A gruelling, blood-soaked and often darkly comic samurai epic with a huge body count, Blade of the Immortal is an outrageous delight.

An imaginative, gory, frenetic samurai carve-em-up, there's an irresistible energy about the project from the get-go.

It's a stylish slash fest, which delivers visceral thrills along with quietly striking moments of beauty.

A landmark film in a helter-skelter career, Blade of the Immortal proves beyond any doubt that Miike is a master of action, mayhem and storytelling.