Cult action icon Sonny Chiba’s directorial debut available on DVD for the first time

For the first time ever in the U.S., the 1990 Sonny Chiba-directed thriller Yellow Fang (Rimeinzu: Utsukushiki yuusha-tachi), has been released on DVD by Cinema Epoch.

Based on a true story. In 1915, a mountain village in Japan was attacked by a giant bear, dubbed “Red Spot”, who terrorized the villagers for days, murdering the men and carrying off the women to save for a late night meal. Sonny Chiba (Kill Bill), in his directorial debut, and special advisor Kinji Fukasaku – who later went on the direct Battle Royale – present a film based on this terrifying real life incident. Yellow Fangs tells the story of a young bear hunter living in the village of Hawk’s Hills, Japan. When Yuki, a young woman recently kicked out of her home, spends the night with him, a giant bear attacks her home, kills her father, her brothers and carries her mother off into the mountains. The bear hunters gather together and go after the beast but he forbids Yuki to follow. Undaunted, Yuki disguises herself as a boy and goes after “Red Spot” herself.

Yellow Fang stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Mika Muramatsu, Akira Kurosaki, Takeshi Maya, Bin Kurihara, Isao Natsuyagi, Yôko Minamida, Miki Morita, Etsuko Nami, Tomoko Takabe, Hiroshi Tanaka, Yasushi Suzuki, Keizo Kanie and Hiroyuki Nagato.

Check out the DVD cover below.