Massacre Gun

I can't rate this movie all that high because Eiji & Saburo were such pathetic characters that I disliked wasting my time watching their scenes. The story itself was merely mediocre with the direction being only slightly better. Jô Shishido was the highlight but even he couldn't do much with this.

Solid Nikkatsu Noir with striking B/W cinematography, jazzy soundtrack and surprisingly violent scenes. Jô Shishido is charismatic as the big brother who is forced to take vengeance when his brothers are attacked. The plot is quite basic, and while the characters are interesting, it's still not quite able to raise above it's genre limitations. It does contain some great scenes and I picked up shades of Woo's "The Killer" - especially towards the ending.

The intimacy of the relationships - between blood brothers and brothers of blood - gives Massacre Gun a bit more interest and edge than its contemporaries. The jazzy setting is just stylish enough to sometimes feel avant-garde in its approach.