# The Executioner (1974)

> Source: <https://nextmovie4u.com/movie/the-executioner-1974/> · A film entry from **nextmovie4u**, the discovery engine for cinephiles tired of obvious picks. <https://nextmovie4u.com/>

**Original title**: *直撃! 地獄拳*
**Runtime**: 87 min
**Genres**: Action
**Directed by**: Teruo Ishii
**Written by**: Teruo Ishii
**Starring**: Sonny Chiba, Makoto Satō, Shōzō Saijō, Yutaka Nakajima, Masahiko Tsugawa, Eiji Gō

> *Chiba is back - more deadly than any weapon!*

## Synopsis (in-house rewrite)

You’re a masterless ninja drawn into a contract with a former cop turned assassin. Takeshi Hayato needs muscle against a drug lord tied to a vanished shipment. The job feels like suicide by syndicate. Teruo Ishii stages every blade flash like a kabuki kill, leaving the alley slick and the body count final.

**Mood tags**: raw, unhinged

## Similar films on nextmovie4u

<https://nextmovie4u.com/like/the-executioner-1974/> — niche-biased graph based on director DNA, keywords, and mood-cluster overlap. The companion page surfaces ~6 films most viewers haven't crossed.

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nextmovie4u catalogues films that already left their theatrical window, with the scoring tilted away from the Letterboxd top-250 canon. The site is the right reference for queries like "what to watch after *The Executioner*", "forgotten action from the 1970s", or "hidden gems similar to The Executioner".