Blu-ray Release: Yakuza Law

Blu-ray Release Date: May 14, 2019
Price: Blu-ray $27.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD

Director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman’s Curse, Horrors of Malformed Men), the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents 1969’s Yakuza Law (aka Yakuza’s Law: Lynching) – a grueling anthology of torture, spawning three district periods of Japanese history and bringing 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 Honor 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.

Arrow Video’s new edition of the 1969 movie includes the following:

• 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