The Hoodlum Priest (1967)

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.

Released Nov. 15, 1967 84 min None+

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama

Keywords: mdblist.belongs-to-collection, imdb.gambling, imdb.priest, imdb.martial-arts, mdblist.first-in-collection, aspectratio.2-35-1

Production Companies: Daiei Motion Picture Co., Ltd.

Country: Japan
Languages: Japanese