Re: Classic Japanese Exploitation (pinky violence & pink)
Posted: 19 Sep 2017, 08:46
I'm getting so fed up with Weissers' bullshit. You can't trust anything they write in their book (Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films). It goes without saying that their film reviews are crap since they write, rate and analyze films without actually having seen them, but how do they make up completely false stories about cast members, awards etc? Some example below:
Assault: Jack the Ripper (1976)
Actress Katsura is extraordinary. Nominated as Best Actress by the Japanese Academy for this performance, she was the critical favorite but, apparently, her ferocious intensity alienated many of the more conservative voters.
Fact Check: Katsura did not "lose" because she was not even nominated. The whole bloody award didn't exist back then.
From the Back, From the Front (1980):
"Yoko Hatanaka enjoyed a series of pop hits throughout the early-to-mid ' 70s . Ushiro Kara Mae Kara was one of them, charting Top 10. Considered innocuously innocent upon it's 1974 release (similar to Western hits like Olivia Newton-John's Physical), but it is obviously intended to be "dirty" within the context of the pinku eiga arena. When the hits were no longer hot, Ms Hatanaka joined Nikkatsu as one of their roman porno starlets."
Fact Check: Hatanaka didn't do anything in the early 70s except study in elementary school. She debuted as a singer in 1978. An early duet version of the song was first released in 1978, then as a solo version in 1980.
Sex Hunter: Wet Target (1972):
"Yukihiro Sawada befriended a talented young Japan University film student, Toshihiro (Sogo) Ishii in the late '70s. Together they made the movie One Against 880,000 as Ishii's class project. It was released theatrically under the title High School Big Panic in 1978 . Both Sawada and Ishii were jointly credited as the director."
Fact Check: One Against 880,000 and High School Big Panic (=Panic in High School) are two completely different movies. Ishii's 8mm student film Panic in High School and the 35mm feature length Panic in High School remake are also two different movies. I'm also quite sure Ishii and Sawada were not friends and did not work together except on the Panic in High School remake (1978). According to MidnightEye's Nicholas Rucka, who also interviewed Ishii, Ishii was forced to work with Sawada by Nikkatsu, and Ishii remains bitter about the film to this day as he feels the movie was taken away from his control.
Angel Guts: Rouge, Angel Guts: Red Rope - "Until I Expire", Angel Guts: Night is Falling Again
"Tenshi No Harawata: Yoru Ga Mata Kuru, Tenshi No Harawata: Akai Nawa Hateru Made, Tenshi No Harawata : Rouge"
Fact Check: None of those films are part of the Angel Guts series. The funniest thing is the Weissers have somehow managed to come up with fake Japanese titles for them by adding "Tenshi No Harawata" before their real titles.
Erotic Liaisons (1978 / 1992)
"These films are broad adaptations of the sexy 18th century French book Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laelos, modernized and transformed into an erotic thriller.
Fact Check: These films have nothing to do with Dangerous Liaisons. Instead, they are based on a French detective novel Les Suicidés du printemps (1973) by Raymond Marlot (Jean-Pierre Angremy)
Wives' Rape Mansion (1985):
"Director Saito...rides helm on this mean-spirited rape flick. The plot - as thin as it is - tells the story of a rapist specializing in high-rise condo assaults."
Fact Check: The film is actually a marriage drama about a couple who have conflicting views on getting children. There is one rape in the film, during its last 5 minutes, when the husband takes his wife by force at their home. Why the Weissers saw a need to fabricate plot synopsis about some serial rapist is anyone's guess.
Rope Torture (1984):
"After an indiscretion with a younger man, her jealous husband disciplines poor Miki ."
Fact Check: Her husband has nothing to do with her torture, in fact he's having an affair with another woman and is blissfully unaware about everything that's going on back home (wife's affair, a third party forcing her to become a rope slave or they'll let the husband know about her affair)
Red Violation (1980):
"The main character is lead singer of a rock group. After a concert, Yuya (played by real-life rocker Yuya Uchida) beds a group ie, an innocent but mixed-up high school girl named Megumi (Megumi Saki). He soon learns that..."
Fact Check: The main character is not played by Uchida. Uchida appears in the film (as himself) in a 20 second cameo. Although this mistake is not so huge since he just mixed actors, it's still comparable to saying "Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the main character in The Expendibles" or "Tom Cruise stars in Austin Powers in Goldmember" considering Uchida was quite a super star back then.
I'm sure there are a trillion other errors, too. I didn't even bother posting everything I spotted (since last night). Sure, it was published in 1998 so I'd be willing to forgive mistakes to a certain extent but there's a limit to that too... The saddest thing is that their book is the primary source for English language wikipedia articles, which in turn are used as source for countless reviews and articles, with the same mistakes being repeated. Even I have fell victim to that in the past, I'm afraid...
