Of the two most represented Japanese directors in this collection, Yasuzô Masumura’s work is as sleek and stylish as Teruo Ishii’s is sleazy and visceral, but in Gyangu tai gyangu (US: Gang vs Gang) Ishii hits a high mark in noir stylization which is perfectly suited to a classic noir storyline: gangster released from prison takes revenge on the double-crossing gang that put him in there. A criminal adventure through Japan’s underground drug scene, hitman Aniki Mizuhara (Kôji Tsuruta), just released from his five-year prison stint, is framed for killing the leader of the Kimori Kogour drug gang who squeezed him out of the business (and tried to have him killed) but he knows the murderer is actually his old rival, Namikawa (Tetsurô Tanba), who’s been gunning to take over the business. To clear his name, get revenge, and take down Namikawa, Mizuhura teams up with a rival gang to halt distribution in Kogour’s territory by any means necessary. Teamed up with the young, giggling Yuri (Yoshiko Mita), Mizuhara moves from setting to setting, contact to contact, through seedy clubs and casinos until all the players converge on a house in the mountains for a literally explosive third act. The extended car chase and gunfight along mountain ledges, complete with a rocking truckload of propane tanks, makes for an absolutely thrilling climax. The performances all around are excellent, especially Tsuruta in the lead and Kō Nishimura as a squealer who comes to grief under a car.