V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal - On Limited Edition Blu-ray

Out on:Blu-Ray 28th April 2025

In 1989 legendary Japanese studio Toei launched their V-Cinema line of direct-to-video genre features. V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal presents nine explosive titles representing some of the best the Japanese crime film has to offer.

Fast-paced and action-packed, Crime Hunter sees detective “Joker” Kawamura out for revenge against the men who gunned down his partner. Along the way he teams up with Lily, a gun-toting nun looking to get back five million dollars that was stolen from her church. Next up, Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet sees wannabe yakuza Junko get more than he bargained for when tasked with avenging the murder of a fellow gang member, or face the consequences for betrayal. Meanwhile, in Shunichi Nagasaki’s unbearably tense thriller Stranger, a late-night taxi driver is stalked by the unseen driver of an SUV, who just might have a connection to the taxi driver’s criminal past. In Carlos, the eponymous Brazilian-Japanese petty criminal sees an opportunity to play rival yakuza gangs against each other, but bites off much more than he can chew. Burning Dog is an action-packed heist film where a gang of thieves plot to rob a US military base in Okinawa, but rising tensions in the group threaten to put the plan in jeopardy.

The sequel to one of the most iconic Japanese franchises of all time, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat sees a female assassin hired to infiltrate a women’s prison and search for The Scorpion, a legendary rebellious prisoner hiding in the bowels of the prison. After his fiancée is killed in the crossfire of a yakuza turf war, a man on the edge remorselessly hunts down the gangsters responsible in legendary director Teruo Ishii’s The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses. Meanwhile in Danger Point: The Road to Hell, duo of contract killers’ fragile partnership is tested when their most recent hit starts to have unforeseen consequences. Finally, assassin and femme fatale Shion rebels against the fanatical religious order who prepared her from birth to be the perfect killer in the pulpy XX: Beautiful Hunter.

Jam-packed with action, thrills, and double-crosses, V-Cinema Essentials: Bullets & Betrayal is an electrifying compendium of gems from the Japanese video underworld.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentations of all films
• Original uncompressed Japanese stereo audio for all films except Crime Hunter and original uncompressed Japanese mono audio on Crime Hunter
• Optional newly translated English subtitles for all films
• Nine postcard-sized art cards
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Earl Jackson, Daisuke Miyao, Hayley Scanlon, and Kat Ellinger

DISC 1 – CRIME HUNTER / NEO CHINPIRA: ZOOM GOES THE BULLET

• Newly filmed introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka
• Loose Cannon, a newly filmed interview with Crime Hunter director Shundo Okawa
• Zooming Out, a newly filmed interview with Neo Chinpira: Zoom Goes the Bullet writer-director Banmei Takahashi
• Crime Hunter and the Dawn of V-Cinema, a brand new video essay on Crime Hunter by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
• Original trailers for both films

DISC 2 – STRANGER / CARLOS

• Newly filmed introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka
• Stranger than Fiction, a newly filmed interview with Stranger writer-director Shunichi Nagasaki
• From Manga to Movies, a newly filmed interview with Carlos writer-director Kazuhiro Kiuchi
• An Extra Round in the Chamber, a brand new video essay on Carlos by critic and Japanese cinema expert Jonathan Clements

DISC 3 – BURNING DOG / FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION: DEATH THREAT

• Newly filmed introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka
• Fire and Ice, a brand new video essay on Burning Dog by critic and Japanese cinema expert Mark Schilling
• Toshiharu Ikeda’s Beautiful Monster of Vengeance, a brand new video essay on Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat by film historian Samm Deighan
• Original trailers for both films

DISC 4 – THE HITMAN: BLOOD SMELLS LIKE ROSES / DANGER POINT: THE ROAD TO HELL

• Newly filmed introductions to both films by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka
• The Versatility of Teruo Ishii, a brand new video essay on The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses and its director Teruo Ishii by Japanese cinema expert Frankie Balboa
• The Road to V-Cinema, a brand new video essay on Danger Point: The Road to Hell by critic and Japanese cinema expert James Balmont
• Original trailer for The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses

DISC 5 – XX: BEAUTIFUL HUNTER

• Newly filmed introduction by Japanese film critic Masaki Tanioka
• The Sacred and the Profane, a newly filmed interview with screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi
• The Brought Back the Sleaze, a brand new video essay on XX: Beautiful Hunter by critic and Japanese cinema expert Patrick Macias
• Original trailer

Details:
Barcode: 5027035028408
Cat number: FCD2670
Format: Blu-ray
UK Release date: 28/04/2025
RRP: £64.99
Genre: Crime/ Action
Region coding: B
Runtime: 795 MINS
Discs: 5
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Mono
Colour: Colour
Director: Toshimichi Ohkawa, Banmei Takahashi, Shunichi Nagasaki, Kazuhiro Kiuchi, Yoichi Sai, Toshiharu Ikeda, Teruo Ishii, Yasuharu Hasebe, Masaru Konuma
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Rating: 18

Gallery

RELEASE INFORMATION

Distributor
Arrow Video
Release date
28th April, 2025

KEY TALENT INFORMATION

Director
Toshimichi Ohkawa, Banmei Takahashi, Shunichi Nagasaki, Kazuhiro Kiuchi, Yoichi Sai, Toshiharu Ikeda, Teruo Ishii, Yasuharu Hasebe, Masaru Konuma

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