Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Shogun's Joy of Torture Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2021

“Joy” and “torture” probably don’t reside all that easily next to each other in any given formulation, but of course part of the provocative aspect of the title of Shogun’s Joy of Torture is that very disconnect. In fact writer and director Teruo Ishii made a whole series of similar films which have been banded together under the rubric Joys of Torture, which may only add to the overall unsettling feeling of things. Shogun’s Joy of Torture was the first entry in the franchise, part of Ishii’s wide ranging attempts to supposedly document historical Japan’s evident obsession with certain kinkinesses. Just the opening few moments of the film, which play out during the credits sequence, help alert the audience as to what’s in store, with various scenes detailing both the beheading and the vivisection of some poor, helpless woman who has been tied and bound and hung from a tree, another woman being burned alive and a third being ripped apart. Arrow Video, long the purveyor of cult cinema, has been releasing Ishii's films over the past few years, and in my review of their Blu-ray release of Orgies of Edo, I mentioned how the general presentiment of "outsiders" with a familiarity of Japanese culture is how "polite" and "nice" the Japanese are seen to be, and in that regard it might be salient to note that Shogun's Joy of Torture was evidently met with shock by the critical class, but maybe hilariously with awe by the ticket buying public, as so often tends to be the case, and not just in Japan. The film was something of a cause célèbre in its day, which no doubt led to even greater renown and probably ironically helped encourage Toie and Ishii to keep churning out subsequent efforts. Even by Ishii standards Shogun's Joy of Torture can be a bit stomach churning at times, and as some of the supplements get into, it's virtually impossible to ignore what many will no doubt consider misogynistic currents wafting through the film.

Shogun's Joy of Torture is a kinda sorta portmanteau built out of three separate but at least somewhat interlinked segments. The first story deals with a hapless worker named Shinzô (Teruo Yoshida), who sustains a bad injury to his head while on the job. Shinzô's sister Mitsu (Masumi Tachibana) attempts to take things into her own hands in order to care for her brother, which brings her into contact with Shinzô's villainous boss Minosuke (Kichijirô Ueda), which leads to calamity. Suffice it to say there is ill intent on the part of Minosuke, but there's also the "little" added element of an incestuous relationship between the siblings that plays into things. So much for "nice" and "polite".

Speaking of cult cinema and a film that would be perfectly at home among Arrow's frequently interesting offerings, some may remember the 1971 Ken Russell film The Devils, which was based in part on the writings of Aldous Huxley. That film detailed a kind of mania sweeping through a religious order, with a number of graphically violent and sexual aspects unfolding which made the film just as much of a cause célèbre in its day as Shogun's Joy of Torture had been just two or three years or so before. The second story in this particular outing is at least somewhat similar to The Devils, at least in terms of its religious order setting and its graphic displays of both violence and sexuality. As with The Devils, this tale involves a nun, in this case named Reihô (Yuki Kagawa), who becomes involved with a priest, in this case named Syunkai (Shin'ichirô Hayashi). This is another examination of so-called "forbidden love" (aside and apart from the incestuous aspect of the first tale) which of course devolves into depravity.

The final sequence of Shogun's Joy of Torture clearly presages a film Ishii would make the year after this one came out, Inferno of Torture. Both that film and this "episode" detail almost baroque tattoos inscribed on the flesh of females. Tattoo artist Horichô (Asao Koike) thinks he's "hot stuff", but he's out to top his previous efforts and decides to draw inspiration from what might be thought of as Japan's own version of the Inquisition, albeit in this case with an either shocking or maybe somewhat hilarious "equal abuse opportunity" aspect in that it features Western women.

Shogun's Joy of Torture Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shogun's Joy of Torture is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is another Toie offering where Arrow's insert booklet contains only the following pretty generic verbiage on the transfer:

Shogun's Joy of Torture is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 [sic] with mono sound.

The High Definition master was produced and supplied by Toie, with additional grading by Arrow Films at R3Store Studios, London.

As has also been the case with other Toie supplied masters, there are some variabilities at play here, though on the whole the presentation can often offer good to excellent detail levels, especially since Ishii loves to zoom in for extreme close-ups of faces, where everything from pores to flyaway hairs can be easily visible. That said, there are a number of fairly soft looking moments, and there are even some brief interludes that have peculiar anomalies, as in what looks like momentary anamorphic stretching (see screenshot 6) or even a defective lens that is adding to what looks like fringing (see screenshot 19). There are also a couple of moments that frankly look out of focus. The palette also experiences some fluctuations, and looked a bit faded overall to my eyes, with flesh tones veering toward browns at times. That said, there are sections that look nicely vivid, and the blood reds can be quite impressive. Grain resolves without any issues.

Shogun's Joy of Torture Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shogun's Joy of Torture offers an enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track in the original Japanese. Some of the score choices, including what sound like taiko drums pounding out an almost feral rhythm as the film opens, are nicely full bodied and display no signs of distortion or breaking up. Many of the outdoor scenes have at least passing attempts at ambient environmental fill in the background, and sound fine also. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though it did look and sound to me like there had been copious post looping. Optional English subtitles are available.

Shogun's Joy of Torture Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes


• Teruo Ishii: Erotic-Grotesque Maestro (1080p; 13:23) serves a companion piece of sorts to the Orgies of Ishii featurette offered on Arrow's Blu-ray release of Orgies of Edo, both in terms of offering author Patrick Macias, as well as the kind of peculiar stylistic decision to offer ceaseless intercutting with different angles, something that I personally found distracting.


• Bind, Torture, Thrill (1080p; 25:16) is an interesting analysis of the ero-guro subgenre by Jasper Sharp.


• Original Trailer (1080p; 2:40)


• Image Gallery (1080p; 3:10)

Additionally, this comes with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips and Arrow's typically nicely appointed insert booklet.

Shogun's Joy of Torture Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are actually three morality plays "with a twist" on display in Shogun's Joy of Torture which make this aggregation almost seem like a slightly erotic-grotesque version of something like Rod Serling's old Night Gallery series. The character studies are often quite fascinating, but viewers had best be prepared for a little blood, gore and smackdown of females along the way. Video is a little rough looking at times, but audio is fine and as usual with Arrow's releases, the supplemental package is quite well done. With caveats noted, and for Ishii fans in particular, Recommended.