WICKED PRIEST COLLECTION (ARROW VIDEO LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY REVIEW)
Before starring in the acclaimed Lone Wolf and Cub series, actor Tomisaburō Wakayama starred in five edgy action-comedies between 1968 and 1971: the Wicked Priest series. Coming as a turning point in Japanese cinema, the series includes elements of Japanese pink movies (erotica), graphic violence, and evokes the postmodern vibes of Western movies like the Sean Connery James Bond movies and Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, all wrapped up as a wandering ronin-like lecherous fighting priest. Arrow has released all 5 movies in a limited edition blu-ray collection – will it make us blindly seek revenge or have us humbly “itadakimasu”?
Films ★★★☆☆
The five films in the series are the following:
Wicked Priest (1968)
Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder (1968)
Wicked Priest 3: A Killer’s Pilgrimage (1969)
Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back (1970)
Wicked Priest 5: Blood on the Commandments (1971)
The first two are easily the strongest of the bunch, and have a similar juxtaposition to the first two live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies in that the first is more serious while the second more cartoonish; however, unlike the TMNT movies, the second Wicked Priest is arguably the better film as there’s more familiarity with the character and premise.
The remaining three are more of a mixed bag, but do have elements that are worth watching, whether moments, characters, or production aspects.
On the whole, each one tends to follow a similar formula of our main character, Shinkai, the drinking, fighting and f-cking exiled Buddhist priest, entering a town, chasing women, encountering a local gang, helping the locals, fighting his archrival Ryotatsu, and then ending with a lightly gratuitous climactic fight. Again, there are some noticeable James Bond vibes in the first and subsequent movies, though the series falls more into typical Japanese ronin fare. Continuity between movies is a bit funny, in that the cliffhanger-esque endings are never properly continued or resolved.
Some quick thoughts on each movie:
Wicked Priest – The first half is particularly a romp, as we’re introduced to Shinkai and follow him through different situations and meeting different people. Wakayama plays Shinkai as a charming vagabond with a strict code of honor, but is not as instantly charismatic as, say, Toshiro Mifune (though who is?); he settles into the role pretty quickly, though, and it’s interesting to watch his evolution. In the second half of the movie, things slow down and coalesce more as the plot kicks in and heads toward the big fight finish. The action is pretty impressive for its time. Throughout the movie, composer Shunsuke Kikuchi provides a very playful Ennio Morricone-esque score. There are some cool shots and sequences, but most of the film is medium shots in limited spaces.
Wicked Priest 2: Ballad of Murder – The second film gets into things right away and largely stays energetic throughout. It’s better directed (Takashi Harada would take over from Kiyoshi Saeki for this and the next two movies), if a bit more cartoonish (as previously mentioned). Shinkai has to escort a young child to his grandfather (a precursor to Wakayama’s future Lone Wolf role), dealing with all the trials and tribulations along the way. Some nice ongoing storytelling (such as with Shinkai’s archnemesis Ryotatsu), even if the final act feels a bit rushed / off. Note: There are a handful of problematic scenes (cock fighting, sexual assault), but they only last so long. Also, Shinkai’s forehead scar looks funny (and changes in each subsequent movie).
Wicked Priest 3: A Killer’s Pilgrimage – Opens with a quick recap of 2’s climax, then does a “3 years later” jump into the opening credits. Doesn’t do a great job of either continuing the previous movie or hooking the viewer into this one as the full-on lecherous mode in the first act was… a choice. Shinkai protects a fishing village from a local gang. There’s an almost angry energy to the film, but it’s a somewhat dull movie as things happen with little reason to care. The finale somewhat goes through the motions, though is once again bloody and has a somewhat-shocking cliffhanger ending. The music isn’t as compelling in this one, but at least Shinkai’s scar looks better.
Wicked Priest 4: The Killer Priest Comes Back – Once again, no real continuity from the end of 3. It’s overall better than 3, but missing the fun of the first two movies and is missing a real hook. The story has Shinkai return to his home village after many years to attend his mother’s funeral, where he ends up dealing with local Yakuza. Movie opens with a random fight in the snow, then Shinkai crosses paths with a childhood friend who’s chosen a dark path. There’s an SA scene around 20 minutes in that turns into a pretty good fight; Hakuyo, the female foil, is very fun and arguably the best female character in the series (though is unfortunately only in this movie). There’s a creative action sequence around an hour in, but it really cheats on how Shinkai survives; he should be dead multiple times over throughout this series; plot armor is real. There’s a Zatoichi homage that leads to some interesting Ryotatsu character development; odd freeze frame choices during their initial clash, though. The first climactic fight is underwhelming and over too quickly, but the second is better (even if it cheats a good amount). Music is better than the previous movie, bringing back the Morricone vibes, but sparse. Overall, it lands mostly as filler, but has some fun creative choices (Hakuyo and the Zatoichi homage).
Wicked Priest 5: Blood on the Commandments – The final movie opens with Shinkai getting duped by the deceitful and cunning Ogin, who’s easily the most interesting character in the movie (though not as fun as Hakuyo), then once again dealing with the local gangs and villains. The movie is surprisingly bureaucratic, as Shinkai helps his friend, Akira Kurosawa staple Takashi Shimura, get his business license back. The ending isn’t the most exciting or climactic, but does once again have nice bloodwork and is more character-driven, whether it’s Shinkai vs the gang or Shinkai having his final big fight with his arch-rival Ryotatsu.
