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The Threat (1966 film) - Wikipedia

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The Threat

Theatrical release poster

Japanese脅迫 おどし
Directed byKinji Fukasaku
Screenplay byKinji Fukasaku
Ichirō Miyagawa
Produced byTōru Akita
StarringRentarō Mikuni
Kō Nishimura
Hideo Murota
Masumi Harukawa
CinematographyYoshikazu Yamazawa
Music byIsao Tomita

Production
company

Distributed byToei Company

Release date

  • February 17, 1966

Running time

84 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The Threat (Japanese: 脅迫(おどし), Hepburn: Odoshi) is a 1966 Japanese black-and-white crime thriller film directed by Kinji Fukasaku.

Death row convicts Kawanishi and Sabu escape from prison and kidnap the grandson of cancer authority Dr. Sakata. They break into the house of Mr. Misawa and take his family hostage, forcing him to be their go-between to collect the ransom.

Production and release

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The Threat was shot in black and white with mono sound. It was produced by Toei Tokyo and distributed by Toei Company. It was released in Japan on February 17, 1966.[2]

The film was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom and United States by Arrow Video on September 24, 2024.[3]

Sarah Morgan of On: Yorkshire Magazine called The Threat a gripping crime thriller "that immediately grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the closing credits have rolled" and gave it a 7.8 out of 10 rating. Despite writing that the plot develops as one would expect, she found the film to have plenty of unforeseen twists and turns and said Fukasaku directs with such skill that viewers will be on the edge of their seats throughout. Morgan also had strong praise for Yoshikazu Yamazawa's cinematography.[4] In a four out of five star review for Slant Magazine, Derek Smith wrote that Fukasaku's The Threat provides "an essential glimpse into the early work of a genre master already fully in control of his craft."[3]