better known for his yakuza films, I, the Executioner is a pitch black neo noir that makes the serial killer the central character. Sensationally photographed with claustrophobic close ups, Kato's film evokes both Hitchcock's Psycho and the films of Nagisa Oshima, while also prefiguring the Italian giallo. Product Features LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES High-Definition digital transfer Uncompressed mono PCM audio Visual essay on Japanese serial killer films by Jim Harper Appreciation by filmmaker Kenta Fukasaku Trailer Newly translated English subtitles Reversible sleeve featuring original newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tony Rayns and a new translation of archival writing on the film Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

• Blind Woman's Curse | Blu Ray | (31/03/2014) from £17.25   |  Saving you £2.74 (15.88%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From Teruo Ishii 'The King of Cult' Blind Woman's Curse (also known as Black Cat's Revenge) is a thrilling Yakuza film featuring eye-popping visuals sensational fight sequences and the gorgeous Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood Stray Cat Rock) in her first major role. Akemi (Kaji) is a dragon tattooed leader of the Tachibana Yakuza clan. In a duel with a rival gang Akemi slashes the eyes of an opponent and a black cat appears to lap the blood from the gushing wound. The cat along with the eye-victim go on to pursue Akemi's gang in revenge leaving a trail of dead Yakuza girls their dragon tattoos skinned from their bodies. A bizarre blend of the female Yakuza film and traditional Japanese ghost story with a strong dash of grotesque-erotica (the same movement was a sensibility of Edogawa Rampo whose works were adapted by Ishii in Horrors of Malformed Men) Blind Woman's Curse is a delirious mash-up of classic genre tropes of which Ishii was no stranger having directed everything from Super Giant films to Biker movies! Special Features: New High Definition digital transfer Newly commissioned artwork Collector's booklet More to be announced!

• Guilty of Romance (2011) | DVD | (28/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A dramatic account of three women and their lives seen through the looking glass of sex words madness death and family Guilty Of Romance - the new crime noir from the award-winning director Sion Sono (Love Exposure Cold Fish) - tells the tale of three women entangled in a mystery...a mystery that is the gate to a hell-bound love like no other! Set just before the turn of the 21st century a grisly murder occurs in Maruyama-cho Shibuya - a love hotel district - a woman was found dead in a derelict apartment in the pouring rain. Whilst the police investigate the story interweaves with that of Izumi the wife of a famous romantic novelist whose life seems just a daily repetition without romance. One day to break away from the loveless monotony she decides to follow her desires and accepts a job as a naked model faking sex in front of the camera. Soon she meets with a mentor and starts selling her body to strangers whilst at home she hides behind the facade that she is still the wife she is supposed to be. Bombarding the audience with graphic images and assaulting the emotions with classical music Sion Sono has produced a movie that provokes all your senses blending genres of film noir with drama and mystery and showcasing the directors trademark style and use of vivid colour to portray emotion and mood Guilty Of Romance is the final and most exhilarating part of Sono's hate trilogy.