What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[chazgower01]

Hanzo The Razor: Sword of Justice (Japan, 1972) Fimstruck VOD 3/5
dir: Kenji Misumi
For those going into this thinking it would be a traditional samurai movie, they’d get a big surprise.
Set in feudal Japan it begins with a ceremony of police officers signing their blood oath of upholding the law - but Hanzo refuses. He finds it hypocritical that certain factions of the community pay off the police to look the other way - how can he sign such an oath when this is a part of the daily norm? It’s a perfect scene to set up Hanzo’s… personality and style… and each scene after that for the first part of the movie introduces us to who Hanzo is and how he goes about things differently than others.
(Having some insight into how Koike Kazuo writes, I suspect this follows the way the manga was done - now I’m curious to read it!)
But what REALLY sets Hanzo apart is his massive dong… yep, his massive manhood, that he uses to interrogate women to get information. In a lesser movie, this might be truly offensive, or done so crass as to be uncomfortable - but here it’s so… obviously comical it’s almost bizarre.
(Especially the second time he does it, involving Mari Atsumi - 30 pounds heavier and virtually unrecognizable from 2 years earlier in ‘The Hot Little Girl. Still beautiful and attractive, just… a completely different look. She got some Hooters out of the weight gain as well!).
Played with a perfectly serious demeanor by the great Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi), Hanzo is a cult hero across the land, as shown in a final small segment at the end of the movie. He just knows what to do and when it’s right to do it. Not for his own gain, but for the benefit of everyone.
The pace of the movie chugs along nicely, though it ends somewhat incomplete, as Hanzo has higher to go in his quest. And I kept thinking, this could be just a BIT more… over the top and it’d be GREAT… yeah, I hear the sequel is even better!

[chazgower01]

MAJISUKA GAKUEN 4 マジすか学園　4 (Japan, 2015) Rakuten VIKI 4/5 (though incomplete)
Majisuka Gakuen 4 is the fourth season of a show starring girls from the Japanese Pop Band AKB48. Rather than starring in a breezy show about how 'kewl' high school is, this is instead a rather bleak story about high school girl gangs who rule a completely trashed school (where there never seems to be any classes) and as in previous episodes, a new student shows up to try and claim the top spot.

The new student is singer and AKB48 Pop Idol Sakura Miyawaki who has to take on the Big 4 (all are members of AKB48), who protect the stairwell leading up to the leader of the 'Rapappa' gang, named Salt (also a member of AKB48).
There's also a Team Hinabe (2nd Year Students) who act almost as a 'Greek Chorus' to gossip and advance the plot and update us and Sakura's two 'underlings', who she whopped early on, only to have them start to admire her and her quest. All of them are also members of AKB48!

Like a lot of Japanese entertainment in the fight genre, each epsiode features a lead up to a battle, highlighting a style or interesting quirk of one of the fighters. Sakura battles every episode, though there are occasional side battles as new charcaters are introduced and their intentions revealed.

The fights are an interesting mix of quick cut camera angles (these are pop stars, not trained fighters), which I normally despise, but somehow they make it look believable, and there's no shortage of bruises and blood dripping from the side of mouths to try and show these are bare knuckle brawls these characters are in.

Sakura herself has her own motivations for wanting to get to the top, and the mysterious leader Salt, slowly lets on to her mindset as well. Not surprisingly, if you look up Sakura on Yahoo, the pictures are pretty much what you'd expect - the over sexualized image making of a Japanese Pop Star (she was only 16-17 when she did this - 19 now), but this show itself isn't about that.

Most of the skirts are long - Sakura's being the shortest (just above the knees) - but there are no stereotypical 'upskirt' kicks or torn clothing or anything like that - this is about fighting and... small lessons... or something.
I just know that I enjoy it - the episodes are 20 minutes long and subtitled (I hear it's on Hulu, but I've been watching it on Rakuten VIKI). I'm 8 episodes in and looking forward to finishing it.


Haruka Shimazaki as Salt and Sakura Miyawaki as herself

[HungFist]

Massacre Gun (みな殺しの拳銃) (Japan, 1967) [VoD] - 2/5
Hitman Joe Shishido and his yakuza brothers, hothead Tatsuya Fuji and failed-boxer-in-love Jiro Okazaki, turn against their rotten boss and try to make money on their own. A rather tiresome Nikkatsu yakuza film that smells of a programmer picture. It's not so much a "bad film" as a movie whose kind have been made in too large quantities. Chris D. associated Massacre Gun with A Colt is My Passport and Branded to Kill, calling them a loosely linked trilogy. There is no direct (if any) connection between the film, and Massacre Gun is by far the least stylish and innovative of the three.

