Film Movement has just debuted three favorites from director Hideo Gosha on their streaming platform. Samurai Wolf, Samurai Wolf 2: Hell Cut, and Violent Streets are now available on Film Movement Plus and Film Movement Plus via Amazon Prime Video. This thrilling trio of crucial action films from the master director of Japanese Yakuza and Samurai cinema has been restored in 2K from original broadcast elements.

One of the best-kept secrets of Japanese genre filmmaking in the 1960s and ’70s, Gosha began his studio career in 1964 and quickly emerged as a peerless specialist in chambara (samurai) films. A few years later, a contemporary twist on the chambara formula appeared in the form of the yakuza film, and Gosha proved equally adept with modern dress action. Whether the weapons of choice were swords or snub-nose revolvers, few could match Gosha at his best for economic storytelling and sheer velocity—and these are three of his very best.

GVN has been provided with exclusive clips for each of these newly restored films in coordination with their streaming debut which you can find below:

Samurai Wolf

Synopsis: Deadly wandering ronin Kiba (Isao Natsuyagi) steps in to play the bodyguard of a blind woman that’s the target of another hired swordsman of equal skill in Gosha’s lean, inventively photographed, and tightly plotted black-and-white chambara, which packs a surprising number of memorable, well-developed characters into a trim runtime, and features some of the most vicious swordplay seen in any samurai film of its day, much of it caught in gorgeous slow-motion. (1966 | 75 minutes | Japanese with English Subtitles)