"Director: Teruo Ishii"

• Orgies Of Edo | Blu Ray | (19/11/2018) from £9.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Legendary Toei director Teruo Ishii tells three stories of moral sickness set during Japan's prosperous Genroku era in this bloody follow-up to his sexploitation classic Shogun's Joy of Torture, and the fourth entry in Toei's ˜abnormal love' film series. Ishii's politically incorrect moral lessons paint a trio of tales of tragic heroines caught up in violence, sadomasochism, incest and torture. Told in anthology style by an impassive physician (Teruo Yoshida), the first story follows Oito (Masumi Tachibana), an innocent young girl deceived by a handsome yakuza and sold into prostitution who finds herself in a doomed love affair with the man who brought her to ruin. The tale of Ochise (Mitsuko Aoi) is about the daughter of a rich merchant whose insatiable appetite for filth and perversion draws her deeper into violence, darkness and betrayal. Finally, the story of Omitsu (Miki Obana) follows a sadistic lord (Asao Koike) whose eye is caught one day by a beautiful member of his harem who shares his strange taste for pain and blood, but who holds a secret of her own that will destroy his entire household. A stylistic about-face from the director's prior work for Toei on the successful Abashiri Prison action series starring Ken Takakura, Ishii's erotic films grew increasingly shocking, violent and strange, and Orgies of Edo finds him combining period film detail with carnivalesque grotesquerie to create his own particular vision of love and sex. This landmark ˜ero-guro' film allowed Ishii to experiment with elements that would later show up in his masterpieces Horrors of Malformed Men and Blind Woman's Curse, including the participation of sideshow performers and butoh dancer Tatsumi Hijikata. Special Edition Contents: High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing The Orgies of Ishii an exclusive, newly filmed interview with author Patrick Maccias Theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Tom Mes

• Yakuza Law | Blu Ray | (13/05/2019) from £9.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman's Curse, Horrors of Malformed Men), the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (AKA Yakuza's Law: Lynching) a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised. In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata (Minoru Oki, Shogun Assassin) returns to face punishment for his past transgressions and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day '60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii's Orgies of Edo), as a powerful crime syndicate seeks bloody vengeance for the theft of one hundred thousand yen. Brutal, bewildering and definitely not for the faint-hearted, Yakuza Law represents Japanese popular cinema at its most extreme and most thrilling. Special Edition Contents: High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack Optional English subtitles New audio commentary by author and critic Jasper Sharp Erotic-Grotesque and Genre Hopping: Teruo Ishii Speaks, a rare vintage interview with the elusive director on his varied career, newly edited for this release Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tom Mes

• Shogun's Joy of Torture | Blu Ray | (22/02/2021) from £11.96   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  From the outrageous imagination of cult director Teruo Ishii (Orgies of Edo, Horrors of Malformed Men) comes this infamous omnibus of three shocking tales of crime and punishment based on true-life documented cases set during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. The first tale sees the beautiful Mitsu (Masumi Tachibana) going to horrifying lengths to tend to her older brother Shinzō (Teruo Yoshida), a carpenter injured in a work accident, but the law catches up on them and metes out a terrifying retribution after they violate the ultimate taboo. In the second, unfettered passions in a Buddhist nunnery are not allowed to go unpunished after abbess Reihō (Yukie Kagawa) and her attendant Rintoku (Naomi Shiraishi) encounter a virile young monk from a neighbouring temple. In the closing segment, a sadistic torturer (Fumio Watanabe) attempts to show a tattoo artist (Asao Koike) how to depict convincing expressions of faces of pain in his work by allowing him to sketch a selection of Europeans as they are tortured for entering Japan with the aim of spreading Christianity. Ishii's notorious portmanteau of Edo-era excess signalled a change in direction for a director until then regarded for his crime and yakuza films, setting the ball rolling on the run of grotesque historical anthologies for which he is now best remembered. Vehemently denounced by the critics of the day, Shogun's Joy of Torture set a new benchmark for the depiction of sex, sadism and depravity in Japanese exploitation, with Ishii staging his elaborate torture methods with an unmatched verve and inventiveness. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Original uncompressed mono PCM audio Optional English subtitles Audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes Teruo Ishii: Erotic-Grotesque Maestro an exclusively newly filmed interview with the author Patrick Macias Bind, Torture, Thrill author and critic Jasper Sharp discusses the history of torture in Japanese exploitation cinema Original trailer Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips

• Horrors Of Malformed Men | Blu Ray | (17/09/2018) from £9.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Cult director Teruo Ishii (Shogun s Joy of Torture, Blind Woman s Curse) presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the fevered imagination of Japan s celebrated pioneer ofero-guro ( erotic grotesque ) literature, Edogawa Rampo. Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman s household and his dead double s marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own. A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo's tales, Horrors of Malformed Men boasts astonishing carnivalesque art design and haunting performances. Withdrawn from cinemas by its own studio after its original scandalous release nearly fifty years ago, the film is among the very best screen interpretations of the author s macabre brand of horror-fantasy fiction, and a unique oddity of Japanese cult cinema. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original negative High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Uncompressed mono 1.0 PCM audio Newly translated optional English subtitles Two audio commentaries by Japanese cinema experts Tom Mes and Mark Schilling Malformed Movies: a new video interview with Toei exploitation movie screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda Malformed Memories: Filmmakers Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo the Iron Man) and Minoru Kawasaki (The Calamari Wrestler) on the career of director Teruo Ishii Ishii in Italia: Ishii and Mark Schilling visit the Far East Film Festival Image Gallery Theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp, Tom Mes and Grady Hendrix

• The Female Yakuza Tale | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £7.09   |  Saving you £8.90 (125.53%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Female Yakuza Tale is an anarchistic apex in the career of Japanese cult director Teruo Ishii whose fifty year resume includes Horror of Malformed Men and Blind Beast vs Killer Dwarf. Notoriously lacking restraint sexy ""Pinky Violence"" star Reiko Ike returns in this gonzo sequel to Sex & Fury following the further exploits of Ocho a thief and gambler running afoul of evil yakuza in Meiji era Tokyo. Aided by a lone wolf adventurer (Ryohei Uchida) Ocho investigates a ruthless gang of cutthroats who are using indentured street walkers as drug mules to smuggle heroin from China. Director Ishii throws everything but the kitchen sink into this mind-altering sexploitation action saga all culminating in a bloody mobster massacre replete with sultry swordswomen. Full of intoxicating mayhem and uproarious kabuki-striptease antics Female Yakuza Talefreak-out filmmaking at its finest!

• 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!

• Streetfighter's Last Revenge | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In the third of the 'Streetfighter' adventures action star Sonny Chiba reprises his role as James Bond-esque agent Tsurugi who this time embarks on a deadly road of revenge when heroin manufacturers kill his girlfriend...