A CERTAIN KILLER / A KILLER’S KEY: Smooth Criminal

A CERTAIN KILLER / A KILLER’S KEY (Blu-ray)

1967 / 161 min (2 movies)

From Arrow Video

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Yakuza😽

There’s something about hitmen in movies that’s inherently appealing, especially when they are the protagonist. One of my favorites is 1972’s The Mechanic, with Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop, a cool, calculating contract killer who frequently does jobs for the mafia.

Watching both of the films on this disc, I couldn’t help but think its main character could have partially inspired Bishop. As played by Ichokawa Raizō, this killer is also a man of few words, emotionally unflappable and exacting in his methods (though he appears to prefer piercing the sweet spots with small daggers). He’s generally hired by the yakuza to dispatch their enemies, though he doesn’t have any particular allegiance to one clan over another.

I guess the biggest difference between these films and The Mechanic is Raizō’s character has small businesses as a cover for his real job. In A Certain Killer, he’s Shiozawa, a bar owner who takes in ditzy tart Keiko (Yumiko Nogawa) to work as a hostess. The film gets off to a dire start by dedicating way too much screen time to her...a supremely obnoxious character. But things pick up when he’s hired by yakuza boss Kimura to get rid of a competitor.

Somewhat hampered by jarring flashbacks, the story is fairly light on action, but Shiozawa is an interesting character who always seems one step ahead of his enemies. This eventually includes Keiko, who conspires with Kimura’s right hand man to betray him during a drug theft, leading to an exciting climax.

A wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Released the same year, Raizō and director Kazuo Mori return for A Killer’s Key. This time, he goes by the name of Nitta and poses as a dance instructor (!) whose “student,” Hideko (Tomomi Sato), tends to side with whoever gives her a financial advantage (sort of making her a femme fatale). Nitta's services are called upon by a mysterious yakuza boss to kill a man who can expose him during an upcoming trial. But once he finishes the job, the same clan tries to eliminate him…which is easier said than done.

With a more straightforward narrative and better supporting characters (Hideko is the pleasant polar opposite of Keiko), A Killer’s Key is an improvement over the first film. It’s far more action oriented and boasts a more intriguing plot, with a tragically amusing final scene. 

Fairly obscure on this side of the pond, neither movie is a lost classic. But their main character is an interesting example of the elite assassin as protagonist, so fans of this sort of thing should certainly check them out. Both films have really good Blu-ray transfers, though the disc is pretty light on bonus features (for an Arrow release, anyway)

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

THE DEFINITE MURDERER - This is a 30-minute appreciation by Japanese film scholar Mark Roberts.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Tony Rayns, who provides commentary for both films.

TRAILERS

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