Yes, it is that kind of a film.
In the late 1950s and 1960s Japan's oldest film studio Nikkatsu issued a number of alternately yakuza action crime-cum-romantic features starring several of its famous in-house, i.e. contract, actors. These included Akira Kobayashi, Yûjirô Ishihara and Jô Shishido, the last man would famously appear in those eccentric Seijun Suzuki films like Youth Of The Beast and Branded To Kill. This is worth mentioning because as much as Dainippon Koroshiya Den - approximately 'Greater Japan Killers' Place Story' – is a screwball comedy it matches those later films in its eccentricity.
The action happens in a 'city famous for murder' in Japan. Five crime lords in the city are targeted by a mysterious assassin with a literal calling card. To hammer his point home the assassin shoots the head of the cartel. All the targets know about the killer is that he has a mole on one of his feet and so they get to work flushing him out for elimination. Turns out the neighbouring town's boss is also in on the game and hiring his own assorted guns-for-hire. What follows is the biggest collection of goofball loser counter-assassins – hired from a temp agency for hit men and killers - that make a masquerade look conventional in comparison. There are sons and daughters, a native Indian, a cowboy, Al Capone's Japanese grandson, from when he visited Japan and shagged a dwarf apparently, and more. This film presages and is reminiscent of Inspector Gadget, Spy Who Shagged Me, James Bond, the Three Stooges, Benny Hill and even Thomson and Thompson of Tintin fame. Japanese cinema has quite a few zany films ranging from the excellent Tenten to the disconcerting Tokyo Sonata, incredulous Katakuri-ke No Kôfuku and the terrible Maikohaaaan!!. Murder Unincorporated is not only something else, but also a departure from the other entries in the Nikkatsu Diamond series and its crime-addled action features. Do not try to make sense out of this film. Switch off the brain and enjoy the absurdity.
Favourite part? The precision shooting duel changing the dial and TV channel.
In the late 1950s and 1960s Japan's oldest film studio Nikkatsu issued a number of alternately yakuza action crime-cum-romantic features starring several of its famous in-house, i.e. contract, actors. These included Akira Kobayashi, Yûjirô Ishihara and Jô Shishido, the last man would famously appear in those eccentric Seijun Suzuki films like Youth Of The Beast and Branded To Kill. This is worth mentioning because as much as Dainippon Koroshiya Den - approximately 'Greater Japan Killers' Place Story' – is a screwball comedy it matches those later films in its eccentricity.
The action happens in a 'city famous for murder' in Japan. Five crime lords in the city are targeted by a mysterious assassin with a literal calling card. To hammer his point home the assassin shoots the head of the cartel. All the targets know about the killer is that he has a mole on one of his feet and so they get to work flushing him out for elimination. Turns out the neighbouring town's boss is also in on the game and hiring his own assorted guns-for-hire. What follows is the biggest collection of goofball loser counter-assassins – hired from a temp agency for hit men and killers - that make a masquerade look conventional in comparison. There are sons and daughters, a native Indian, a cowboy, Al Capone's Japanese grandson, from when he visited Japan and shagged a dwarf apparently, and more. This film presages and is reminiscent of Inspector Gadget, Spy Who Shagged Me, James Bond, the Three Stooges, Benny Hill and even Thomson and Thompson of Tintin fame. Japanese cinema has quite a few zany films ranging from the excellent Tenten to the disconcerting Tokyo Sonata, incredulous Katakuri-ke No Kôfuku and the terrible Maikohaaaan!!. Murder Unincorporated is not only something else, but also a departure from the other entries in the Nikkatsu Diamond series and its crime-addled action features. Do not try to make sense out of this film. Switch off the brain and enjoy the absurdity.
Favourite part? The precision shooting duel changing the dial and TV channel.