+ Sonny Chiba Special: Part 66 (2/2)

The Yagyu Clan Conspiracy (柳生一族の陰謀) (Japan, 1978) [DVD] - 3.5/5
Toei resurrected the samurai film genre with this epic, which served as their answer to the waning popularity of karate and yakuza films. It was the start of a new era of bigger budgeted Toei films, and even got released it as a standalone feature as opposed to half of a double feature. It was also the first time for Sonny Chiba to play the legendary ninja Yagyu Jubei, whom he would later portray in film, TV and stage. Kinji Fukasaku's take on the material was interesting as well: he'd dropped the documentary antics of his gangster films and taken creative, provocative freedoms from acknowledged history, while at the same time taking a more realistic approach than most 60s samurai films. It's a long and talkative tale of power struggle between two brothers (Hiroki Matsukata and Teruhiko Saigo) wishing to become the next shogun, with some historical dryness and perhaps a subplot or two too much. At the same time it's an interesting, massive and well crafted tale with some nice action and good performances by Chiba (whose JAC stars co-star in the film) and Kinnosuke Nakamura, whose highly theatrical acting creates a great portrayal of a man who is not allowed to show his true feelings under the Japanese etiquette. The audiences agreed: the film was the 3rd most popular domestic release of 1978.

[chazgower01]

Massacre Gun (みな殺しの拳銃) (Japan, 1967) [VoD] - 2/5
Hitman Joe Shishido and his yakuza brothers, hothead Tatsuya Fuji and failed-boxer-in-love Jiro Okazaki, turn against their rotten boss and try to make money on their own. A rather tiresome Nikkatsu yakuza film that smells of a programmer picture. It's not so much a "bad film" as a movie whose kind have been made in too large quantities. Chris D. associated Massacre Gun with A Colt is My Passport and Branded to Kill, calling them a loosely linked trilogy. There is no direct (if any) connection between the film, and Massacre Gun is by far the least stylish and innovative of the three.

I can't disagree with any of what you say here, but I guess I just haven't seen enough of these to be too jaded yet - I enjoyed it!
Put Jo Shishido and Tatsuya Fuji in a movie with some hot ladies, yakuza gun battles, and a cool jazz score and I'm going to be entertained!
Let's see where I'm at after watching about a 100 of these!

[saltysam]

Duel Of Fists 3/5
David Chiang heads out to Thailand in search of his long lost brother Ti Lung,who it turns out is a up and coming Thai boxer being hassled by the great and dodgy Chen Sing. A change of pace for a Shaw movie,pretty decent.

Angry Guest 3/5
Sequel finds Chen Sing out for revenge against the two brothers. quickfire sequel is again pretty decent.

Sacred Knives Of Vengeance akaThe Killer 3.5/5
Excellent Shaw movie is loaded with violent action and is pretty much non-stop, a change from the Shaw norm. Had to watch this as a custom with english subs added,as the only release is the expensive german dvd with no english subs. Needs an official english friendly upgrade.

14 Amazons 3.5/5
Large scale Shaw epic, captivating and exciting.

[chazgower01]

Duel Of Fists 3/5
David Chiang heads out to Thailand in search of his long lost brother Ti Lung,who it turns out is a up and coming Thai boxer being hassled by the great and dodgy Chen Sing. A change of pace for a Shaw movie,pretty decent.

I need to see this... curious to see how much of early 70's Bangkok I can recognize...

[chazgower01]

Forbidden Tale of the Genroku Era (aka The Story of a Nymphomaniac (好色元禄㊙物語) (Japan, 1975) 'Fan Sub’ DVD 3/5
dir: Ikuo Sekimoto
Yuriko Hishimi is Natsu, a golddigger in old Japan who isn’t interested in romance, only money. Her sister (Maki Tachibana) believes in love and marriage and that her loser husband is ok. UNTIL she gets sold to a neighbor for the night for 10 gold coins by him. Afterwards she comes home to catch him red handed raping her sister after killing her father. In a daze she stabs and kills him and they dump him in the swamp.
Overwrought with guilt she decides she must sleep with 1000 men to atone for her crime…
Meanwhile, Natsu isn’t fazed and instead seeks revenge on the silk merchant that thought she was too low rent for his father’s high standards, marrying a ‘nice’ girl. And boy does she get her revenge!
If the ‘fan’ subtitles are legit, I thought this was a pretty funny little tale (clocking in at a modest 67 minutes) with some life lessons, some funny dialogue, and of course lots of skin.

