A Certain Killer / A Killer’s Key Blu-ray presents two razor-sharp Japanese crime thrillers from 1967, starring Raizō Ichikawa at the peak of his career as a cool, methodical professional assassin. Anticipating the stripped-down violence and existential detachment of later hitman classics, these films stand as essential works of Japanese noir, blending yakuza intrigue with icy restraint and sudden brutality.
 
In A Certain Killer, Ichikawa plays Shiozaki, a quiet sushi chef whose unassuming daily routine masks his true occupation as a contract killer specializing in poisoned needles. Hired by a low-ranking yakuza member to eliminate a rival boss, Shiozaki’s carefully controlled existence begins to fracture when he becomes involved with a spirited young woman, forcing him to confront the consequences of emotional attachment in a profession built on anonymity and detachment.
 
A Killer’s Key sees Ichikawa return as another variation on the lone assassin archetype, this time posing as a traditional dance instructor drawn into a high-level yakuza financial scandal with political ramifications. As corruption spreads upward through business and government, the killer is once again forced to navigate betrayal, loyalty, and survival in a world where discretion is as deadly as violence.
 
Directed by Kazuo Mori, one of Daiei’s most respected filmmakers, and co-scripted by Yasuzō Masumura, the films are visually elevated by the expressive widescreen cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa, whose bold compositions and color work lend both entries a sleek, modern sensibility. Arrow Video presents both films together for the first time for the English-language home video market, newly restored and fully subtitled.
 
directed by: Kazuo Mori
starring: Raizō Ichikawa, Mikio Narita, Yumiko Nogawa
1967 / approx. 160 min total