Assault: Jack the Ripper (1976)
Actress Katsura is extraordinary. Nominated as Best Actress by the Japanese Academy for this performance, she was the critical favorite but, apparently, her ferocious intensity alienated many of the more conservative voters.
Fact Check: Katsura did not "lose" because she was not even nominated. The whole bloody award didn't exist back then.
From the Back, From the Front (1980):
"Yoko Hatanaka enjoyed a series of pop hits throughout the early-to-mid ' 70s . Ushiro Kara Mae Kara was one of them, charting Top 10. Considered innocuously innocent upon it's 1974 release (similar to Western hits like Olivia Newton-John's Physical), but it is obviously intended to be "dirty" within the context of the pinku eiga arena. When the hits were no longer hot, Ms Hatanaka joined Nikkatsu as one of their roman porno starlets."
Fact Check: Hatanaka didn't do anything in the early 70s except study in elementary school. She debuted as a singer in 1978. An early duet version of the song was first released in 1978, then as a solo version in 1980.
Sex Hunter: Wet Target (1972):
"Yukihiro Sawada befriended a talented young Japan University film student, Toshihiro (Sogo) Ishii in the late '70s. Together they made the movie One Against 880,000 as Ishii's class project. It was released theatrically under the title High School Big Panic in 1978 . Both Sawada and Ishii were jointly credited as the director."
Fact Check: One Against 880,000 and High School Big Panic (=Panic in High School) are two completely different movies. Ishii's 8mm student film Panic in High School and the 35mm feature length Panic in High School remake are also two different movies. I'm also quite sure Ishii and Sawada were not friends and did not work together except on the Panic in High School remake (1978). According to MidnightEye's Nicholas Rucka, who also interviewed Ishii, Ishii was forced to work with Sawada by Nikkatsu, and Ishii remains bitter about the film to this day as he feels the movie was taken away from his control.
Angel Guts: Rouge, Angel Guts: Red Rope - "Until I Expire", Angel Guts: Night is Falling Again
"Tenshi No Harawata: Yoru Ga Mata Kuru, Tenshi No Harawata: Akai Nawa Hateru Made, Tenshi No Harawata : Rouge"
Fact Check: None of those films are part of the Angel Guts series. The funniest thing is the Weissers have somehow managed to come up with fake Japanese titles for them by adding "Tenshi No Harawata" before their real titles.
Erotic Liaisons (1978 / 1992)
"These films are broad adaptations of the sexy 18th century French book Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laelos, modernized and transformed into an erotic thriller.
Fact Check: These films have nothing to do with Dangerous Liaisons. Instead, they are based on a French detective novel Les Suicidés du printemps (1973) by Raymond Marlot (Jean-Pierre Angremy)
Wives' Rape Mansion (1985):
"Director Saito...rides helm on this mean-spirited rape flick. The plot - as thin as it is - tells the story of a rapist specializing in high-rise condo assaults."
Fact Check: The film is actually a marriage drama about a couple who have conflicting views on getting children. There is one rape in the film, during its last 5 minutes, when the husband takes his wife by force at their home. Why the Weissers saw a need to fabricate plot synopsis about some serial rapist is anyone's guess.
Rope Torture (1984):
"After an indiscretion with a younger man, her jealous husband disciplines poor Miki ."
Fact Check: Her husband has nothing to do with her torture, in fact he's having an affair with another woman and is blissfully unaware about everything that's going on back home (wife's affair, a third party forcing her to become a rope slave or they'll let the husband know about her affair)
Red Violation (1980):
"The main character is lead singer of a rock group. After a concert, Yuya (played by real-life rocker Yuya Uchida) beds a group ie, an innocent but mixed-up high school girl named Megumi (Megumi Saki). He soon learns that..."
Fact Check: The main character is not played by Uchida. Uchida appears in the film (as himself) in a 20 second cameo. Although this mistake is not so huge since he just mixed actors, it's still comparable to saying "Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the main character in The Expendibles" or "Tom Cruise stars in Austin Powers in Goldmember" considering Uchida was quite a super star back then.
I'm sure there are a trillion other errors, too. I didn't even bother posting everything I spotted (since last night). Sure, it was published in 1998 so I'd be willing to forgive mistakes to a certain extent but there's a limit to that too... The saddest thing is that their book is the primary source for English language wikipedia articles, which in turn are used as source for countless reviews and articles, with the same mistakes being repeated. Even I have fell victim to that in the past, I'm afraid...