The Toei Pinky Violence thread

[HungFist]

This is a bit old news now, but Mondo Macabro will be releasing a A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse on BD!

NEW LIMITED EDITION ANNOUNCEMENT #3!
Third up today is one of the craziest films we’ve ever done, a real cult film in-the-making, the 70s Japanese horror/exploitation free-for-all A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE!
A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse features Nikkatsu star Naomi Tani as an abused wife sold to a brothel to cover her husband’s debts. The deceitful husband is actually behind it all, in cahoots with the brothel madame, who is his lover. Tani discovers the truth and gets tortured to death. However, the dead woman’s soul seeks vengeance from a most unusual quarter.
The film is a bizarre mixture of Japanese erotica, gangster film and “ghost cat” horror movie. All popular genres in the 1960s and 70s. It’s a heady cocktail and makes for an entertaining and unpredictable film that rocks along at a giddy pace. Director Yamaguchi is best known for his Delinquent Girl Boss and Sister Street Fighter movies as well as the Sonny Chiba film Wolf Guy.
DISC FEATURES
Region A coded US home video premiere
Japanese language track with optional English subs
82 minutes, widescreen 2.35:1, color
Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
Brand new interview with Patrick Macias about Toei exploitation cinema in the 1970s
Brand new audio commentary by film scholar Samm Deighan
Trailer
LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
Brand new cover art by Justin Coffee; 20 page booklet by film scholar Jasper Sharp; 1200 numbered copies in the usual red case
This will go on sale Thursday, September 8th at 9 AM Pacific/12 noon Eastern/11 AM Central ONLY at mondomacabro.bigcartel.com!

- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st20385800

[Guro Taku]

That's a really good match of film and distributor. The lack of worthwhile extras is a bummer but unfortunately to be expected.

[HungFist]

Coming from Discotek on Dec. 27.



The great news is that they are also doing colour correction. For some reason many companies, including Toei themselves, no longer do that. Here in Japan I get to see a lot of these films from beautiful 35mm prints, and they are NOT green like many of the lame digital masters that really pale in comparison.
- https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/statu ... 3465041921

[chazgower01]

Coming from Discotek on Dec. 27.

The great news is that they are also doing colour correction. For some reason many companies, including Toei themselves, no longer do that. Here in Japan I get to see a lot of these films from beautiful 35mm prints, and they are NOT green like many of the lame digital masters that really pale in comparison.
- https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/statu ... 3465041921

Just put in my pre-order for this - great to hear, thank you!

[chazgower01]

This is a bit old news now, but Mondo Macabro will be releasing a A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse on BD!

NEW LIMITED EDITION ANNOUNCEMENT #3!
Third up today is one of the craziest films we’ve ever done, a real cult film in-the-making, the 70s Japanese horror/exploitation free-for-all A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE!
A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse features Nikkatsu star Naomi Tani as an abused wife sold to a brothel to cover her husband’s debts. The deceitful husband is actually behind it all, in cahoots with the brothel madame, who is his lover. Tani discovers the truth and gets tortured to death. However, the dead woman’s soul seeks vengeance from a most unusual quarter.
The film is a bizarre mixture of Japanese erotica, gangster film and “ghost cat” horror movie. All popular genres in the 1960s and 70s. It’s a heady cocktail and makes for an entertaining and unpredictable film that rocks along at a giddy pace. Director Yamaguchi is best known for his Delinquent Girl Boss and Sister Street Fighter movies as well as the Sonny Chiba film Wolf Guy.
DISC FEATURES
Region A coded US home video premiere
Japanese language track with optional English subs
82 minutes, widescreen 2.35:1, color
Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
Brand new interview with Patrick Macias about Toei exploitation cinema in the 1970s
Brand new audio commentary by film scholar Samm Deighan
Trailer
LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
Brand new cover art by Justin Coffee; 20 page booklet by film scholar Jasper Sharp; 1200 numbered copies in the usual red case
This will go on sale Thursday, September 8th at 9 AM Pacific/12 noon Eastern/11 AM Central ONLY at mondomacabro.bigcartel.com!

- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st20385800

Already sold out... anyone know an online outlet that might still have some available?

[HungFist]

Already sold out... anyone know an online outlet that might still have some available?

Yeah, it sold out in less than 24 hours after pre-orders went live.

Mondo said there will be a standard edition later, but the date hasn't been announced yet.

[HungFist]

This is a bit old news now, but Mondo Macabro will be releasing a A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse on BD!

NEW LIMITED EDITION ANNOUNCEMENT #3!
Third up today is one of the craziest films we’ve ever done, a real cult film in-the-making, the 70s Japanese horror/exploitation free-for-all A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE!
A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse features Nikkatsu star Naomi Tani as an abused wife sold to a brothel to cover her husband’s debts. The deceitful husband is actually behind it all, in cahoots with the brothel madame, who is his lover. Tani discovers the truth and gets tortured to death. However, the dead woman’s soul seeks vengeance from a most unusual quarter.
The film is a bizarre mixture of Japanese erotica, gangster film and “ghost cat” horror movie. All popular genres in the 1960s and 70s. It’s a heady cocktail and makes for an entertaining and unpredictable film that rocks along at a giddy pace. Director Yamaguchi is best known for his Delinquent Girl Boss and Sister Street Fighter movies as well as the Sonny Chiba film Wolf Guy.
DISC FEATURES
Region A coded US home video premiere
Japanese language track with optional English subs
82 minutes, widescreen 2.35:1, color
Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
Brand new interview with Patrick Macias about Toei exploitation cinema in the 1970s
Brand new audio commentary by film scholar Samm Deighan
Trailer
LIMITED EDITION FEATURES
Brand new cover art by Justin Coffee; 20 page booklet by film scholar Jasper Sharp; 1200 numbered copies in the usual red case
This will go on sale Thursday, September 8th at 9 AM Pacific/12 noon Eastern/11 AM Central ONLY at mondomacabro.bigcartel.com!

- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st20385800

A member at BD.com forum pointed out that the Mondo BD actually runs a little shorter than the Toei master that has been available until now.
- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st20574529

I was curious about this too, so I decided to compare my Mondo Macabro BD (which arrived yesterday) to the Toei Channel TV broadcasting which I recorded a few years ago. The answer is the BD release is frame cut. Frames with damage / splice lines have been removed from the end and / or beginning of shots. This explains the roughly 40s difference in running time between the Mondo BD (1:20:37) and my TV recording (approx. 1:21:20).

Take a look at this screenshot comparison I made. Here you can see the last and first two frames in consecutive shots (call them frames 1, 2, 3 and 4)

Toei Channel (TV)









Below you can see the same scene on Mondo BD.

Mondo BD





If you look carefully, those are frames 1 and 4. I can't post frames 2 and 3 (the ones with splice lines) because they are missing from the BD.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to advocate against buying the Mondo BD. I love the disc. I just thought I should clarify what's causing the run time difference.

In other news, I enjoyed Patrick Macias' brief video extras, though I couldn't help but to notice he got fooled by IMDb. The film's Japanese title is Kaibyo toruko buro, not Bakeneko toruko furo (incorrect reading of the kanji in 怪猫トルコ風呂). I think tried to submit correction to IMDb years ago but they don't believe me.

[HungFist]

Already sold out... anyone know an online outlet that might still have some available?

Yeah, it sold out in less than 24 hours after pre-orders went live.

Mondo said there will be a standard edition later, but the date hasn't been announced yet.

Jan or Feb 2023
https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/prod ... il-edition

[chazgower01]

Already sold out... anyone know an online outlet that might still have some available?

Yeah, it sold out in less than 24 hours after pre-orders went live.

Mondo said there will be a standard edition later, but the date hasn't been announced yet.

Jan or Feb 2023
https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/prod ... il-edition

Thank you!

