Black Tight Killers

Black Tight Killers

Theatrical poster for the U.S. release of Black Tight Killers (1966)
Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe[1]
Written by Ryūzō Nakanishi
Michio Tsuzuki
Starring Akira Kobayashi
Chieko Matsubara
Music by Naozumi Yamamoto
Cinematography Kazue Nagatsuka
Edited by Akira Suzuki
Distributed by Nikkatsu
Release dates
 February 12, 1966
Running time
 86 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Black Tight Killers (俺にさわると危ないぜ Ore ni Sawaru to Abunaize), also known as If You Touch Me Danger[2] is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe and based on the novel 三重露出 by Michio Tsuzuki.[3]

Synopsis

Daisuke Honda, a war photographer in Vietnam, meets Yuriko Sawanouchi, a stewardess on his plane back to Japan. After drinking with her at a Tokyo bar, he becomes involved in saving Yuriko from assassination by stylish, female ninjas. When trying to rescue Yuriko from kidnappers, Daisuke discovers a group of foreigners are hunting for a WWII-era treasure hidden on an island by Yuriko's father.[1][4][5]

Cast

Critical appraisal

Jonathan Crow of Allmovie notes that the influence of Hasebe's mentor Seijun Suzuki can be seen in Black Tight Killers. Like Suzuki, he uses the tropes of the gangster genre to create "a pop-art dreamscape" with "tail fins, flawless fashion, sudden and unexpected go-go dancing, cool jazz, and freakish violence". Hasebe's quirky use of gaudy color is singled out for comment in the review, which judges the film to be "wild, decadent fun".[6]

In his survey of the pink film genre, Steve Fentone sums up Black Tight Killers with, "Chix with guns. What more do ya need?"[7] Jasper Sharp writes that the plot is not especially impressive, but of Hasebe's visuals, he comments, "there is not a single individual sequence here that fails to deliver enough great dollops of saccharine-coated eye candy to satisfy even the most jaded visual gourmand". He concludes, "this simply magical film is a hoot from start to finish".[8]

Availability

Black Tight Killers was released theatrically in Japan on February 12, 1966.[1] It was released in the U.S. during this era.[7][8] It was released in DVD format in Japan in 2005.[9] Image Entertainment released the film on DVD in the United States. This DVD has the burned-in subtitles which were part of the film's original U.S. release.[8]

Bibliography

English

Japanese

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "俺にさわると危ないぜ". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  2. ↑ "ORENI SAWARUTO ABUNAIZE". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 俺にさわると危ないぜ (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  4. ↑ Crow, Jonathan. "Black Tight Killers: Plot Synopsis". Allmovie. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  5. ↑ 俺にさわると危ないぜ(邦画 ) (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  6. ↑ Crow, Jonathan. "Black Tight Killers: Review". Allmovie. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fentone, Steve (1998). "The Black Tight Killers; A Rip of the Flesh: The Japanese 'Pink Film' Cycle". She 2 (11): p.8.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sharp, Jasper (2001-05-10). "Black Tight Killers". www.midnighteye.com. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
  9. ↑ 俺にさわると危ないぜ(1966) (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. Retrieved 2010-02-18.