Two star

THIS Manga comic-based gorefest is not one for Sunday afternoon viewing with your favourite grandmother.

After gangland boss Anjo is kidnapped along with one hundred million yen, his sadistic second in command, Kakihara, sets about finding him - killing and torturing various other gang members on his way - until he meets Ichi.

Ichi, not surprisingly the man who kills Anjo, is not your usual serial killer - he cries a lot and in one scene is beaten up by a child before he hacks his head off.

But when he gets upset you really don't want to be anywhere near him as almost all of the cast find out to their peril.

And that's all the plot involves until both meet in a showdown to end all.

The two hours in between is filled with death, violence, self-mutation, decapitations, lots of blood, a rape scene and a man who Ichi splits in half. And people still blame Marylin Manson for corrupting some of the youth of today!

If you manage to get past that - and the subtitles - you've done well.

Unfortunately there was just not enough hours in the day to watch all the extras which include photo galleries, interviews with director Takashi Miike and plenty of outtakes.

MS