Shogun's Joy of Torture (1968)

Director: Teruo Ishii

Notable Cast: Teruo Yoshida, Masumi Tachibana, Fumio Watanabe, Reiko Mikasa, Miki Obana, Yukie Kagawa, Shinichiro Hayashi, Asao Koike, Kichijiro Ueda, Tamaki Sawa

 

One of the best things about many of the recent Arrow Video acquisitions is their intentions to dig up some of the missing cult classics from the King of Cult, Teruo Ishii. They’ve already released a handful of his filmography, an insane amount of films for those who want to attempt counting them, and their latest, Shogun’s Joy of Torture, brings back one of his most sought-after and acclaimed titles from his pinky violence era. Like many of the other films released by Arrow, this 1968 exploitation flick is an omnibus of three stories centered around the titular theme - old-school torture elements from Japan’s history. It’s not one of his best, but for those looking for a slab of interestingly made provocative cinema, it’s hard to go wrong with this one. 

 

Yakuza Law (1969)

Director: Teruo Ishii

Notable Cast: Ryutaro Otomo, Bunta Sugawara, Minoru Oki, Hiroshi Miyauchi, Teruo Yoshida, Renji Ishibashi, Keiko Fujita, Yukie Kagawa, Hisaya Ito, Ichiro Sugai, Yoshiko Fujito
Like most of the of the cult directors from Japan at the time, Teruo Ishii cut his teeth in secondary genre films before getting its big break with the Abashiri Prison series of which he directed the numerical equivalent of a ‘shit ton’ before punching out and doing what he would be known for best – wild and artistic exploitation films. Over the last year, Arrow Video dropped two brilliant new Blu Rays of two of his classics, The Horrors of Malformed Men and Orgies of Edo, for fans to enjoy. To complete the set though, their latest release is for his other anthology film, Yakuza Law. While both of the previously mentioned films will appease fans of exploitation with nightmarish imagery, intense violence, and plenty of erotic elements, Yakuza Law represents a slightly different version of Ishii. Coming out in 1969, this film feels like a bridge between his earlier career in action films and that of his more artistic exploitation era. It’s an anthology of three yakuza stories, all told in a different time period, but the film’s intention to showcase the awful lows of how man treats one another gives the film that intense exploitative violence too. It’s a strangely effective combination that proves to be both perplexing and provocative. A bold combination that will definitely appeal to fans of the Arrow Video distribution line.

Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)

Director: Teruo Ishii

Notable Cast: Teruo Yoshida, Yukie Kagawa, Teruko Yumi, Mitsuko Aoi, Michiko Kobata, Minoru Oki

As a cult cinema addict, it is always fun to find the strange and off kilter pieces of film that exists. If you want strange and off kilter, then Teruo Ishii has to be a staple of your queue. That’s just how it’s going to be. A lot of his material has become hard to necessarily find over time though and when Arrow Video first announced that their Blu Ray release of his cult classic, Horrors of Malformed Men, would be the first of a handful of new Ishii titles, it was a welcome announcement. This title, which is generally regarded as one of his classics in many film social circles, is a great way to introduce someone new to his material. It’s an insane film, one that starts off half cocked then seemingly finds a more traditional story telling groove before leaping off the cliff of logic at the end, but it’s also a film that can be appreciated for its abrasive tone instead of being completely off putting. Horrors of Malformed Men is a strange film, but charmingly so despite many of its issues. Ergo, the perfect kind of cult film. It’s a film that perfectly aligns with fans of Arrow Video releases.