Executioner (1974)
"Chokugeki! Jigoku-ken" (original title)

Three street toughs are hired to take down a Tokyo drug dealer in this hard-hitting Toei karate action film.

Director:

Teruo Ishii

Writers:

Teruo Ishii, Bobby White (subtitles)

Stars:

Sonny Chiba, Eiji Gô, Yutaka Nakajima

Cast

Credited cast:
Sonny Chiba	...	Ryuichi Koga
Eiji Gô	...	Ichiro Sakura
Yutaka Nakajima	...	Emi (as Doris Nakajima)
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Toga as a boy (as Hiroyuki Shimosawa)
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Karate teacher
Makoto Satô	...	Takeshi Hayato
Ryô Ikebe	...	Arashiyama
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	Mario Mizuhara
Michitaro Mizushima	...	Hakusessai Koga
Rikiya Yasuoka	...	Lone wolf
Hideo Murota	...	Boss
Meika Seri	...	Woman
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kôji Hio	...	Bunshô Chin
Hiroshi Nawa

Storyline

Three street toughs are hired to take down a Tokyo drug dealer in this hard-hitting Toei karate action film.

---

Plot Keywords:

karate | action hero | fighting | disarming someone | gore | 

---

Taglines:

Chiba... is back - more deadly than any weapon!

---

Genres:

Action

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Direct Hit! Hell Fist

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Tokyo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Spoofed in PlayGirls 2 (1993)

User Reviews

Brutal!

This karate classic is one of a kind. Sonny Chiba is remember for his Street Fighter prowess plays a fighter with ninja skills who is recruited by a ex-cop now hit-man along with a another fighter who is a complete nincompoop and very sexy lady. They go after a drug syndicate who uses a deaf-mute as a pawn to their schemes. The death-scenes are a little more animated than gruesome. The fighting scenes are great as well. I liked the part where Sonny's character steps on the paint and painted the enemies up. More plans do come up, and the fighter wants to get more of his share of the cut. However, he trust in the boss is questionable. The crime syndicate gets more fighters to take on Sonny's character. Somehow, arrogance and egos clashed with some of the fighters which gave Sonny character an edge. This movie was rather corny in some areas, other than that, in was fun to watch in my opinion. A very big keeper. 5 stars!