[HungFist]

https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/statu ... 03/photo/1

Great to see this coming, even if it isn't nearly as good as Teruo Ishii's heavenly masterpiece Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight (1973). My main gripe with this sequel is that it's actually a direct remake of the original, only with Goro Ibuki in Tetsuro Tamba's role and Reiko Ike as new addition. Let's just compare the opening 10 minutes of both films.

Bohachi Bushido (1979):
Bored hero gives up a fight, throws himself into a river, is thought to be dead. The hero then wakes up at Bohachi headquarters, fondled by naked bohachi women. Those women are of course trained in deadly assassination techniques...

The Villain (1974):
Bored hero gives up a fight, is arrested and taken to be executed, is thought to be dead. The hero then wakes up at Bohachi headquarters, fondled by naked bohachi women (that made more sense in Ishii's film where he had been rescued from cold water. Here he has suffered a neck injury for God's sake!). Those women are of course trained in deadly... oh dear, I could go on forever about this.

But don't let that put you off. This is still essential for any 70s Japanese genre film / pinky violence / Reiko Ike fan. I'll be buying it for sure.

Let's hope Toei will do the original film in HD soon, and also Takashi Harada and Goro Ibuki's later, superior Kazuo Koike manga adaptation Hanjiro, A Great Philanderer (下苅り半次郎　マル秘観音を探せ) (1975) which is a pretty insane ninja sexploitation adventure, though much less action packed than the Bohachi bushido films.

[HungFist]

I was hoping for Toei would do something big this year since November 2023 will mark 90 years since Norifumi Suzuki's birth. And oh boy, they do not disappoint!

Toei Channel just published their March program and a brand new HD master of Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Counter-Attack (女番長ブルース　牝蜂の逆襲) (1971) is there. The other six films will almost certainly follow in April-September.

https://www.toeich.jp/program/1TT000003425/202303

Now we need someone to pick them up for a BD release!

[Guro Taku]

Great to see this coming, even if it isn't nearly as good as Teruo Ishii's heavenly masterpiece Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight (1973). My main gripe with this sequel is that it's actually a direct remake of the original, only with Goro Ibuki in Tetsuro Tamba's role and Reiko Ike as new addition.

I still have the Toei VHS in a box somewhere and recall how excited I was to get to watch a "sequel" to Teruo Ishii's masterpiece. What I got was more like a poor quality copy, the same film apparently made again with a third of the budget, style and overall talent. I vaguely recall some interviewer once asking Ishii about the film and him saying he had no idea this film exists. If one can manage to watch it completely on its own merits, without comparing it to what Ishii achieved, it's quite entertaining. I'll pick it up mostly out of a sense of obligation to support physical BD releases of Toei catalogue titles.

Let's hope Toei will do the original film in HD soon, and also Takashi Harada and Goro Ibuki's later, superior Kazuo Koike manga adaptation Hanjiro, A Great Philanderer (下苅り半次郎　マル秘観音を探せ) (1975) which is a pretty insane ninja sexploitation adventure, though much less action packed than the Bohachi bushido films.

Indeed, I'd be much more excited about a BD of Ishii's original, which I sometimes consider his best film. As for Hanjiro, that is among my top 5 most wanted unavailable films.

[HungFist]

Coming July 25th 2023 from Discotek: Terrifying Girls High School Animal Classmates



If you're wondering why they are releasing part 4 instead of part 1, this likely the reason:


- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... ount=16814

Though I'm still confused why they announced the 4th film only and not the 3rd (neither one are Suzuki films).

[HungFist]

https://www.cauldron-films.com/collecti ... agle-video
https://diabolikdvd.com/product/zero-wo ... -preorder/

September 2023. Finally! One of the absolute best!

Details
4K restoration / 1080p presentation
Japanese 2.0 mono
English subtitles

Extras:
Audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan
Sex + Violence = Pinky Violence: TokyoScope author Patrick Macias on Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs
Image Gallery
Full color booklet with brand new essay by Chris D., author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film - limited edition only
Limited slipcover with artwork by Justin Coffee - limited edition only
Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork
Limited to 1500 copies
Region A

[Gaijin84]

Hot damn! This is great.

