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Seijun Suzuki’s delirious 1967 hit-man film has drawn comparisons with contemporaries Le Samourai and Point Blank and influenced directors such as John Woo, Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino among others.

The story of laconic yakuza Hanada, aka ‘No. 3 Killer’, the third rated hit-man in Japan who takes an impossible job from the mysterious, death obsessed Misako. Hanada bungles the hit and finds himself the target of his employers and a bullet ridden journey leads him to face the No. 1 Killer.

Shot in cool monochrome with beguiling visuals, Branded to Kill is an effortlessly cool crime film with a jazzy score that caused Suzuki to be fired by the studio’s executives but is now rightly recognised as his masterpiece.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- New High Definition digital transfer
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
- Newly translated English subtitles for both films
- Interview with director Seijun Suzuki
- Interview with star Jo Shishido by critic and author Koshi Ueno
- Trapped in Lust [Aiyoku no wana] (1973) – A delirious roman porno re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya, one of Branded to Kill’s screenwriters and Suzuki’s regular collaborators
- Original Trailers for Branded to Kill and Trap of Lust
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
- Booklet by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp, illustrated with original stills and new artwork by Ian MacEwan

- Trapped in Lust [Aiyoku no wana] (1973) – A delirious roman porno re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya, one of Branded to Kill’s screenwriters and Suzuki’s regular collaborators

Well done Arrow, this is how you make me double dip (especially if it's in HD)!

- Trapped in Lust [Aiyoku no wana] (1973) – A delirious roman porno re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya, one of Branded to Kill’s screenwriters and Suzuki’s regular collaborators

Truly amazing! Is this the first, official, subtitled release of a film directed by Yamatoya?

EddieLarkin wrote:

- Trapped in Lust [Aiyoku no wana] (1973) – A delirious roman porno re-imagining of Branded to Kill from Atsushi Yamatoya, one of Branded to Kill’s screenwriters and Suzuki’s regular collaborators

Well done Arrow, this is how you make me double dip (especially if it's in HD)!

It isn't. Which I imagine is why it's been relegated to supporting feature status.

That's too bad. No matter; other than an unsubtitled Japanese disc, the film appears to be unavailable. It'll go nicely with the big catalog of Nikkatsu roman pornos Synapse have been putting out.

Beaver.

Gary's claim that Trapped in Lust is 1080p got me all excited until I saw the caps and realised he means upconverted 1080p. Still, it doesn't look too bad!

Mondo Digital.

Has this set been delayed to November 8 as amazon claims?

August 18th. The Amazon date is wrong and should hopefully be corrected first thing tomorrow morning. (November 8th is a Saturday, whereas UK release dates always fall on a Monday.)

Ashirg wrote:Has this set been delayed to November 8 as amazon claims?

No. It was delayed, but not by that far.

Packaging pics from the Arrow Tumblr.

DVDactive, not a good score for the movie unfortunately.

DVD Active is obviously staffed by ex-Nikkatsu executives!

Although if that were the case they would not have made the mistake in the review of calling Trapped In Lust a 'porno film' rather than a 'Roman Porno film', a term for the era of Nikkatsu films between 1971 and 1988 once they shifted production entirely into the erotic genre! It is a slight difference I suppose but an important one!