The Toei Pinky Violence thread

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The Toei Pinky Violence thread

Post by HungFist »

March 10, 2020 EDIT

I finally did what I should’ve done more than a decade ago. I split this thread in two.

1. Toei Pinky Violence thread:
- Toei Pinky Violence + Toei Porno + comparable big studio (non-porno studio) productions by Toho (e.g. Rica), Daiei (e.g. Decapitation Island) etc.

2: Nikkatsu Roman Porno + Pink thread:
- Nikkatsu Roman Porno + Pink Films e.g. Shintoho, Wakamatsu, independents

It’s still work in progress. Some posts may be in the wrong thread.

Don’t stress too much about the split. If you don’t know which thread to post in, just pick one that feels more suitable. The main idea was the separate Toei’s Pinky Violence and Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno, and the rest shall go in whichever feels more suitable (the Toei thread for the more mainstream type of films with eros flavour, the Nikkatsu thread for the more genuine pink / sleaze type of films).

We also have the Japanese Cult Cinema thread to cover films that don’t have the pinky violence / girl gang / pink / eros emphasis (anything from yakuza to karate to samurai fits there).

End of March 10, 2020 EDIT

************************************************


This is a little free time project that originally begun when I couldn’t keep track of what’s been released. There’s three lists. The first list is Toei’s pinky violence and pinku eiga. Due to the limited availability on dvd, I’m aiming at a perfect list (edit: each film is now roughly labeled as either "action" or "drama", to separate pinky violence from pink dramas. All films where action or violence play seminal role are labeled as "action", with all others being "drama").

The second list is Nikkatsu’s pinku, and only includes the english subtitled dvds (update: now out of date), plus selected R2J release.

The last list is similarly themed films from other studios. It only includes a couple of personal picks.

Any help (personal ratings, links, additions to the list) is welcome. Note that all my ratings and reviews are my personal opinions, and especially in case of Nikkatsu's films don't always match with opinions of the majority, or even genre fans.

Toei titles available with english subtitles

Criminal Woman: Killing Melody (Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi) (1973)
- director: Atsushi Mihori
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House (Pinky Violence Box set)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: Reiko Ike wears incredibly stylish clothes in this film
- sub-genre: crime, action

Delinquent Girl Boss: Blossoming Night Dreams (Zubeko bancho: yume wa yoru hiraku) (1970)
- director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
- review: dvd reviews
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- availability: R1 Exploitation Digital, R2J Toei (August 2008)
- notes: first film in the series. Also knows as ”Tokyo Bad Girls”
- sub-genre: girl gang, drama, action

Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess (Zubeko bancho: zange no neuchi mo nai) (1971)
- director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House (Pinky Violence Box set), R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: fourth film in the series. Also knows as ”Delinquent Girl Boss: Unworthy of Penance”
- sub-genre: girl gang, drama, action

Female Demon Ohyaku (Yôen dokufu den: hannya no ohyaku) (1968)
- director: Yoshihiro Ishikawa
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Synapse
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: proto-pinky violence.
- sub-genre: chambara, revenge, action

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (Joshuu 701-go: Sasori) (1972)
- director: Shunya Ito
- review: dvd comparison, film review and dvd comparison 2, dvd comparison 3, more reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR HK Video (Femmes Fatales box set), R2 FR Pathe (Sasori box set) (September 2007), R2 DE R.E.M, R2 UK Eureka, R1 US Media Blasters
- forum ratings: HungFist – 4/5
- notes: features the theme song ’Urami bushi’ by Meiko Kaji, also heard in Kill Bill, original poster
- dvd notes: Media Blasters and R.E.M (probably a conversion) and Eureka (conversion again) appear to be Toei ports.
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, action

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Joshuu sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bo) (1972)
- director: Shunya Ito
- reviews: dvd comparison, dvd comparison 2, more reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR Studio Canal, R2 FR Pathe (Sasori box set) (September 2007), R2 DE R.E.M, R2 UK Eureka, R1 US Image (OOP)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4,5/5
- notes: also known as Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41, original poster
- dvd notes: Eureka is a port of R1 Image (but a conversion). Crap transfer. R.E.M is likely to be a port (and a conversion) of the Toei release.
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, action

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya) (1973)
- director: Shunya Ito
- reviews: dvd comparison, dvd reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R1 US Media Blasters, R2 FR Pathe (Sasori box set), R2 DE R.E.M (Sasori Box Set), R2 UK Eureka
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: last film in the series directed by Ito, original poster
- dvd notes: R1 was said to be improved over the R2J transfer, but this is unconfirmed information and may not be true. MB dvd are usually ports.
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, drama, action

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Grudge Song (Joshuu sasori: 701-go urami-bushi) (1973)
- director: Yasuharu Hasebe
- reviews: dvd comparison, dvd reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R1 US Media Blasters, R2 FR Pathe (Sasori box set), R2 DE R.E.M (Sasori Box Set)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: original poster, more Sasori films were made later without Meiko Kaji. Joe Ma’s ”HK Sasori” will hit the theaters later this year.
- dvd notes: Media Blasters is likely to be a Toei port.
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, drama, crime, action

Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition & Torture (Yasagure anego den: sokatsu rinchi) (1973)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: dvd review, more dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House. R2 UK Fabulous, R4 AU Shock
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: sequel to Sex And Fury. Also know as ’Story of a Wild Elder Sister: Widespread Lynch Law’
- sub-genre: yakuza, action

Girl Boss Guerilla (Sukeban gerira) (1972)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- review: dvd reviews, more reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House (Pinky Violence Box set + stand alone release)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: third film in the Sukeban series, original poster 1, original poster 2
- sub-genre: girl gang, biker, action, comedy

Girl Boss Revenge (Sukeban) (1973)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R1 Exploitation Digital (February 2008)
- Review: dvd reviews
- forum ratings: HungFist - 4/5
- notes: fourth film in the Sukeban series
- sub-genre: girl gang, action

Horror of the Malformed Men (Edogawa ranpo taizen: Kyofu kikei ningen) (1969)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- availability: R1 Synapse (August 2007)
- review: dvd reviews
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- sub-genre: horror, violence

Inferno of Torture (Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku) (1969)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: my review in this thread
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 NL Japan Shock, R2 DE X-Rated, R2 FR HK Video (Femmes Criminelles Vol.1)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: also known as ’Hell's Tattooers’
- IMPORTANT: the IMDB page features links and comments for wrong film (the sequel / Shogun’s Sadism). These films differ like day and night. This is not the disturbing ”hard core torture film” that many of those comments talk about
- sub-genre: torture (soft), tattoo, drama, violence

Joy of Torture, The (Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi) (1968)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: dvd review, dvd comparison, more dvd reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 NL Japan Shock, R2 FR HK Video (Ishii Box Vol. 2)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- notes: Also known as ’Tokugawa Onna Keigokushi’, ’Shogun’s Joy of Torture’ and ’The Punishment of the Tokugawa Women’.
- sub-genre: torture (soft), tattoo, nunsploitation, drama, episode, violence

Okatsu the Fugitive (Yoen dokufuden: Okatsu kyojo tabi) (1969)
- director: Nobuo Nakagawa
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Synapse
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- sub-genre: chambara, revenge, action

Porno Jidaigeki – Bohachi Bushido (1973)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: film review
- availability: R2J Toei, R1 Discotek (March 2008???)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4,5/5
- notes: Also known as Bohachi: Clan of the forgotten Eight
- sub-genre: chambara, action

Quick Draw Okatsu (Yoen dokufuden: Hitokiri okatsu) (1969)
- director: Nobuo Nakagawa
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Synapse
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4,5/5
- sub-genre: chambara, revenge, action

School of the Holy Beast (Seiju gakuen) (1974)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- review: dvd comparison, dvd reviews
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR Studio Canal, R1 Cult Epics
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: also known as ’Convent of the Sacred Beast’
- dvd notes: R1 is a R2J port but with lower bit rate. It has a blue tint which is apparently intentional. French dvd does not feature the blue tint. original poster
- sub-genre: nunsploitation, violence

Sex & Fury (Furyo anego den: Inoshika Ocho) (1973)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- review: dvd review, more dvd reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House, R2 UK Fabulous, R2J Toei, R4 Shock, R2 Nordic AWE / Studio S, R3 HK IVL
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4,5/5
- notes: also knows as ’Anego den’ and ’Elder Sister: Ocho Inoshika’
- sub-genre: yakuza, action, swordplay

