THE KILLING MACHINE (1975)
Directed by Norifumi Suzuki
Starring: Shinichi Chiba, Yutaka Nakajima
Genre: Action
Running Time: 83mins

Rating:

Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba plays Doshin Sho a disillusioned Japanese soldier returning home to a nation that has been defeated and an economy that is crippling its people. Trained in the arts of Shao-Lin since childhood, Doshin Sho finds conflict at every turn on the Osaka streets as vice, poverty and crime take hold. Following an altercation with US patrolmen, Doshin Sho is banished from Osaka, setting up a Shao-Lin dojo in Shikokku to spread a message of peace of mind, body and spirit to his pupils. However, rival schools opposed to the Chinese martial art and the constant threat of violence from local Yakuza threatens to tear apart his solitude, paving the way for a final confrontation to settle old scores and restore dignity to its people.

Released as part of Optimum Asia’s Sonny Chiba collection, The Killing Machine is yet another showcase of Chiba’s charismatic, hard-as-nails shtick. The righteous hero act is not new, and the plot is structureless and scattershot. But originality and structure aren’t the reasons you watch a Sonny Chiba film, it’s all about fighting, gratuitous violence, and more fighting. And if that’s what you’re after, there’s plenty to go around here.

It’s hard to comment on the action sequences as they are naturally dated in comparison to the balletic displays of modern day martial arts films and of the 80s golden era of Hong Kong’s output. The movements lack fluidity, but there is enough invention in these sequences to still hold up for entertainment value. In particular an incredibly shocking, wince inducing, revenge exacted against a Yakuza thug involving a pair of scissors, THE organ you’re all praying its not, and a stray dog (yep its that random).

Added to this some genuinely exquisite cinematography and high production values, the film is a B-Movie shot like a classic. Some of the compositions are superb with beautiful framing, subtle lighting and great set design all fused with the freneticism of 70’s Japanese cinema with occasional dutch angles whenever its time for Chiba to prove himself as the man needed to carry the films title.

Major flaws come from its lack of subtlety towards other nations with the Chinese, Koreans and Americans all coming under flak while any mention of the Japanese’ underhand means during WW2 is swept away and only mentioned once in the entire film. But The Killing Machine is really too dumb a film to be taken seriously by any political means and thankfully these xenophobic includes gradually disappear from the script once we hit the shores of Shikokku.

Overall then a fun, entertaining film marred by some fairly hypocritical political views and frequent pacing issues where failed melodrama gets in the way of the action. Best viewed through drinks with friends, The Killing Machine is pure pulp entertainment.