Prolific director Takashi Miike (AUDITION) keeps finding new ways to test the boundaries of on-screen violence. ICHI THE KILLER is a masterful piece of filmmaking, simultaneously funny and horrific, but it's only for viewers with strong stomachs. One character, Kakihara (Japanese indie film heartthrob Tadanobu Asano), a masochistic yakuza lieutenant, has slits in his cheeks through which he blows cigarette smoke and gleefully hacks off his own tongue to apologize for his impudence. Then there's eponymous assassin (Nao Omori), a painfully shy but sadistic young voyeur who wears a leather superhero outfit to work. Manipulated by the cagey and mysterious Jijii (English translation: "Gramps," Shinya Tsukamoto), Ichi lashes out and massacres those Jijii deems bullies, and basically anyone else who upsets his frail psyche. Jijii uses the demented lad to start a bloody war between rival yakuza factions. Miike's film is full of grotesquely over-the-top violent set pieces, including flying entrails, graphic mutilations, and even a severed human face splattered against a wall and slowly sliding to the ground. It's all captured with kinetic camerawork and hyperactive editing. It's not for everyone, but bolder viewers will find it uniquely entertaining.

Theatrical Release: FEBRUARY 23, 2002 (NY)

DVD Features:

3-Disc Set
Region 1
Keep Case
Unedited
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - Japanese, English
Subtitles - English - Optional
Disc 1: ICHI THE KILLER
Additional Release Material:
Featurette: Featuring Horror Film Director Eli Roth
Behind the Scenes: Making Of
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary: Takashi Miike - Director; Hideo Yamamoto - Source Writer/Artist
Text/Photo Galleries:
Stills/Photos
Disc 2: Special Features
Additional Release Material:
Featurette: The Cult of ICHI (Featuring Horror Writer Jack Ketchum, Fangoria’s Tony Timpone, Director Mike Mendez, Actress Barbara Nedeljakova (HOSTEL))
Interviews:
1. Producer Dai Miyazaki, Actors Sabu and Tsukamotodiscuss,
2. Cast interviews with Tadanobu Asano (Kakihara), Nao Omori(Ichi), Sabu (SUZUKI) Susumu Terajimaas Sabu and Shinya Tsukamoto (Jijii).
Disc 3: Special Features
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Comprehensive Selection of Media Blasters Trailers

Distributor Notes: Welcome to a world where violence is a virtue and depravity is away of life. This ithes underside of Shinjuku, and the Home of Kakihara, a sadistic Yakuaza killer. He relentlessly tears apart the underworld searching for the man who killed his boss. The mastermind behind the plot is Jiji, an ex-cop bent on turning the gangsters of Japan against one another. Hisi trump card is a physically powerful lunatic who is constantly onthe verge of snapping. This madman is Ichi, the killer, and between him and Kakihara, the streets will run red with blood.
Brought to you by Takashi Miike, the director of Auditionand Visitor Q.

Tadanobu Asano: Japanese actor: TABOO (1999)
Nao Omori: Actor, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)
Shinya Tsukamoto: Japanese Director
 Sabu: Indian Actor - THE JUNGLE BOOK (1942)
Paulyn Sun: Actor, FU BO
Susuma Terajima: Actor

Takashi Miike: Director, DEAD OR ALIVE (2001)

Akiko Funatsu: Producer, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)
Dai Miyazaki: Producer, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)
Toyoyuki Yokohama: Japanese anime producer

Elliott Tong: 
Yuchul Cho: Coproducer, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)

Sakichi Sato: Screenwriter, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)

Karera Musication: Composer, ICHI THE KILLER (2002)

"...Takashi's kinetic direction and stylish visual flair are humorous and diverting..."
"...This demented butcher shop of a movie takes Asian cinema to new extremes..."
"Takashi Miike's ICHI THE KILLER separates the men from the boys....With hyperkinetic camerawork and editing as well as a deep plot shaded with viciously dark humor..."