Japan Synopsis
十手舞
“Punish the wicked, but stay in the dark.”
Three men sentenced to death are spared and changed into “shadows executioners”, a group of ruthless ninja working for mysterious high ranking officials. During their investigation on some illegal business, one of them, called “Yazuke the Viper”, finds his abandoned daughter, Ocho, who has now become a mistress of Denzo, a smuggler. After Yazuke’s death, Ocho is also recruited as a “shadows executioner”, with the task of completing her father’s mission.
The 1985–1987 Japan Window
In the crowded 1985-1987 Japan release window, Death Shadows sits at #78 of 100. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.
The 1980s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1980s in Japan, 280 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Death Shadows premiered alongside 38 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 38 other Japan films in 1986.
The 691st Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
12 audience reviews — more than 16% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 9th percentile among Japan films.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #3,872 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (15th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.9 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Action productions specifically: #1,495 of 1,714 (top 87%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Gosha Productions, Eizo Kyoto Film Co. |
| Runtime | 1h 55m |
| Release Date | September 20, 1986 |
| IMDb | tt0165339 |