Shogun’s Sadism (Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei) (1976)
- director: Yuuji Makiguchi
- review: dvd reviews
- availability: R2 NL Japan Shock
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2/5
- notes: semi sequel to The Joy of Torture. Also know as The Joy of Torture 2: Oxen Split Torturing.
- sub-genre: torture (hard), terror, violence

Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom (Kyofu joshikoko: boko rinchi kyoshitsu) (1973)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- review: dvd reviews, more reviews
- availability: R1 US Panik House (Pinky Violence Box set + stand alone release)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: second film in the series, original poster
- sub-genre: girl gang, high school, violence, action

Wandering Ginza Butterfly (1972)
- director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
- reviews: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 Synapse
- forum ratings: HungFist - 4/5
- sub-genre: yakuza, action

Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She Cat Gambler (1972)
- director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
- reviews: dvd reviews
- availability: R1 Synapse
- forum ratings: HungFist - 4/5
- sub-genre: yakuza, action, comedy

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa) (1974)
- director: Yukio Noda
- review: film review and dvd comparison, dvd reviews
- availability: R2 FR HK Video (Femmes Fatales box set), R2 NL Japan Shock, R1 US Discotek
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: Not to be confused with the 90’s / 2000’s straight to video crap. This original film has nothing to do with them and has no actual sequels. original poster, original poster 2
- sub-genre: crime, action, violence


Toei titles not available with english subtitles

Delinquent Girl Boss: Tokyo Drifters (Zubekô banchô: Tôkyô nagaremono) (1970)
- director: Kuzuhiko Yamaguchi
- availability: R2J Toei (August 2008)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: second film in the Delinquent Girl Boss series
- sub-genre: girl gang, action

Delinquent Girl Boss: Ballad of Yokohama Hoods (Zubekô banchô: Hamagure kazoe uta) (1971)
- director: Kuzuhiko Yamaguchi
- availability: R2J Toei (August 2008)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: third film in the Delinquent Girl Boss series
- sub-genre: girl gang, biker, action

Dolls of the Shogun's Harem (Ooku jyuhakkei) (1986)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei (June 21, 2007)
- review: IMDB user comments
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2,5/5
- sub-genre: period drama with a bit of action and violence

Ijo seai kiroku, harenchi (1969)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- availability: Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2,5/5
- sub-genre: drama, psycho-thriller, a bit of violence too

Journey to Japan (Poruno no joô: Nippon sex ryokô) (1973)
- director: Sadao Nakajima
- availability: R2 Nordic AWE/Studio S
- forum ratings: HungFist - 2/5
- notes: stars Christina Lindberg
- sub-genre: drama

Love & Crime (Menji, taisho, showa ryoki onna hanzaishi) (1969)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR HK Video (Ishii Box Vol. 2)
- notes: cdjapan title: ’ Meiji Taisho Showa Ryoki Onna Hanzaishi’
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- sub-genre: drama, horror, crime, episode, violence

Lustful Shogun and His 21 Mistresses (Ero Shogun to Nijuichi-nin no Aisho) (1972)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- notes: Reiko Ike as ninja!
- sub-genre: period drama, comedy, a little bit of action also

Mantis Wife’s Confession (Satsuki Midori no Kamakiri Fujin no Kokuhaku) (1975)
- director: Yuuji Makiguchi
- availability: R2J Toei
- Forum ratings: HungFist: 1/5
- notes: aka Mantis Lady’s Confession
- sub-genre: drama, comedy

Modern Porno Tale: Inherited Sex Mania (1971) (Gendai porno-den: senten-sei inpu)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2/5
- availability: R2J Toei
- sub-genre: drama, comedy

New Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701 (Shin joshuu sasori: 701-go) (1976)
- director: Yukata Kohira
- availability: R2 FR Pathe (Scorpion box set)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- notes: The 1st New Sasori film, stars Yumi Takigawa
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, action, violence

New Female Prisoner Scorpion: Tokushu-bo X (Shin joshuu sasori: Tokushu-bo X) (1977)
- director: Yukata Kohira
- availability: R2 FR Pathe (Scorpion box set)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: 2nd New Sasori, and final 70's Sasori film, stars Yoko Natsuki
- sub-genre: women in prison, surrealism, action, violence

Ooku ukiyoburo (1976)
- director: Ikuo Sekimoto
- availability: R2J Toei (cut)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2/5
- sub-genre: drama, comedy

Orgies of Edo (Zankoku ijô gyakutai monogatari: Genroku onna keizu) (1969)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: dvd review
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR HK Video (Femmes Criminelles Vol.1)
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: FR title: Orgies sadiques l’ere Edo
- sub-genre: period drama, torture, violence

Story of a Nymphomaniac (Koshoku: Genroku (maruhi) monogatari) (1975)
- director: Ikuo Sekimoto
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 1/5
- notes: aka Lewd Genroku: Secret Story
- sub-genre: drama, comedy

Sukeban Blues: Queen Bee’s Counter Attack (Sukeban Blues: Mesubachi no gyakushu) (1971)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei
- notes: first film in the Sukeban series
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- sub-genre: action, girl gang, action

Sukeban Blues: Queen Bee’s Challenge (Sukeban Blues: Mesubachi no chosen) (1972)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: second film in the Sukeban series
- sub-genre: action, girl gang, torture

Sukeban: Escape From Reform School (Sukeban: Kankai dasso) (1973)
- director: Sadao Nakajima
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: fifth film in the Sukeban series
- sub-genre: action, girl gang

Sukeban: Diamond Showdown (Sukeban:Taiman shobu) (1973)
- director: Ikuo Sekimoto
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: sixth film in the Sukeban series
- sub-genre: action, girl gang

Sukeban: Crazy Ball Game (Sukeban: Tamatsuki asobi) (1973)
- director: Ikuo Sekimoto
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: seventh (final) film in the Sukeban series
- sub-genre: action, girl gang

Terrifying Girls' High School: Women's Violent Classroom (Kyofu joshikôkô: Boryuku kyoshitsu) (1972)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- availability: R2J Toei
- forum ratings: HungFist - 3,5/5
- notes: the 1st film in the series
- sub-genre: action, high school

Terrifying Girls' High School: Delinquent Convulsion Group (Kyofu joshikôkô: Furyo monzetsu guruupu) (1973)
- director: Masahiro Shimura
- availability: R2J Toei (August 2009)
- forum ratings: HungFist - 2,5/5
- notes: the 3rd film in the series
- sub-genre: action, high school

Terrifying Girls' High School: Animal Courage (Kyofu joshikôkô: Animaru Dokyosei) (1973)
- director: Masahiro Shimura
- availability: R2J Toei (August 2009)
- forum ratings: HungFist - 2/5
- notes: the 4th (final) film in the series
- sub-genre: action, high school

Tokugawa onna keizu (1968)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- review: dvd review
- availability: R2J Toei, R2 FR HK Video (Femmes Criminelles Vol.1), R2 DE Eyecatcher
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3/5
- notes: early pinky violence, light on both elements
- sub-genre: period drama, comedy

Tokugawa Sex Ban: Lustful Lord (Tokugawa sekkusu kinshi-rei: shikijô daimyô) (1972)
- director: Norifumi Suzuki
- forum ratings: HungFist: 2/5
- availability: R2J Toei
- sub-genre: period drama, comedy

Virgin Breaker Yuki (Tamawari nin Yuki) (1975)
- director: Yuuji Makiguchi
- availability: R2J Toei
- sub-genre: period drama

Virgin Breaker Yuki 2 (Tamawari nin Yuki: Nishi no kuruwa yuzuki ro) (1976)
- director: Yuuji Makiguchi
- availability: R2J Toei
- sub-genre: period drama
Last edited by HungFist on 17 Dec 2009, 03:45, edited 62 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Nikkatsu non-roman and other studios; Before going into roman due to serious financial problems in the arly 70's, Nikkatsu produced some movies that could be related to pinky violence to some extent. Some of these are not very exploitative could go to the "japanese cult cinema thread" just as well, but I decided to list them here.

Nikkatsu non-roman porno (available with subtitles)

Blind Woman’s Curse (Kaidan nobori ryu) (1970)
- director: Teruo Ishii
- availability: R1 Discotek
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- review: film review
- notes: third film in the Rising Dragon series
- sub-genre: yakuza, horror, swordplay

Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (Nora-neko rokku: Sekkusu hanta) (1970)
- director: Yasuharu Hasebe
- availability: R1 Home Vision, R2J Nikkatsu
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- review: dvd reviews
- notes: third film in the series
- sub-genre: girl gang, rock n' roll, racism


Nikkatsu non-roman porno (available without subtitles)

Stray Cat Rock: Girl Boss (Nora-neko rokku: Onna bancho) (1970)
- director: Yasuhare Hasebe
- availability: R2J Nikkatsu
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: first film in the series
- sub-genre: girl gang, rock n' roll, motorcycle

Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (Nora-neko rokku: Wairudo janbo) (1970)
- director: Toshiya Fujita
- availability: R2J Nikkatsu
- forum ratings: HungFist: 3,5/5
- notes: second film in the series
- sub-genre: youth pic, drama (not really exploitation at all)

Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (Nora-neko rokku: Mashin animaru) (1970)
- director: Yasuhare Hasebe
- availability: R2J Nikkatsu
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: fourth film in the series
- sub-genre: girl gang, drugs, rock n' roll

Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71 (Nora-neko rokku: Bôsô shudan '71) (1971)
- director: Toshiya Fujita
- availability: R2J Nikkatsu
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- notes: fifth (final) film in the series
- sub-genre: hippie, drama (not really exploitation at all)


Other studios (available with subtitles)

Rica (Konketsuji Rika aka Rika, The Mixed-Blood Girl) (1972) (Toho)
- director: Ko Nakahira
- availability: R1 Exploitation Digital
- forum ratings: HungFist: 4/5
- review: dvd reviews
- notes:
- sub-genre: delinquent girl, action

Rica 2: Lonely Wanderer (Konketsuji Rika: Hitoriyuku Sasuraitabi) (1973) (Toho)
- director: Ko Nakahira
- availability: R1 Exploitation Digital
- forum ratings: Hung Fist: 3/5
- review: dvd reviews
- sub-genre: delinquent girl, action

Rica 3: Juvenile's Lullaby (Konketsuji Rika: Hamagure Komoriuta) (1973) (Toho)
- director: Kozaburo Yoshimura
- availability: R1 Exploitation Digital
- forum ratings: Hung Fist: 4/5
- review: dvd reviews
- sub-genre: delinquent girl, action, comedy

Other Studios (with subs)

Naked Pursuit (Kofun) (1969) (Toho)
- director: Toshio Okuwaki
- availability: R1 Asterix Home Entertainment
- forum ratings: Hung Fist: 2,5/5
- sub-genre: thriller, arthouse

Other Stuff

Queen of Japanese Movie book review

Pinky Violence – Toei’s Bad Girl Films book review

Miki Sugimoto vs. Reiko Ike CD review

Sukeban CD review
Last edited by HungFist on 22 Aug 2009, 12:15, edited 16 times in total.
Lourdes
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Post by Lourdes »

Enjoyable/interesting. I mostly watch these films from the late 60's-80's for a sort of completism as well. I hardly like any enough to revisit because they're all either exploiting something, being arty or they just have dodgy music. It's a period when realistic drama was mostly forgotten. But they're still interesting and entertaining.

Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale will certainly be seen.
Which of the others you mentioned aren't too pink/gory/odd? I can't stomach any gore and I'd rather avoid too much soft porn.
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Post by HungFist »

Violence: none of those are very graphic, not even Ishii's "torture movies" (the word torture doesn't even appear in the original titles, especially Tokugawa irezumi-shi which is about tattoos, not torture. The only gory scene in that movie is the opening credits sequence).

Angel Guts movies have lost of rape scenes that may put off some of the audience. But they're great films other than the fourth part which is only okay (and takes some genre passion to find the strong points). The first part is generally a bit disliked, but I thought it was exellent. The second and the fifth part are the easiest to recommend. The third film also has lots of fans.

Sex: Sex & Fury has too much sex, but it's well shot. Suzuki makes the scenes extremely colourful + stylish camerawork and ofter classic music so it's not really a problem. Female Yakuza Tale suffers from too much sex, but is generally considered even better than S&F. The ending is unbelievable. Even if you hated the film, you have to check out the ending.

Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter ironically has almost no sex at all.

School of the Holy Beast is a really beautiful film. I was personally a bit dubious about the subject (nunsploitation) but the film turned out really enjoyable. Not too much sex and very little violence.

One film I forgot to mention: Ishii's Porno Jidaigeki: Bohachi Bushido. One of my favourite pinky violence films ever. Visually jaw dropping and filled with great action.

This might be a good moment to start a 'Japanese exploitation' topic. Mods please, could you movie the last posts into a topic of their own. I could post some reviews I've written in the past.

---------------------------------------------------------------

conversation from old posts edited into this post (had to re-organize posts and content) (this originally took place before Lordes' previous post)
Lourdes wrote: Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
So bad it's actually quite good. Guilty pleasure I suppose. But there were some really good bits, the shower and hat sequences looked and played out excellently.

Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41
Failed attempt at more of the above.
HungFist wrote: I hate it when someone says that. There's only good movies (the ones you enjoy) and bad movies (the ones you don't enjoy). So bad it's good doesn't exist. For example comedy, if you think movies that are funny are good, then any funny movie is good, no matter if it's intentionally or unintentionally funny.

701 is A-class movie making, but far from the greatness of Jailhouse 41...

My humble opinion :D
Lourdes wrote:
It's better than saying "this is complete toshwallocksops but somehow in it's exploiative and sexy violence related deamonour it finds a way to entertain ones amusement aesthetic and is somewhat enjoyable." That's quite the mouthful. And in fact I don't even think it's good, I should have said "it's awful yet I enjoy it in guilty fashion." Like most crap comedies in fact.

Pinky Violence boxset is up next for me.
Lourdes wrote: It's better than saying "this is complete toshwallocksops but somehow in it's exploiative and sexy violence related deamonour it finds a way to entertain ones amusement aesthetic and is somewhat enjoyable."
HungFist wrote: Yes, but it's worse than admitting you enjoyed it. Be honest, like me :D
Lourdes wrote: Pinky Violence boxset is up next for me.
Wow, I'm impressed. Can I give a few further recommendations?
Sex & Fury
School of the Holy Beast (I made subs for the studio canal disc. Muldoon posted a good comparison review at asiandvdguide)

and if you still want more:
Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme Jigoku (Inferno of Torture)
Female Yakuza Tale
Angel Guts (the whole Nikkatsu series, the films are very different varying from social commentaries to thriller/horror and (very) weird romantic love story)

and not exactly exploitation (at least as much a the ones mentioned above) but: Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (my favourite Meiko Kaji film so far). Nikkatsu just released all five films remastered. I haven't seen the other four yet. I've got a few Ishii's to get first, then I'll move to Stray Cat(s).

Yeah, I know, getting over-exited as usual. Happens every time someone mentions Pinky Violence :lol:

and little warning, too. You probbaly don't want to watch Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei (semi sequel to Ishii's pretty good Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi). I mostly hated it, although there were some things I actually enjoyed. I wrote a review some time ago. I could post it here too...
Last edited by HungFist on 24 Dec 2007, 08:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Here's what's coming in the future

Coming to dvd on July 4 from Cinemalta (France):

- Coffret Roman Porno Vol. 1 (Masaru Konuma)

- Kashin no irezumi: ureta tsubo (1976)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286749/
gallery: http://www.allocine.fr/film/galerievign ... 11211.html
teaser: http://www.allocine.fr/film/video_gen_cfilm=111211.html
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... 11211.html
http://www.plume-noire.com/cinema/culte ... entee.html
This one I think was recently released theatrically in France and it received top reviews from the critics


- Ikenie Fujin (1974) (Wife to Be Sacrificed) (Une Dame a sacrifier)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228419/
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... 21762.html


Coffret Roman Porno Vol. 2 (Noboru Tanaka)

- Jitsuroku Abe Sada (1975) (A Woman Called Sada Abe) (La Veritable Histoire d'Abe Sada)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073208/
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... =5764.html


- Hakkinbon bijin ranbu yori: semeru! (1977) (Bondage)
http://adg.invisionzone.com/index.php?s ... entry19645
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285591


Coffret Roman Porno Vol. 3 (Tatsumi Kumashiro)

- Akai kami no onna (1979) (The Woman with Red Hair) (La Femme aux cheveux rouges)
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... 15248.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078742/


- Ichijo Sayuri: Nureta yokujo (1972) (Sayuri strip-teaseuse)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220570/
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... 17287.html


*************************************

and in the US (this is old news actually, dating back to september 2006)

"The Big Announcement!

Exactly one month ago I promised to announce something huge. Well the wait is over! Panik House is entering into a production partnership with Synapse Films to release seven more films from the Toei vaults. Five proto-Pinky Violence films and two films of a new genre: Pinky Horror!

With the CasaNegra line in full swing and the Chained Heat films on the way, I needed to call in marines, so to speak, to handle the film transfers and over-all production on this latest crop of Pinky Violence titles, which have never before been released on DVD anywhere. And who better than Don May Jr. and Jerry Chandler from Synapse? I've been looking for an excuse to work with Don on a project for about a decade (going back even before my days at Blue Underground!) and these films have provided me with the perfect opportunity.

Which films you ask?

Let's start with the Pinky Horror titles first:

Edogawa Ranpo Zenshu: Kyofu Kikei Ningen; aka Horror Of The Malformed Men
This is the most notorious film in the history of Japanese cinema. It has been banned since it's release in 1969, and is the film that really cemented Teruo Ishii's reputation as a master in the art of transgressive filmmaking. All rhetoric aside, this is one of the true classics of the era.

Kaidan Hebi-onna; aka Snake Woman's Curse This was the first of the Pinky Horror films released by Toei. It was helmed by master director Nobuo Nakagawa, who has been called the Japanese Hitchcock, and Akemi Negishi (Sex & Fury, Lady Snowblood) stars.

This brings us to the two series that served as the protypes of the Pinky Violence films and were the direct inspiration for Sex & Fury and just about every female protagonist film to follow. There's the three film Okatsu series, starring Junko Miyazuno, and the two Silver Butterfly films that launched icon of icons Meiko Kaji.
Here's a title list:

Yoen Dokufu Den : Hannya no Ohyaku; aka Sexy Deadly Legend: Female Demon Ohyaku

Yoen Dokufu Den : Hitokiri Okatsu; aka Sexy Deadly Legend: Quickdraw Okatsu

Yoen Dokufu Den : Okatsu Kyojo Tabi; aka Sexy Deadly Legend: Okatsu's Epic Journey

Gincho Wataridori; aka Wandering Ginza Butterfly

Gincho Nagaremono Mesuneko Bakuchi; aka Wandering Ginza She-Cat Gambler

These films are beyond legendary, and have never been released on DVD. Some English titles may change by release date, but make no mistake that these films will be presented uncut in their original form -remastered for optimal viewing and listening enjoyment. This particular crop of films has allowed me to present two entire series (like we did with the two Inoshika Ocho films starring Reiko Ike), which was key in my decision to license them. I had chosen not to release the entire series of Girl Boss films because I felt that not all entries were as strong as Girl Boss Guerilla, but the two Butterfly films and the three Okatsu films are all really incredible movies, so it's not a case of licensing them just to release a whole series; these films rock! Additionally, these will not be issued as box sets, but instead as individual discs (possibly at the same time) –affording the option of buying all at once or one at a time as your budget dictates.

In the meantime, you can whet your Pinky whistle by picking up the recently re-issued Sex & Fury, or pre-ordering the stand alone editions of Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom and Girl Boss Guerilla. I understand that there are still a few transparent editions of Teruo Ishii's Female Yakuza Tale available, so snatch those up along with the recent releases of Screwed and Blind Beast Vs. Killer Dwarf.

Stay tuned for updates, and have a Pink day!"

- http://www.panikhouse.com/panik_house_blog.html

*****************************

from december 2006...

News here: http://synapsefilms.blogspot.com/2006/1 ... under.html

"...Currently, just as I write this, I'm in the studio on Reel 4 of Malformed Men. We've finished the video transfers of Female Demon Ohysku, Ginza Butterfly and Ginza She-Cat Gambler. You'll be happy to know these transfers FAR exceed our expectations. Because of the age of the films (going on almost 40 years old for some of these), I expected them to be, well, somewhat of a mess... they aren't. Actually, the transfers have, so far, been quite stunning. The colors and detail in the elements are just jaw-dropping! Sure, they will need a bit of work (I'm just that way... I'm too much of a perfectionist to let some things go), but I assure you that these transfers of the titles I've done so far are some of the best work we've done. And, yes, we are transferring them in high-definition!..."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Another US company, Discotek Media, will be relasing Teruo Ishii's Blind Woman's Curse (Kaidan nobori ryu) (starring Meiko Kaji) in the future. No exact date (it was supposed to come out last year) but my shopping list says "March 2007". Can't remember where I got the information.

EDIT: "The fantastic Blind Woman’s Curse starring Meiko Kaji will be coming out in April."
- http://www.discotekmedia.com/blog/?p=5#more-5
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Post by HungFist »

I don't know about women in general but I do know Reiko Ike did these movies purely out of her own will. I think she either quit or was about to quit, but then she got pissed because she saw Miki Sugimoto taking her role as the queen of Pinky Violence, so she decided to come back to kick Miki's ass. They also appeared together in several movies, it was great, like Jackie and Benny Urquidez, always fighting each others, and even when they weren't fighting there was a lot of tension in the air. I don't know about their relationship in the real world. Miki made a very short but classic career and then quit doing movies and became a nursery school teacher and married with her high(?)school sweetheart. How sweet is that!!!

Reiko
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(Sex & Fury)

Miki
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(Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom)

Reiko & Miki
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(Criminal Woman: Killing Melody)
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Post by HungFist »

Review originally written about four months ago

Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi (1968)

Teruo Ishii’s original ”torture" movie is a collection of three unrelated short stories, each clocking around 30 minutes. If you’re looking for a strong ’blood-and-guts’ movie then this one is not for you. There’s relatively little gore compared to some of the more hard edged stuff that came some years later in the 70’s. Ishii gives more space to the story and flavours the soup with some visually beautiful images. Torture and punishment usually step in near the end or after the half way of each episode (with the last part being an exception) to draw the story into its conclution.

The first story (a woman in love with her sick brother) is actually surprisingly clean. No over the top visuals, and rather surprisingly, no graphic violence or nudity. Some people might consider it a bit bleak, but I thought it was quite entertaining. It could even be considered a sort of peek to the early history of Pinky Violence, although this point of view will be blown to pieces before the end of the movie. The all-out festival of (soft core) torture and naked women of the third episode is easily the most amusing part of the film. You gotta admire Ishii’s dedication to punish Russian women!!! The story itself is culminates around a mad tattoo artist looking for perfect virgin skin (how’s that more suitable for tattooing I still haven’t figured out...) to paint his masterpiece of pain on. A bathhouse peeking scene is included for those who don’t get their kicks from Russian (and undeniably ugly in this case) women. In a way, this episode is almost like a proto version of Ishii’s upcoming feature length (and far superior) tattoo film Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku (1969). So, there we have the history view again...

The middle part, a nunsploitation tale of love (male monk included, sorry guys), torture and jealousy is interesting but ultimately suffers in comparison to Norifumi Suzuki’s art piece School of the Holy Beast (1974). Ishii’s movie-making is much more basic and less artistic, although the comparison is quite unfair considering Ishii’s film was made 6 years earlier. It’s an entertaining 30 minutes nevertheless. Much like the first episode, this too isn’t quite as outrageous as you might hope. The ending is quite nasty, though.

The film’s english title, The Joy of Torture, is a little less than fitting. The original title translates as ’The Punishment of the Tokugawa Women’ which nicely comprises the movie’s theme. Each story is ultimately about a punishment, and usually even more about actions that lead to it. The english title is only good as a sub-title for the last episode, and is still a little misleading. ’The Joy of Torture’ refers to that specific emotion (of the torturer) that the mad tattoo artist of the last episode is desperately trying to capture into his final work.
7/10

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Typical Toei release. Hard to find much to complain about, except that original poster was not used as cover art (some original artwork can be found on the flip side/inside the cover, though). Trailer, teaser and photo gallery are included. A dvd comparison can be found here: https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=2515

Edit: forgot to mention: the NEVA logo is printed on the title screen if someone cares

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Post by Lourdes »

So I've now watched the Pinky Violence box along with Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale.
All incredibly stylish and well filmed, so much more so than non pink films of the time. But I can't say I have a fondness for any of thse films, they were jut a novelty to me. I love cool, I love stylish but the ridiculous sex and acting is just a bit too much for me really. Not my thing.
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Post by HungFist »

Midnight Eye review for Blind Woman’s Curse:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/the- ... urse.shtml
Looks great. Let me check if Ishii said anything about the film when Chris D inteviewed him in his book (Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film):

Chris D: When I interviewed Meiko Kaji, she felt Blind Woman’s Curse was basically a ninkyo yakuza film. But there were kaidan images in the picture, what with the hunchback played by Tatsumi Hijikata (from Horror of Malformed Men), the cat licking up the blood, etc. How did you get the idea to blend the two genres?

Ishii: (laughs) It’s supposed to be the third in the Rising Dragon series*. The company actually wanted me to work the ghost story elements into the film. I was already shooting when the asked me to start blending in the macabre imagery. I never coud figure out any specific reason. But they were very insistent.

Chris D: I must say it really worked. It’s an original film. Very strange.

Ishii: (laughs) The ghost story images? As far as being coherent, I feel the movie was nonsensical.

:lol:

* The first two Rising Dragon films starred Hiroko Ogi. The first one in the series, Rising Dragon’s Iron Flesh (1969), was directed by Ishii. He was originally planned to direct the sequel (Rising Dragon’s Soft Flesh Exposed) but since he was busy doing another film at Toei he made his assistant director, Masami Kuzuo, the main director. Ishii then returned for the third part. Hiroko Ogi however did not appear in Blind Woman’s Curse. Ogi had another yakuza series of her own at the time, and the company decided to make Kaji the star of the third film. According to Meiko Kaji herself it was a sort of gift from the studio who wanted to congratulate Kaji on her new star status.

Note that the Rising Dragon series was a Nikkatsu production, which means Ishii worked for several studios at the same time. Back in the days it was common that directors and stars would be be working for one studio only. Ishii however was a sort of freelance director and work for more than company at the same time. Kaji was a Nikkatsu, but when they basically closed down their normal production and went into roman porno, Kaji switched company and started working for Toei. Ironically she appeared topless in one of her first Toie films (could even be the very first); Shunya Ito’s Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion. I don’t think she ever did that for Nikkatsu.
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Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei (1976)

I had quite a fight getting through this film. I’m no gore geek but this is the most shocking motion picture I have ever seen. I had to take a little break after the first 40 minutes. Since the movie consists of two separate stories, I thought the second one might be a bit easier. Indeed, it begins with some pretty shots and, believe it or not, some very funny and innocent humour. But soon it turns out that this second half is in fact even more stomach churning than the first one. I could keep my eyes on the screen for the first half, but during the second one I had to close my eyes three times and I finally fell off from my bed and hit my head during the abortion scene (no kidding, I was trying get further away from the screen and the bed was shorter than I thought...).

As you might espect, this is another studio (Toei) production with high production values. That certainly doesn’t make the film any easier to watch. The special effects are mostly terrifyingly convincing. Legs being hammered into pieces in close up images etc. + the usual rape stuff. The level of cruelty is very high and even expands to subjects usually taboo such as little kids. The first episode is definitelly gonna offend most viewers, and while I’d like to despise it too I couldn’t help but to be impressed by the wonderfully obscure use of music. There can be a brutal butchery going on and the director’s playing a sweet love song melody on the background... I also liked the tension just before to final execution, although it was basically like waiting for a fist to hit your face.

The second part of the film is a harder to stomach, in every sense of the word. As I mentioned, there’s some wonderful humour here and there, and some scenes are also genuinely sad and touching. There’s also a rather decent story here with somewhat sympathetic performances by the main cast. You find yourself hoping they could escape and everything would turn out for the best for them, for both their and your own sake. What’s most likely to happen to them is something so terrible that you’d rather watch the doing nothing and bore to death as long as they wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. And you wouldn’t have to witness it. No such luck here. The ending, which has a healthy dose of extremely dark humour, feels almost unfair.

Despite the title, Yuuji Makiguchi’s Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei (also known as The Joy of Torture 2: Oxen Split Torturing aka Shogun's Sadism) has little to do with the enjoyable Teruo Ishii film made 8 years before. These films also differ stylistically like day and night, with Ishii’s film concentrating on story and only delivering a few soft core shocks, and Makiguchi’s vision lying heavily on sadism and only using other elements to spice up the soup. Still, there’s an odd moment of artistry and beauty here and there.
2/5

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Post by HungFist »

No caps Bisc, I don't seem to have any worth posting left.

I added the Toei and Nikatsu lists (the first two posts at the beginning of this topic) yesterday and updated it with some further poster links today.

Here's a few of those posters.

Chusei Sone's Hellish Love (Nikkatsu)
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Shunya Ito's Jailhouse 41 (Toei)
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Norifumi Suzuki's Girl Boss Guerilla (Toei)
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and one of my favourite Suzuki films, School of the Holy Beast (Toei)
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Post by HungFist »

Porno jidaigeki – Bohachi bushido (1973)

Forget about the title as it’s a bit misleading. Teruo Ishii’s Porno jidaigeki – Bohachi bushido isn’t nearly as much of a historical sex flick as it is first rate chambara exploitation film... Think of Lone Wolf and Cub directed by Teruo Ishii and you’ll get the idea. The swordplay is there, the blood is there, the sword wielding naked chicks are there... The budget may be low, but it sure doesn’t show. This is one of the best looking chambara films ever made, all the way from the sunset opening to the stunning final massacre in snow. And, Kazuo Koike, the creator of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, is there too. Seems like all great chambara films are based on his mangas, lol. The main star Tetsuro Tamba had acquired the rights and convinced Teruo Ishii to helm the live action adaptation.

Personally I consider Bohachi bushido not only one of my favourite exploitation films but also one of the best chambara films in genral. The only real flaws comes in the beginning. The opening sequence is as wild and striking as you’d expect from Ishii, but, also not so surprisingly, the following few scenes aren’t quite as good. Ishii has a nasty habit of relying too much on sex and nudity during the film’s first fourth. This time it’s not as problematic as we have Tetsuro Tamba here who dominates the image with his badass charisma whenever Ishii turns the focus on him and off some chick’s tits. The first 20 minutes is also where most of the film’s story is told.

Once we’re through with the back story part Ishii’s back on the top of his game. Terrific, colorful set ups, violent and nicely choreographed swordplay scenes, maniac characters, naked female bodyguards, ninjas, naked female bodyguards fighting ninjas... The film was a blast when I first saw it, and repeated viewings have only made it better. The dialogue - or mumbling, as the case tends to be with our main character - is often excellent! ”To live is hell, but to die, also, is hell”. Tetsuro Tamba is the ultimate anti hero. He’s the walking definition of ”I don’t give a shit”. He spares a mans life only because he can't be bothered to kill him right now.

The sexual conetent later on in the film is rather interesting too, or at least fun. It’s a sort of wet dream utopia with hight rank officials living in small palaces and being surrounded by naked female servants. Ishii keeps it nicely clean leaves the ugly sleaze out. The women are beautiful and seem to being do it out of their own will, even enjoying it. This is A-grade stuff to piss off the feminists, but also to add to the film's coolness. It works in the same way as some ultra brutal Sonny Chiba films; over the top and hilarious, but not in a laugh out loud kind of way. You take it half seriously but there’s constant small grimm on your face. Sadly some people are unable to see the golden middle course between serious and laughable, but that’s not the film makers fault, is it?

Those who like both pinky violence films and swordplay flicks should look no further. This is small glimpse of heaven. The only dvd available is the R2J by Toei (edit: R1 by Discotek came out in 2008), which is a very nice release. Some scenes could be slightly more colourful and the image is maybe not as sharp as it could be but these are really small flaws. Last time I reviewed the dvd I mentioned one brief scene displaying edge enhancement but this time could not spot any EE at all. Zero problems with contast. Beautiful presentation overall. Audio sounds great as always. Note that the ’Neva’ logo is printed to the title card (in case that bothers you). The usual Toei extrast are included; original trailer and a picture gallery.

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Two caps from the original trailer (shots do not appear in the film)

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Cover art (front / back / inside)

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Last edited by HungFist on 05 May 2008, 21:59, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku (Inferno of Torture) (1969)

Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku is the most ambitious of the Teruo Ishii films I’ve seen and probably his most coherent exploitation work. The technical aspects are on a level that is rarely reached even by so called A-film directors. Ishii uses multiple main characters, breaks the chronology continously, uses lots of ’through the glass floor’ shots and lets the camera pan slowly on empty corridors. The cinematography is nice and the moody soundtrack supports the scenes perfectly. The set ups are colourful as well but not over the top. Simply a gorgeous movie to look at. A bit surprisingly the story and the characters are very good too. Some of the more romantic and tragic scenes are genuinely beautiful, even touching. Quite an achievement from an exploitation film.

How about the film’s english title, Inferno of Torture? To put it simple, the title is rather misleading. After the gruesome but ultimately cool opening scene (which uses the kick ass theme from Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi) the violence is toned down to the typical pinky violence whipping level action. Fourty minutes later Ishii seems to have forgotten the whole theme of torture. Only the ending features a little shocker but it’s quite brief and well handled.

So, does that mean the film doesn't live up to its title? Yes and no. The film's alternate title Hell's Tattooers is actually more describing. That's more what the movie is really about. Everything that happens in the movie is related to tattoos in one way or another. I’ve never been a huge fan of tattoos myself but honestly speaking the stuff here was pretty damn awesome. ’Inferno of Torture’ is the name of a certain tattoo appearing in the film.

One thing I like about the film is its structure. The movie is centered around two rivalry tattoo artists but they’re not really the main characters, or at least not the only main characters. Ishii moves back and forth between at least four important characters tells different parts of the story throug different characters. All of them have their own stories but they’re still closely related and basically just different ends of one bigger story. I’ve seen several more appreciated movies fail miserably in this but Ishii manages handle it very naturally.

Those expecting a hard edged exploitation film with blood and guts all over the screen will most likely be disappointed. Tokugawa irezumi-shi is definitely something different from the usual psychedelic Ishii show. It’s a suprisinly polished work in its own genre and one of my favourite Teruo Ishii films. Highly recommended. The R2J dvd by Toei is – old record, I know – once again very nice. Great colours and zero edge enhancement. Very minor print damage plus one scene at the end that has minor chemical (?) damage. It’s minor enough not to show up on caps and actually fits the mood of that magical scene, lol. Original trailer and a photo gallery (with promotional shots and behind the scenes footage) are included.

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Original trailer (shots do not appear in the film)

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Cover art (front / back / inside)

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Post by HungFist »

Convent of the Sacred Beast (Seiju gakuen) (1974)

If the the title doesn’t ring a bell it’s probably because the film is better known as ’School of the Holy Beast’. Myself I however prefer the more poetic alternate title Convent of the Sacred Beast. Although not my favourite Norifumi Suzuki exploitation film (he also had a very succesfull career on mainstream movies as both director and screenwriter) it is widely considered his greatest pinky violence film. It’s indeed a wonderful film and a fine example of A-grade exploitation film making that is about as far from ”cheap looking trash” as possible.

Seiju gakuen isn’t the first time Suzuki deals with christianity. I don’t know his story but Suzuki definitely likes to make fun of christians in his films. While in some films like Girl Boss Guerilla it’s played just for laughs here it’s handled with a little more seriousness. I’m not sure if Suzuki’s really trying to say something about hypocrisy of christianity with a straight face, but the film is bound to offend the most sensitive viewers. Personally (and as a christian) I didn’t find the film offending although there was a moment or two when I was thinking should I? A more suitable title for the film would be Convent of the Sacred Beasts. But in the end, I don’t think the film is meant to be taken too seriously. It’s just darky humoristic film making that also gives you something to think.

If you’re afraid of the content (this being a nunsploitation film) don’t worry. Seiju gakuen is probably the most beautiful of Suzuki’s films and that’s saying a lot. Almost every image is like a living painting. Suzuki also makes full use of the convent setting and religious themes. The soundtrack is beautiful as well. A bit surpringly Ishii also avoids filling the film with unnecessary sex scenes. The main character is played by Yumi Takigawa who would later appear in many well known mainstream films such as Graveyard of Honor, Bullet Train and Virus. Other well know actors include Rie Saotome (Sex & Fury, Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom) and the always great Fumio Watanabe as the priest. Most people remember him as the warden from Shunya Ito’s Female Prisoner Scorpion series.

The Studio Canal dvd is good but not excellent. Contrast has been boosted and some bright shots appear unnatural. A couple of scenes also clearly display weird, extreme ghosting like effect. Third flaw – a rather meaningless one in my opinion – is be the fact that the transfer comes with burnt it french subtitles for opening credits and signs later. And finally, the apparently intended blue tint is nowhere to be found. Personally I prefer the film without it (see Muldoon’s comparison at asiandvdguide for differenre). Generally speaking the transfer looks quite good and is nicely sharp with only little edge enhancement. Extras consist of Jean Pierre Dionnet introduction, three interviews (Yumi Takigawa, Risaku Kiridoushi, Romain Slocombe), photo gallery and text info. Unfortunately there is no original trailer. Studio Canal however did good job with the dvd cover art. Not only did they use original poster art, but also poster art from the correct movie. That’s great improvement after Jailhouse 41.

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Fumio Watanabe
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Yoko Mihara
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Last edited by HungFist on 20 May 2007, 17:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

When a picture says more than 1000 kanjis...
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Norifumi Suzuki's エロ将軍と二十一人の愛妾 starring Reiko Ike. Coming in September. A must buy.
(picture from http://www.kanazawa-comcine.com/suzuki/index.htm , brought to my attention by Muldoon at asiandvdguide)

Now I'm off to watch their 1973 collaboration Sex & Fury.
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Post by Killer Meteor »

Looking forward to Horror Of Malformed Men. I've been wanting to see that since seeing a still in my old horror film book

Another banned Japanese film I'd like to see is The Monster Snowman. It's a 50's monster movie about the Yeti and there used to be a tape of the heavily edited US version Half Human (with new footage of John Carradine) doing the rounds but the studio has banned it on the grounds that it is a negative depiction of the Anniu tribe - they're kinda like the Abrorigines.

Also, The Last Days Of Planet Earth, with Tetsuro Tamba. I belive that is supressed in Japan due to its negative portrayal of radiation victims
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Post by HungFist »

Sex & Fury (Furyo anego-den: Inoshika Ocho) (1973)

The film that originally made me a pinky violence fan hasn’t lost its charm. Norifumi Suzuki’s visually gorgeous mix of sex, gambling and highly stylized action is still one of the most entertaining films in the genre. Sex & Fury stars genre queen Reiko Ike as a 17th century gambler and pickpocket who’s after the three men who killed her father when she was a kid. Supporting roles feature several genre veterans such Yoko Mihara, Rie Saotome and most notably the Swedish cult actress Christina Lindberg as a British spy... which doesn’t make much sense since she speaks english with a heavy Swedish accent. But it’s a cute accent and that’s what matters more than common sense. It should also be noted that some of the dresses she wears in the film don’t exactly belong to Meiji Era but who cares.

Sex and Fury would seem to have it’s roots on traditional yakuza/gambling genre. Those films were very popular in the late 60’s and Suzuki himself was the man behind several legendary Red Peony Gambler (Hibotan bakuto) movies. Not having seen those film myself (yet) I can’t say how much Sex & Fury lifts from that genre. Gambling however is not the main theme in Sex and Fury and Suzuki gives more room to action and exploitation. Also, probably not for the first time and definitely not for the last time Suzuki once again borrows some religious imagery that works very nicely.

If there’s a problem in the film it’s the amount of sex scenes. It may bother some but Suzuki’s direction saves a lot. The scenes are very colourful and artistic and usually there’s more about them than just the sex and nudity. I managed view most of them without getting bored so they’re not a huge problem. Besides, small flaws like that will be forgotten as soon as Suzuki turns the action gear on. The bath house / snow garden fight where naked Reiko Ike takes on a group as gansters holds up as possibly the best choreographed sword fight ever shot on film. The scene as incredible, cinematic poetry from start to finish. The rest of the fights don’t reach the same level of excellence but they’re a lot of fun too. Always a pleasure to see half naked Reiko bucher a roomful yakuzas.

And how is the R1 dvd by Panik House? There’s a couple of minor flaws. The usual Toei first frame print damage is there to be found and this time I actually noticed it once or twice. The english dialogue is also unneededly subtitled. Some shots appear slightly soft however some others show plenty of detail and there’s also the slightest amount of grain so it's probably due to the original source material. Other than those very minor flaws, the disc is absolutely gorgeous. A Toei beater even. Great colours and contrast and very, very little edge enhancement (depending on your setting you may not be able to notice it at all). Subtitles seemed great to me (with all signs translated). Extras include commentary by Chris D, photo and poster galleries, original trailer, production notes, Toei’s Bad Girl Cinema essay and biographies for Suzuki, Ike and Lindberg. These also feauture some nice photos of persons and film artwork. And finally, the menus are very nice and anamorphic. Original pressing (probably OOP by now) came with a sticker and nice see-through case. Overall excellent work from Panik House.

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Rie Saotome
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Tatsuo Endo
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Yoko Mihara and Reiko Ike
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The original trailer features not only single shots but a full action scene not found in the final movie
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Last edited by HungFist on 09 May 2007, 22:24, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Female Yakuza Tale (Yasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchi) (1973)

Teruo Ishii’s sequel to Sex & Fury is often considered the better of the two. I don’t quite agree but I do admit Female Yakuza Tale is a pretty damn good sequel. Ishii’s movie is less about cinematic poetry and more about outrageous fun. Ishii has added some hilarious humour, a totally off the wall plot and amped up the level of sex and violence. In terms of visuals the film is even more colourful than the original. A friend of mine described Female Yakuza Tale as the most colourful movie he has ever seen. He of course had not seen Bohachi Bushido but what he said wasn’t too far from the truth.

The gambling theme is almost fully gone and what remains is just the historical yakuza roots. Ishii however introduces an interesting and maybe a little bit insulting (feminists beware) mystery plot. There’s also several characters who’s motives aren’t revealed until at the end which makes the story unexpectedly catchy. Less unexpectedly there’s an overload of sex but thankfully Ishii keeps things moving fast and never stops to waste too much time for a single scene.

One scene that has to be mentioned is the incredible, insane finale (slight spoilers in this paragraph). An army of naked women armed with swords, guns and hand granades takes on a group of yakuzas. There’s blood, guts and naked swordswomen literally flying through the screen. Something you’re unlikely to ever see again. After the massacre we get to hear the film’s theme song performed by Reiko Ike herself. This was another 70’s exploitation film trend, with Miki Sugimoto singing a Meiko Kaji inspired theme in Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs and Meiko Kaji herself of course singing several classic themes. And speaking of Kaji, Female Yakuza Tale also feautures a certain hilarious Sasori reference.

The Panik House dvd is quite similiar to Sex & Fury disc, except that this time the brightness level is even more optimal. I think I noticed some slight edge enhancement twice during the films but it’s forgivable as the transfer seems sharper than Sex & Fury. Damn near perfect work. Extras offer the usual Chris D commentary, bio and filmographies, bad girl essay, production notes, artwork galleries and original trailer. Sticker and special case were limited to first press as before.

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Ryohei Uchida
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Veteran actor Kanjuro Arashi
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Tatsuo Endo, one of the many Sex & Fury actors returning in different role
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As usual, the original trailer features some action not in the final movie
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Last edited by HungFist on 20 May 2007, 12:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

"The shocking story of a juvenile slut named Rica"

Media Blasters / Exploitation Digital will be releasing Toho’s Rica series (three films) on dvd. The first movie is set to be released on August 14. More info at: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007 ... lm-series/

Here’s synopsis for the first film:

Konketsuji Rika = Half-Breed Rika (Toho, Japan, 1972). Dir Ko Nakahira. Wrt Kaneto Shindo. With Rika Aoki, Kazuko Nagamoto, Masatane Tsukayama, Fuminori Sato. (90 min, color, 35mm)

Toho's contribution to the "sukeban" genre - actually a sub-genre of the female yakuza genre - featuring the exploits of young female delinquents (or "girl gang bosses"). This was the first in a trilogy, with all three installments written by Kaneto Shindo, director of such classics as Onibaba and The Island. Director Ko Nakahira (Crazed Fruit) is sometimes (as is Shindo) lumped together with the Japanese New Wave filmmakers.

- http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/pickford/pi ... rrent.html

+ a poster stolen from yahoo
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http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e66273878

(also thanks to Al Edwards at dvdmaniacs for bringing this to my attention)
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Post by HungFist »

Blind Woman’s Curse (Kaidan nobori ryu) (1970)

This is my first touch to pinky horror so I’m even less of an expert this time than usual. But, what we have here looks like a traditional yakuza film spiced with some horror elements. It’s also the concluding part in the Rising Dragon series. The first two films starred Hiroko Ogi who however was busy with another series at the time of the third instalment and Nikkatsu decided to award their new rising star Meiko Kaji with her first lead role. Teruo Ishii, who had directed the first part returned to helm the piece. According to Ishii the horror elements were not in the original scrip and and they were already shooting when Ishii recieved the order to blend in the horror imagery. You might wonder if this could lead to anything good but watching the finished film you don’t really notice it. Which on the other hand is not very surprising. This is a Teruo Ishii film after all. In the Ishii universe anything could and would happen.

The opening scene is wonderful. Meiko Kaji and the gang fighting the rivalry yakuza group in rain. Ishii would later use the almost exact same opening for Female Yakuza Tale, although it’s better handled here. Soon after the opening you’ll notice that the film doesn’t look quite as gorgeous and visually striking as the Toei’s productions of the time. I would assume this is due to lower budget. Several single scenes such as the extremely satisfying ending still look jaw dropping but many others have more casual look. On the other hand it’s in line with the film’s style as the roots of Blind Woman’s Curse lie firmly on traditional period yakuza genre. That old school spirit was one of the things I liked about the movie. If you’re expecting a wild Female Yakuza Tale kind of over the top sex and violence fest you’ll be sorely disappointed.

The horror elements in the film work nicely. Blind Woman’s Curse doesn’t classify as pure horror by any means, it’s more of a yakuza film with horror imagery appearing throughout. Among these elements is the classic sad and creepy hunchback character played by Tatsumi Hijikata of Horror of the Malformed Men. The rest of the supporting cast feautures familiar faces like Yoshi Kato, Toru Abe, Ryohei Uchida (the male lead of Female Yakuza Tale) and Makoto Sato who Sonny Chiba fans know from his roles in The Executioner and Karate Inferno (both directed by Ishii). In the lead role Meiko Kaji once again reminds what a glamorous actress she was. I love Reiko Ike and especially Miki Sugimoto but Meiko Kaji is in a whole different league.

Discotek’s region free US release is a decent effort at least. The picture quality varies between excellent and poor. Many scenes look a bit raw and boosted, however the most important scenes look mostly pristine. One great thing about the transfer is that it’s very sharp, even if it displays some minor edge enhancement. The transfer is not progressive. Bonus material consists of Chris D commentary, filmographies, original trailer, bonus trailers (including a horrifying new trailer for Red Handcuffs), photo gallery and a very informative text essay. The dvd cover uses the original poster art which is of course a big plus. The menus are nice but spoil the end setting so I recommed blind browsing.

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Makoto Sato and Yoko Takagi
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When the transfer goes wrong; Ryohei Uchida
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Last edited by HungFist on 08 Jul 2007, 21:21, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa) (1974)

If you feel like you’ve had enough of artsploitation and would like to try something less elegant it’s hard to think of a better movie than Yukio Noda’s Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs. Not to be confused with the 90’s / 2000’s straight to video crap, this original 1974 film is pinky violence at it’s grittiest. Stylish and groovy combination of 70’s crime cinema and ultra violence, this film is like Fukasaku or Friedkin on acid. Those with a weak stomach stay the hell away.

Red Handcuffs stars Miki Sugimoto (who also appeared in numerous films with Reiko Ike before retiring and becoming a nursery school teacher) as an undercover cop who’s mission is to save a well know politician’s (Tetsuro Tamba) daughter from the hands of six kidnappers, and destroy all evidence of the incident... including the kidnappers themself. The leader of the criminals is played by Eiji Go who gives a wonderful over the top performance. In this movie the bad guys are truly bad, only outdone by some truly sadistic good guys (including Hideo Murota). But that makes it all the more satisfying to see Miki taking care of the human garbage at the end. Pinky Violence fans should also recognize Yoko Mihara as one very bad girl.

Other than sex, violence and style the film also features an excellent soundtrack that perfectly accompanies the images and especially the action at the end. The only real flaw in the film would be the fact that some parts may feel a bit heavy because of the strong content and the lack of humour. The last 20 minutes however is such a stylish showcase of ultraviolent action that you’re likely to forget any flaws that might have occurred earlier. As a nice little spice the film also features some strong political references (the american military presence in 70’s Japan). Such themes weren’t rare in japanese cinema of the time and can be found in some other well know pinky violence film such as Criminal Woman: Killing Melody and Nikkatsu’s Stray Cat Rock films.

When it comes to available dvd releases two respectable options exist; HK Video (from Femmes Fatales box set) and R1 Discotek. Toei unfortunately has not released the film on dvd. The HK Video transfer is unfortunately not among their best (and looks better in those caps than as a whole in real life). There’s too much contrast in bright scenes and in darker scenes characters tend to have very pale faces. Sometimes skintones also have slight purple shade. HK Video has given the transfer a bluish tint which doesn’t make things any better. One scene also features noticable print damage in form of a blue vertical lines (doesn’t last for long). I had to do a lot of adjusting (everything from contrast to chroma and colors) but ultimately I managed to make the image look quite alright for most of the time and very good for beginning and ending.

I’ve been trying compare my HK Video disc to Discotek caps I’ve found from internet and it would seem that while Discotek fixes the pale/purple face problem (and looks far, far superior in some shots) it has been given even more visible, however less strong blue/pink tint. In the end, The HK Video may still be better. I’m gonna keep my HK Video till Toei releases the film... although I recall hearing that the Toei masters are in poor shape and Discotek possibly used a french source (the difference between HK Video and Discotek appears to be huge though and nothing would really suggest they come from the same source). The following screencaptures come from the HK Video dvd.

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Hideo Murota
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Eiji Go
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Yoko Mihara
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Tetsuro Tamba... with a purple face
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Last edited by HungFist on 15 Nov 2007, 14:11, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

HK Video’s Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs dvd is only available as a part of Coffret Femmes Fatales box set. It’s a white card board package that opens like a book and holds two digipacks. The art work is great as always with HK Video

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The other dvd in set is Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion. Note that the sequel, Jailhouse 41, was released by Studio Canal, not HK Video.

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And finally, there’s a 16 page booklet

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Both dvds feature similar extras: introduction for the film, short bio & filmographies, original trailer and bonus trailers for other HK Video releases. The animated main menu on 701 is especially stylish with Meiko's theme song played on the background as a whole and the video / animation running circles so that it starts from the beginning again and again without any break. Bye bye 30 second menu animations.

My next review will be Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion but I’ll be reviewing it from the Media Blasters dvd and not the inferior HK Video release.
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Post by HungFist »

Cover arts for Malformed Men and Snake Woman from Fangoria

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Extras

Horrors of Malformed Men

• Audio commentary by film critic and 2003 Ishii retrospective programmer Mark Schilling
• New documentary featurette including interviews with cult directors and Ishii fans Shinya (TETSUO) Tsukamoto and Minoru (THE CALAMARI WRESTLER) Kawasaki
• Ishii’s video introduction from the 2003 Far East Film Festival
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer
• Ishii and author Edogawa Rampo biographies
• Poster galleries and trailers from other Ishii and Rampo films

Snake Woman's Curse

• Audio commentary by Japanese film scholar Jonathan Hall
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer
• Nakagawa biography
• Poster gallery and trailers for other Nakagawa films

More extras are to be announced; each disc retails for $24.95. —Michael Gingold


http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=4281

And no word about Chris D. I don't want to be mean at the guy (hey, I even have his book) but it's nice to see that they've found other people to do commentaries... I mean other than Andy Klein and Wade Major (that was fucking nightmare pair)


interesting that Panik House isn't even mentioned in the cover. But this only strengthens my suspicions. I don't expect to hear about Panik House again once all of the 6 dvds are out. Such a shame. They're work with Pinky Violence films has been revolutionary.
Last edited by HungFist on 28 May 2008, 18:57, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (Joshuu 701-go: Sasori) (1972)

701 is the first part in Toei’s classic Female Prisoner Scorpion series. This and the sequel Jailhouse 41 are widely considered the absolute best in the genre. The original film also marked Shunya Ito’s (sometimes credited as Toshiya Ito) directorial debut. Ito directed two sequels for the film before leaving the series to the hands of Yasuharu Hasebe who directed one more instalment to the original series. All four films starred the glamorous Meiko Kaji.

What that made Ito’s entries in the wip genre so special was his extremely ambitious visual approach. Even though the prison setting doesn’t offer very colourful surroundings Ito has filled the film with first grade camera work and surreal images. No wonder the production took approximately five times longer than the average Toei film of the time. Aside the visuals the music is also used wonderfully, including Meiko Kaji’s famous theme song Urami Bushi. However, despite the technical brilliancy Ito doesn’t forget the films manga origins. Although the source material was cleaned up a bit 701 is still very much an exploitation movie with gratuitous violence and nudity throughout. There’s a bit of political attitude as well but I’m unable to say whether it originates from the manga or not.

One major factor behind the film’s success is Meiko Kaji. She was a perfect choice for the role of Nami Matsushima, a woman betrayed by her lover (Isao Natsuyagi) and sent to prison for life. Kaji has more charisma and dignity than five average pinky violence stars put together, and the fact that she has no more than a dozen lines of dialogue in the whole film makes her appearance even stronger. 701 being one her first Toei films it’s interesting that here she finally agreed to do nudity. I don’t think she ever did that for Nikkatsu, the company she left when their films started becoming too driven by the erotic content.

Speaking of Nikkatsu; Hiroko Ogi, the actress Meiko Kaji replaced as the lead of Blind Woman’s Curse, can be spotted here as one of the prisoners. Another remarkable star in the film is Fumio Watanabe who does excellent job playing the sadistic warden. He and the two guards played by Hideo Murota and Chinzo Hotta come close to stealing the show a few times. Watanabe would later co-star in another all time pinky violence classic, Norifumi Suzuki’s School of the Holy Beast.

Muldoon at asiandvdguide confirms that the R1 Media Blasters dvd is a Toei port but encoded with a lower bitrate. This being a rather barebones disc and the film running less than 90 minutes it thankfully didn’t cause any compression problems that I would’ve noticed. The transfer itself is nice.You might argue that the blacks are less than solid but I’d rather take my image like this than manipulated and unnatural looking like HK Video’s transfer. Playing a bit with contrast and brightness I managed to make the image quite pleasing. Extras include 4 page liner notes by Chris D (he’s everywhere), original trailer and a good photo gallery plus bonus trailer for other Media Blasters releases. The cover art uses one of the films original posters.

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Meiko Kaji
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Fumio Watanabe
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Shinzo Hotta
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Hideo Murota
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Hiroko Ogi
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Yumiko Katayama
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Yoko ”my middle name is pinky violence” Mihara
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Rie Yokoyama
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Yayoi Watanabe
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The great Isao Natsuyagi
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A picture comparison between HK Video and Media Blasters can be found here:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 2683#42683
Last edited by HungFist on 05 Nov 2007, 21:06, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by HungFist »

I was subbing Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) (top) and there was a shot that reminded me a lot of Norifumi Suzuki’s School of the Holy Beast (1974) (bottom) which was made three years earlier. Some reviewer commented the Suzuki film saying "Dario Argento meets the Marquis de Sade" but maybe it was actually the other way round

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spoiler tags to hide the film titles
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