The Hoodlum Priest

The first film in the 2 part series about Ryuzen, a renegade martial-arts priest who, in addition to breaking all the commandments against sex and gambling, opens his own gambling den in direct defiance of the local yakuza boss. Exciting action and a twisty plot this movie breaks new barriers in Japanese cinema. Katsu Shintaro is superb in one of his better non-Zato Ichi roles as he fights off the advances of a love-lorn woman and risks his life to defeat the powerful gambling boss who has a stranglehold on the town.

Cast

Shintarō Katsu

as Ryuzen

Mayumi Ogawa

as Otatsu

Mikio Narita

as Kashiwa Shinjuro

Kayo Mikimoto

as Otsuru

Naoko Kubo

as Oen

Jun Tatara

as Gonroku

Hōsei Komatsu

as Daihachi

Ryūtarō Gomi

as Toramatsu

Yoshio Kaneuchi

Fumio Watanabe

Reviews

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