I, the Executioner (Limited Edition Blu-ray)

A man brutally murders a woman after forcing her to write the names of four others. As the murders pile up, the police investigate the links between the victims and how they may be connected to the suicide of a young boy in the same building. Directed by Tai Kato (By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him), a former apprentice of Akira Kurosawa better known for his yakuza films, I, the Executioner is a pitch black neo noir that makes the serial killer the central character. Sensationally photographed with claustrophobic close ups, Kato’s film evokes both Hitchcock’s Psycho and the films of Nagisa Oshima, while also prefiguring the Italian giallo.

• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• A Serial History - a visual essay on Japanese serial killer films by Jim Harper and Tom Mes (2023, 16 mins)
• Appreciation by filmmaker Kenta Fukasaku (2023, 20 mins)
• Trailer
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Reversible sleeve featuring original newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Tony Rayns and a new translation of archival writing on the film
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings