Bullets 'n' Babes DVD

Koibitotachi wa nureta (1973)

Tatsumi Kumashiro has been referred as the most consistently succesful director in the history of japanese cinema, and while his filmography may have something to back this up I certainly wouldn’t go as far to call him one of the greatest. But it’s easy to see why he’s so highly appreciated. His films are based on thick screenplays (as opposed to the usual 4 page Nikkatsu script) and always feature skillful cinematography. The use of music, mostly folk songs - sometimes sang by the characters - is also more or less original. But I can’t help but to feel that most of his early 70’s films are just a little bit dry. If fact a lot of the time I feel he could have worked for a mainsteam studio without major compromises (Kumashiro was famous for saying he didn’t care much for human biology, he worked with Nikkatsu because of the artistic freedom they provided).

Koibitotachi wa nureta is a typical example of an early 70’s Kumashiro film. Technically impressive, heavy on characterization and blessed with a title that has little to do with the content (that was the price Kumashiro had to pay for his freedom). It’s interesting and fun to watch but fails to make a lasting impression... except for the critics who hail it as masterwork. The middle part is a bit less good than the rest as that’s where Kumashiro unloads the unnecessary sex scenes that are written in his contract. But as a whole the film features a large number of impressive scenes, such as the ending. The storyline is about a young man who’s on the runs from the yakuza and settles down in a small seaside town. He starts working at a local movie theatre. Nikkatsu fans can spot numerous Meisaku Roman posters on the backgrounds.

Time Adventure: zeccho 5-byo mae (1986)

A woman gets thrown into distant future (2001) in what is probably the first and last meisaku roman scifi film. The basic plot alone makes Time Adventure more inventive than most of Nikkatsu’s genre films. And that’s not where the good things end; the first encounter with the Blade Runner esque future is full of charmingly confusing moments. There’s even special effects... well, a special effect. Back to the Future is borrowed to some extent, too. Too bad Yojiro Takita’s film falls to all the usual genre traps. It’s a shame as the film really has its moments. Takita later success in the mainstream market, with pics such as When the Last Sword is Drawn and Ashura.

Sengoku Rock: Female Warriors (Sengoku rokku hayate no onnatachi) (1972)

Female Warriors is one of the films director Yasuharu Hasebe did after his succesful yakuza / action film streak and before earning different kind of name for himself with violent pink films. The director seemed a bit unsure whether he wanted to follow Nikkatsu or do something else. That shows in Female Warriors. As the original title (Sengoku rokku) suggests, it’s a sort of semi sequel to the Stray Cat Rock films, with the main difference being that this is a period film, a meisaku roman flick and, well, pretty much everything. Even more vague is the connection to Seven Samurai, although it was big in the film’s US marketing campaign, apparently. The films sound better on paper than it truly is. It follows 7 female warriors that fight and love. The girls look pretty good with their clothes on but that’s about as far as quality goes. The film feels cheap, despite obviously being a larger scale production than many other Nikkatsu films of the time. Sountrack has its minor moments, but borrowals from Stray Cat Rock feel completely out of place. More mainstream oriented studios like Toho and Toei did similar films with less sex, more action, and far more success.

Wife to Be Sacrificed (1974)

Naomi Tani in her usual housewife to be tortured role in Masaru Konuma’s most critically appraised film. It’s yet another appalling sm fest with over-rated cinematography and a touch of artism. A couple of good moments and effective ending have found their way into the film. Of course it was Nikkatsu’s biggest hit of the year and now a celebrated piece of Japanese film history.







While the movie is garbage, the new R1 dvd by KimStim is a must buy as features Sadistic and Masochistic as an extra.

Sadistic & Masochistic (2001)

Ringu man Hideo Nakata’s terrific documentary film on director Masaru Konuma. A former assistant director of Konuma’s, Nakata examines his mentor’s career from the beginning, discusses the films and the industry with the man himself, and interviews directors, cinematographers and actors from Koyu Ohara to Naosuke Kurosawa and Yuko Katagiri. One of the highlights comes when Nakata arranges a meeting for Konuma and his trusted lady Naomi Tani –retired from movie industry since the end of 1970’s. Add insightful behind the scenes stories by assistant directors who wanted to kill Konuma and rare stills of the Nikkatsu kings together in a meeting and you have pretty much the best documentary imaginable about the subject.

Nakata shows where the opening of Woman in the Box was shot. You can see Shinjuku Station East Exit on the background.


Konuma denies guilt


Koyu Ohata, Noboru Tanaka, Masaru Konuma and Yoshihiro Yuki


Naosuke Kurosawa has a few words to say about his former boss


Naomi Tani always got along with the dictator


Konuma directing Madoka Matsuda: Nagisa (2000)


Even pink directors use subway. Ohara and Konuma on their way home after a hard day.

I just cancelled my "Wife to be sacrificed"-DVD since it hasn't been shipped yet, and ordered the remastered version instead, the one with the documentary. I'm still holding up some vague hope that I'm gonna like it.

Just like me some 12 months ago. Fiercly believing Flower and Snake would turn out a good film. How wrong was I... But seriously, you did the right thing ordering the new disc as Sadistic and Maochistic is more than worth the price. Never buy an old (non-remastered) KimStim releases. I hear most (all?) of those had stretched image. It was neither non-anamorphic nor anamorphic but something in between... Good God.

I was re-watching scenes from Kumashiro’s hyper-active Painful Bliss! Final Twist and noticed that the soundtrack plays the theme from Takakura’s Brutal Tales of Chivalry series in the yakuza boss scene... ”The Chinese Lion with Peonies roars on my back...”. And there’s a poster hanging on a wall. At the end of the film we hear the theme from Worthless to Confess. And somewhere in between funeral and wedding marches. Brilliant soundtrack brilliantly used. Oh, and if you've read my reviews or watched some of Kumashiro's better known films you know there's a Red Peony Gambler performance in Ichijo Sayuri. And no, the French dvds are still not out...

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In the news, Mondo Macabro’s Sins Of Sister Lucia is coming February 24, 2009. I only now realized it’s Shudojo Lucia: Kegasu (修道女ルシア　辱＜けが＞す) aka Sister Lucia's Dishonor. The R2J was on my shopping list with a quote ”stylish pop art nunsploitation” but I haven’t been looking at the pink section for a while now. There’s only a couple of R2J titles left that I might have motivation to risk & buy, mainly Kumashiro’s Woman with Red Hair (”Wong Kar Wai of pink eiga” – imdb) and Sex Hunter Nureta Hyoteki (remake of Stray Cat Rock 3) by Yukihiro Sawada, the director of the groundbreaking cop thriller Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland.

But maybe I’ll give Lucia a try if the price isnt too high. Ohara has directed one of my favourite meisaku roman and youth films in general: Momojiri musume: Pink Hip Girl. But he’s also capable for really poor films, so...

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I've done something I usually don’t do; post brief video clips from three films for your viewing pleasure. Previously posted is the beautiful but extremely spoiler heavy trailer for Woman of the Afternoon: Incite

1. Love Hotel
This is a magnificent scene between Minori Terada and Noriko Hayami. If you’re going to buy the film, don’t watch. If you’re not planning on buying it, then watch, and then think again. As usual for Somai, the scene is shot with one take.

2. Momojiri musume: Pink Hip Girl
The hitchhiking scene. Should give you some idea of the film’s upbeat style

3. Zoom in: Boko danchi
Turn the volume up, as audio is important in this scene. Slight spoiler perhaps, but it’s not a story film in the first place.

I've seen "Pink Hip Girl" and I couldn't agree more: Terrific coming-of-age flick with spot-on dialogue, good acting and some decent Roman Porno vibes. There were a couple of similar movies being made during the 70s the Germany, but they are all more or less spoiled by immature humor and/or stupid scripts. "Pink Hip Girl", on the other hand, offers nothing less than perfection. The above mentioned Hitchhiking-scene is also among my favourites. Will probably see it again in the near future.

HungFist, have you watched this movie yet?



The subtitled US-Release is currently avaliable for pre-order.

No. Konuma fails with a 7 to 2 ratio (plus one ok quality film) according to my experience, so my expectations are not very high. One of the kings of Nikkatsu pink, the irony is that Konuma does posses talent, but it's not in the erotica genre. He has made two great films; the moody and melancholic horror (pink) Woman in the Box II, and the psychological, even slightly beautiful (pink) drama Image of a Bound Girl.

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DVD Times reviews for Assault! Jack the Ripper and Watcher in the Attic:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/69 ... ipper.html
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/69 ... attic.html

My old Assault review:
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... &start=195

Watcher is quite an alright film. It's interesting, especially the last 15 minutes which go pure arthouse, but not anywhere near as good as Tanaka's mini-masterpiece Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture. Tanaka's films have often been blessed with beautiful cover arts by Geneon.


left: Watcher in the Attic, right: Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture

The right cover-artwork is among the most beautiful I've ever seen, but I guess I already said that somewhere else.
"The Watcher in the Attic" sounds interesting, been on my list for quite sometime now, and since there's also a subtitled US-release available, I may get around to buying it eventually. I faintly recall it being loosely based on an Edogawa Rampo story/novel.

Naked Pursuit (Kofun) (1968)

An escaped prisoner, a suicidial woman, and a hill next to sea. Expect a lot of running up and rolling down, usually in slow motion, as this early pink comes with less than 30 lines of dialogue. But it’s surprisingly captivating considering the elements, even if still nothing too special. The lead actors are both alright, the cinematographer shows more ambition than the studio that produced the film. Slight political undertones are found in the pic as well.

Pathfinder's R1 dvd features a good interlaced transfer. There's scrathes and occasional dirt storms but the contrast and brightness are good and there's no problems with edge enhancement. The print was found from the US distributor Harry Novak's archives and could very well be the last remaing print. Aside original jp audio an english dub - which loads the film with dialogue that doesn't exist in the original version - is includes. Also found on the disc are trailer, stills and a poor commentary track by Luke Y. Thompson & Jess Hlubik.

Orgies sadiques l’ere Edo and the other films from HK Video's Teruo Ishii set Vol. 1 now reviewed

http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4948



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Plus a bit of this and that.

Toei's February bad girl trailers:
http://www.toei-video.co.jp/trailer/

10k bullets reviewed Female Prisoner: Caged!:
http://10kbullets.com/reviews/f/female-prisoner-caged/

Pink Eiga's S&M Hunter films actually looks quite fun. Girl gangs, nazis, nunchukus...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/S ... nt_lrg.jpg

Pink Eiga's website has a trailer available.
http://www.pinkeiga.com/HTML/SMHunter.html

There's a review at dvdtimes.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/69 ... unter.html

And the second film S&M Hunter Begins (which actually may be the first, if the dates are correct) is coming soon, too.
http://www.pinkeiga.com/HTML/smb.html

Ijo seai kiroku, harenchi (1969)

Teruo Ishii’s erotic psycho-drama opens like an Italian giallo – with extreme close-ups of a madman’s eyes, quick shots of blood splattered on white feathers, and animal roaring serving as the soundtrack. Cut to upbeat 60’s romance imagery with Teruo Yoshida and Masumi Tachibana kissing at sunset and the perfect contrast is ready. Unfortunately, this project seems to have been a routine effort for Ishii – the same patterns are repeated too many times during the films course, and the screenplay is too thin, falling somewhere between a 30 min episode and a 90 minute feature film. But unlike most of Ishii’s late 60’s films, this is a single storyline without episodic structure. It's clumsy at times, effective at others, and features an enjoyable if not entirely convincing leading performance by Eiji Wakasuki as a stalker who won't let one of his girlfriends go. Fans of the director will find enough satisfaction to warrant a viewing or two, but others can move on to Ishii’s more accomplished – and far gorier – pinky violence works.

American god responds


# Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
# Mono
# Audio Commentary by Japanese Film Expert Chris D.
# New Video Interview With Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
# Cast/Crew Info.
# Stills Gallery
# Trailers
# Reversible Cover With Japanese Poster Artwork
# Newly Restored


# Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
# Mono
# New Video Interview With Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
# Interview With Pinky Violence Film Expert J-Taro Sugisaku
# Cast/Crew Info.
# Stills Gallery
# Trailers
# Reversible Cover With Japanese Poster Artwork
# Newly Restored

Both coming May 19th

10kbullets review of Eastern Star / Discotek's Star of David.

http://10kbullets.com/reviews/s/star-of ... tern-star/

EDIT:
HKV Ishii set 2 coming in june
http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2009/0 ... t-in-june/

Sukeban: Escape From Reform School (Sukeban: Kankai dasso) (1973)

The fith Sukeban film changes some the key players; Norifumi Suzuki is gone for good, replaced by Sadao Nakajima, and Reiko Ike is taking her first day off from the series. In the opening scene Miki Sugimoto tries to run from the officials, but is captured and thrown into a dark cell with her hands tied and shirt removed (of course). After some 30 minutes of passable women in reform school entertainment the film really kicks off when the girls escape. Sugimoto meets a man running from the law (Tsunehiko Watase), while the other girls have their own adventures. Escape From Reform School isn’t a classic film, however, it’s an enjoyable representative of a classic genre. A bit surprisingly Nakajima - best known for his yakuza films (although not a complete stranger to Toei pink) - gives even more room to erotic content than his predecessor, and does quite successfully. There isn’t too much violence, but the action packed ending is very satisfying. The soundtrack is pretty good, too.

Sukeban: Diamond Showdown (Sukeban:Taiman shobu ) (1974)

Ikuo Sekimoto grabs the director’s wheel in the sixth girl boss film. Reiko Ike is back, but Miki Sugimoto didn’t return to the series anymore. Tsunehiko Watase (antihero with sunglasses) and Toru Abe (slimy villain, as usual) play the primary male roles. Sekimoto later helmed some miserable pinky dramas but this film is solid girl gang fun with catfights every 15 minutes and Ike’s girls putting holes into the male yakuzas. There’s one rather strong torture scene but the overall tone is easy going... especially when the bad girls go for a picnic with Funky Monkey Baby by Carol rocking the soundtrack.

Here you can read a bit more about Carol and also listen their song Funky Monkey Baby... although it’s more fun if you save it for the film.

Sukeban – Crazy Ball Game (Sukeban: Tamatsuki asobi) (1974)

The final showdown. Ike and Sugimoto are both missing but Yuko Kano does surprisingly good gob as the new delinquent girl boss. After 6 instalments it’s nice to see a new face in the lead role. Concept-wise director Sekimoto’s second try follows the same functional patters as the earlier films; Kano and her gang draw up a diamond heist plan, but Toru Abe (again) fights back. The nasty villain is backed up by Ema Ryoko, whose biggest star moment comes in the beginning when she and her girls – all dressed in white school uniforms – confront Kano’s gang. Another memorable moment is the silly and sunny ’running topless on the beach’ scene. Like the previous film, Crazy Ball Game a fun girl gang action film with a couple of more graphic violent scenes. A good way to end a long running series.

Toei has blessed the last three Sukeban films with great transfers. The image is slightly soft, but otherwise excellent. If parts 3 and 4 are the same quality then it should be worth upgrading on part 4 (which was released on R1 by Exploitation Digital) at least. Panik House’s part 3 has edge enhancement but is otherwise pretty much perfect so it’s hard to say for sure without having seen the Toei disc.



These Toei dvds feature only trailers and photo galleries as extras. There are no teasers, and the trailers don’t feature any notable deleted / lifted footage. As mentioned before, the cover arts are slightly censored versions of the original poster arts. Pinky violence fans should definitely add these discs to their collection.