[HungFist]

I forgot to share this before, but the rest of the Terrifying Girls' High School films have been licensed to the US:

"I asked about the other Terrifying Girls High School movies recently and they have all been licensed for the US. So coming from someone. Just not us, lol.

If all goes well, there will be another pinky violence film from NEV next year, and a sort of pinky violence-adjacent movie, plus the wildest of all 70s yakuza movies. "


- https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=60

With this bit of info, and Film Movement having Red Peony Gambler 2, it seems the licensing issue with Suzuki films (Jared mentioned before that Suzuki's Toei films were not available for licensing, which was also obvious from the fact that not a single Toei Suzuki film has been released on BD outside of Japan despite dozens of them having HD masters available) has been resolved!

[HungFist]

I forgot to mention this earlier, but Female Yakuza Convict (女囚やくざ ) (1974) has finally been unearthed and is airing in HD on Toei Channel this week!
- https://www.toeich.jp/program/1TT000003569/202310

[Guro Taku]

Excellent news and encouraging to see that Toei's not done digging into their vaults for films previously unavailable on home video. Gives me hope I'll get to watch 下苅り半次郎 (秘)観音を探せ eventually. Between this and Nikkatsu's Sex Rider sequel, October is turning into a great month for "missing" films.

[HungFist]

Excellent news and encouraging to see that Toei's not done digging into their vaults for films previously unavailable on home video. Gives me hope I'll get to watch 下苅り半次郎 (秘)観音を探せ eventually. Between this and Nikkatsu's Sex Rider sequel, October is turning into a great month for "missing" films.

An expensive month, haha. I had to subscribe to Eigeki for Sex Rider alone, and Star Channel for their Mari Atsumi films (airing since last month actually, but I'm a month late).
https://www.star-ch.jp/channel/data.php ... =&search=1

[HungFist]

Female Convict Yakuza (女囚やくざ) (Japan, 1974) [TV] – 3.5/5
Reiko Ike made her final delinquent girl appearance in this atmospheric crime drama released in the waning days of Pinky Violence (*). The general impression at the time was that Ike was getting a bit old for delinquent girl roles, which is probably why she’s taking a back seat role here to pass the torch. Yuko Horikoshi and Tsunehiko Watase play bank robbers who are thrown in jail (not actual prison) where they meet Ike. She plans their escape in hopes of getting her hands on the stolen money which is being held by additional members of the gang Teppei Nagahama and (cute & subtly spunky) Kyoko Naito who are in the hiding. The police, a jealous accomplice from the bank, and a small yakuza gang lead by Harumi Sone are also after the money. This film was intended as the first in a new series (as confirmed by the trailer) that never materialized beyond the opening picture, which is a bit of a shame. Though the film is low key, low budget and largely void of the adrenaline rush found in the best Pinky Violence films, it works quite well as an atmospheric crime drama following a group of social outcasts hiding from the police. The group dynamic comes through well and Ike in particular is surprisingly good in a role that mainly involves her hanging out bored in the background. Lead Horikoshi on the other hand is a bit of a flop with a bland presence that led to no further starring roles (holding on to her robes probably didn’t increase her market value either). Things didn’t work out any better for Masahide Shinozuka, a long time assistant director helming his first and last own picture here.

* The golden age of Pinky Violence came to a rapid end in early 1974 when karate movies replaced them as Toei’s most popular B-films in theatrical double bills. Premiering on March 1, 1974, one month after The Street Fighter had initiated the domestic karate film boom, Female Convict Yakuza perhaps never stood much of a chance at the box office.

Additional note: though the film’s kanji title is Joshu yakuza (Female Convict Yakuza), the furigana reads Suke yakuza (Girl Yakuza).