I’d rank them as the following: 2, 1, 4 or 5 (tie), 3, but YMMV.
Note: Some very minor subtitle flubs across the series (mostly caught in 1 and 5), but they don’t detract.
Video ★★★★☆
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
HDR: N/A
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1, 2.35:1
Clarity/Detail: Clarity and detail is probably the biggest mixed bag for picture quality, as the picture occasionally has subtle shakes and fluctuations throughout the series, let alone can often be soft for anything not in focus (whether close or far). However, close-up faces tend to look phenomenal, clearly seeing all the pores, blemishes, makeup and general skin texture of a given actor; 4 has some ridiculously good face shots (but it also has a rough looking opening, especially right before the title sequence). Clothing in general looks pretty solid, whether its colors, fabric or texture. 5 is easily the consistently best looking of the set, even if colors aren’t quite as saturated / don’t pop as much, but details like actors’ breath is visible.
Depth: Most backgrounds tend to be out of focus, so don’t often come across that clearly. However, when the backgrounds are purposefully in-focus, typically with outdoor environments, then foliage, roads, snow, villages and similar look good. There’s a scene an hour into the 4th movie where the backgrounds look almost green screen, but probably isn’t and is just odd cameras / funky depth..
Black Levels: Blacks are generally pretty solid throughout the series, depending on the amount of lighting in a given scene. Similarly, most of the movies have good contrast, though 4 might be the best, as the snow looks a bright white. Clothes, hair, and shadows are generally good across the series, with subtle shades being distinct; rarely do blacks just look like blobs. There’s a night scene in 5 around 38-minutes in that looks particularly great, along with one actor’s shiny black hair.
Color Reproduction: Color is probably this set’s best strength, but does vary from movie to movie, and even within each movie; subtle fluctuations are fairly common across the movies, though color in some scenes does warble pretty strongly – particularly in the 4th film. Blood looks consistently great, whether real or fake. The movies generally lean on the warm side, with 3 and 4 being more noticeably orange or red and saturated (particularly in faces), whereas the 5th one is a bit more natural and cool (though faces are also still a smidge warm). Clothing in 4 really pops, such as the purple dress one woman wears. Overall, they generally have that great 1960s look, and the video quality on the last is the best of the set (though with more natural, cooler colors).
Flesh Tones: Faces look absolutely fantastic in close-ups. Pores, blemishes, makeup and general skin texture all stand out and almost look good enough to reach out and touch, helped by the typically warm colors. Ryotatsu’s close-ups look ridiculously good, with the eye makeup giving additional contrast. Faces can occasionally lean a little too red or orange (particularly in 3 and 4), but still look like skin. Other body parts show a wider variety of skin colors, from pale to tan, which all look great. Lots of exposed skin throughout the films, whether shirtless men fighting or fishing, or women making love.
Noise/Artifacts: At least a light level of grain is present throughout the films, which can be distracting for the first few movies. Thankfully, minor artifacts only pop up occasionally, so aren’t too intrusive. Some shots are pretty clean and look pretty fantastic (typically close-ups). Again, the 5th film looks the best, though still has a small degree of noise (outside of close-ups).
Audio ★★★☆☆
Audio Format(s): Japanese Lossless Mono
Subtitles: English
Dynamics: As each film has only a lossless mono track, Audio isn’t the most exciting or engaging, but the music sounds nice, the SFX can be really fun, and the dialogue is generally good. There’s interesting layering going on across the movies, which is its own novelty.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: N/A
Surround Sound Presentation: N/A
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is largely pretty clear, though occasionally has a light amount of distortion, which thankfully isn’t too common. There are scenes where the A/V doesn’t sync with mouths, but that may be more of an ADR issue. Voices sound good whether a high or low pitch.
Extras ★★★★☆
Arrow’s 3-disc limited edition has two movies each on the first two discs, then the fifth movie and extras on the third disc. The extras are primarily 5 brand new video essays and do a nice job talking about lead actor Wakayama, his younger brother Shintarō Katsu, the production of the movies, crew like composer Isao Tomita, the Japanese setting, the plot points of the movies, and the general culture of Japanese cinema at the time. Trailers for all 5 movies are also included.
- Composing the Gospel (20:56) – James Balmont talks about composer Isao Tomita
- Taisho Troubles (20:26) – Jonathan Clements talks about the historical settings
- Offscreen Battles (31:32) – James Mudge talks about 1960s Japanese cinema
- Martial Arts and Super Mario Brothers (35:02) – Patrick Macias and Matt Alt discuss star Wakayama
- Priest or Monk (15:28) – Macias and Alt discuss Buddhism and pop culture as related to the movies
- Theatrical Trailers
All extras are in HD.
A booklet featuring essays by Camille Zaurin is also included.
Summary ★★★☆☆
The Wicked Priest series may not be as well known outside of Japan as either Zatoichi or the Lone Wolf and Cub series, but it’s an interesting series that reflects the changing film landscape and Japanese culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s, carried by a charming lead actor. Arrow’s limited edition set has mostly good clarity, but it’s the colors that really pop. Extras provide nice insights, and menu, disc and packaging artwork are all stylish and fun. That all 5 movies can be had on sale for $35 or under makes it easy to give these novel movies a watch.
