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The hitman who gets hit — and the setup that broke Japanese noir.
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IMDb
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The Execution Game (1979)

sleazy neonexistential sweatyakuza adjacent

Overview

ActionDramaThriller

The third movie in Tōru Murakawa's Game trilogy about a hitman. Narumi is set up by a mysterious woman. Abducted and tortured, Narumi is forced to take on a difficult job. The target is a veteran killer as good as him.

Flag of JPJPJapanese
Content warning
hitman

Standout Aspects

Acting

Matsuda's physicality — every wince is a whole backstory.

Direction

Murakawa's suffocating frame, nowhere to hide.

Cinematography

Tokyo as purgatory: fluorescent, rain-slicked, eternal.

Best for:Solo: Late night, whiskey optional, phone definitely off.·Rewatch: Catch what Narumi's eyes betray that his mouth won't.
Heads up:Violence: Prolonged torture sequence, methodical and unpleasant.·Sexual Content: Exploitative setup involving the mysterious woman.
Tōru Murakawa

Director

Tōru Murakawa

ReleasedNov 17, 1979
Runtime1h 40m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady
Intensityhigh
Tonedark
Feelmedium
Toei Central Film

Top Cast

Yūsaku Matsuda

Yūsaku Matsuda

Shohei Narumi

Aiko Morishita

Aiko Morishita

Keiko Tayama

Lily

Lily

Naoko

Yoshirō Aoki

Yoshirō Aoki

Okajima

Ryuji Katagiri

Ryuji Katagiri

Kei Satō

Kei Satō

Michihiro Yamanishi

Michihiro Yamanishi

Kōjirō Kusanagi

Kōjirō Kusanagi

Hiroshi Shimizu

Hiroshi Shimizu

Rinichi Yamamoto

Rinichi Yamamoto

Iwao Dan

Iwao Dan

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

Matsuda reportedly did his own stunts throughout the Game trilogy, including the torture scenes — method suffering before method acting was cool.

Insight

The trilogy inverted the jidaigeki 'lone wolf' archetype: Narumi's professionalism isn't noble, it's pathological, predicting the collapse of Showa-era masculine codes.

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Reviews

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The Game Trilogy(3 films)
The Most Dangerous Game poster6.0

The Most Dangerous Game

1978

The Killing Game poster7.5

The Killing Game

1978

The Execution Game poster
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The Execution Game

1979

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