[HungFist]

via https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... count=2794

This movie has the power to change a person's life! I first saw it as a teenager when Panic House put it out on DVD. Mind blown! I've spent every year since then tracking down Pinky Violence films and trying to see every film Ike ever did. Took me till 2023 to complete that quest.

It's a gorgeously shot film with one of the most beautifully choreographed action scenes in the history of cinema. No kidding! Admittedly the plot can get a bit convoluted at times and they could have exploited the political aspects of the storyline more than they did.

Suzuki wrote in his book that one of his main motivations for doing the film was the opportunity to make Meiji Era story and utilize Toei's left-over assets from period films.

“Once Battles without Honour and Humanity turned into a series, in-period ninkyo films disappeared and all productions lines started putting out modern day films. The Kyoto studios however still had plenty of heritage from the [ninkyo] yakuza film era. There were Meiji era town sets, costumes, art and props, the Toei Tsurugikai [action] unit specializing in chambara sword fights, and an army of villain actors. It was a treasure trove of valuable assets.”

Sex and Fury was produced as the B-film companion for The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years (まむしの兄弟　刑務所暮し四年半) which was the A-movie.

[Image: newspaper ad for Toei’s The Viper Brothers: Jail-Living for 4 1/2 Years & Sex and Fury double feature which opened Feb. 17, 1973]



The last time I viewed this was in 2018, from a 35mm print (a double feature with Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs). Can't wait to watch this again!

[Guro Taku]

Any idea how "brand new" that HD transfer really is? Surely this aired on the Toei Channel in HD years ago?

[HungFist]

Any idea how "brand new" that HD transfer really is? Surely this aired on the Toei Channel in HD years ago?

I was wondering about the same thing.

Sex and Fury has not been on Toei Channel for years, certainly not in the past three years when I've had Toei Channel in my house (before that I had it at my future wife's house, with her mom being in charge of the recordings lol). I thought they didn't have Sex and Fury in HD, but someone online apparently has an older Toei Channel HD recording, and I did manage confirm that the film aired in 2018 at least.

Speaking of "new", Eureka advertise their Sonny Chiba releases as having "new restorations", but some of those masters have been airing on Toei Channel since 2016, not to mention released on BD in the US by Shout. I guess "new" simply means "new to this market".

On a slightly related topic, I've updated my old Zero Woman comparison:
viewtopic.php?t=6892

Also, Teruo Ishii's Bohachi Bushido will premiere in HD next month on Toei Channel!
https://www.toeich.jp/program/1T0000010857/202402

[HungFist]

This came a bit out nowhere. Best Field will be releasing Makoto Naito's Neon Jellyfish (ネオンくらげ) (1973) and Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Neon Jellyfish: Shinjuku Flower Streetcar (ネオンくらげ 新宿花電車) (1973) on Japanese DVD 2024/04/10

https://www.bestfield.com/t78zmer2ge/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CR3SXRH3

These two have been extremely hard to see as there are no earlier video releases, no recent TV broadcastings, and no internet streams. I actually travelled to Tokyo just last month to view Shinjuku Flower Streetcar in 35mm. Chris D has also seen that film, which means it probably has been on TV at some point.

[Guro Taku]

I thought they didn't have Sex and Fury in HD, but someone online apparently has an older Toei Channel HD recording, and I did manage confirm that the film aired in 2018 at least.

Speaking of "new", Eureka advertise their Sonny Chiba releases as having "new restorations", but some of those masters have been airing on Toei Channel since 2016, not to mention released on BD in the US by Shout. I guess "new" simply means "new to this market".

That's what I figured and I must say I find it quite annoying. If it wasn't done in the last 12 months I don't think anyone has the right to claim it's a brand new transfer without it becoming false advertising. Some boutique labels have started to put the year when the transfer was done next to their claims of it being "brand new" and I appreciate that. Otherwise just say "HD transfer provided by Toei" or something that's actually true.

That having been said, I'm very happy that Toei's old HD transfer of this film is getting an official BD release. I'm sure it'll be an upgrade from my DVD copy.