[HungFist]

MAJISUKA GAKUEN 4 マジすか学園　4 (Japan, 2015) Rakuten VIKI 4/5 (though incomplete)

I was aware of this series (well, the earlier seasons) about a decade ago when I was crazy about Sukeban Deka (the 3 series, not the films), Rebellion League of Girls in Sailor Uniform and Shojo Commando Izumi, but just I assumed a modern high school action series wouldn't be worth it...

Hanzo The Razor: Sword of Justice (Japan, 1972) Fimstruck VOD 3/5
I hear the sequel is even better!

I had flights reserved to see the 1st two films (and other stuff) in Tokyo in 35mm last year. Then got sick and had to cancel the whole trip...

And yeah, the 2nd film is better. The 3rd one is not bad either although it's the least of the three (nothing especially wrong with it... it just feels somehow less inspired than the first two).

I can't disagree with any of what you say here, but I guess I just haven't seen enough of these to be too jaded yet - I enjoyed it!

Well, that's a blessing!

I need to see this... curious to see how much of early 70's Bangkok I can recognize...

You were in Bangkok in the early 70s?

Forbidden Tale of the Genroku Era (aka The Story of a Nymphomaniac (好色元禄㊙物語) (Japan, 1975) 'Fan Sub’ DVD 3/5

This film bored me to death... on dvd, and in 35mm

[chazgower01]

I need to see this... curious to see how much of early 70's Bangkok I can recognize...

You were in Bangkok in the early 70s?

No no... how much early 70''s Bangkok I can recognize by how it looks now!

Forbidden Tale of the Genroku Era (aka The Story of a Nymphomaniac (好色元禄㊙物語) (Japan, 1975) 'Fan Sub’ DVD 3/5

This film bored me to death... on dvd, and in 35mm

Did it have subtitles?

[chazgower01]

Red Peony Gambler (Japan, 1968) DVD 3.5/5
dir. Kosaku Yamashita

Japanese Star Junko Fuji, in the first of NINE of these films, is Oryu, the Red Peony Gambler. After taking up residence with a local yakuza boss in old Japan, she must then protect that family after the boss is killed, and search for the man who killed her father.
An influence upon what would become the Pinky Violence genre, some of those elements are here - strong female protaganist, nice amount of violence and blodshed, and bad guys who are just asking for it. Not as lurid as a Pinky Violence film, it still has a lot going for it.
For one, it has two major stars - Junko Fuji and Ken Takakura - and both just soak up the screen everytime they're on it. Secondly, it's a good solid story from Norifumi Suzuki (writer, NOT the director here - he'd direct the second one) that throws a few interesting touches in to it (Oryu's 'brother' who joins the finale goes right over the top in full battle mode and it's great!).
And lastly, it has a finale that makes it all worth it. Not that the movie is slow - it has it's moments of action throughout - but the finale is pretty entertaining and sort of what we'd come to expect in this and the genre it would influence.
Oh... and she pulled out a gun and used it a few times, which totally surprised me!

[HungFist]

Did it have subtitles?

On DVD, if I recall correctly, I added them myself. 35mm, no.

An influence upon what would become the Pinky Violence genre

Pardon me for the self-righteous rant that follows...

I mean this by no offence, and I'm referring mainly to other writers whom I've seen say the same thing, but I feel that emphasizing the "pinky violence connection" is mainly an idea conceived by people who weren't too familiar with Japanese yakuza films. Red Peony Gambler is one of the greatest ninkyo yakuza classics of all time, a series belonging to the most popular Japanese film genre of the mid/late 60s. What Red Peony Gambler did, in addition to having been a prime example of ninkyo cinema, is that it established Junko Fuji as one of the three major stars of (Toei) ninkyo cinema alongside superstars Ken Takakura and Koji Tsuruta.

I think there are some natural connections between yakuza and the 2nd wave (70s) of pinky violence films, of course. When old school yakuza films lost their popularity in the early 70s, studios begun to offer exploitation instead. In some cases you could see yakuza films gradually sliding to exploitation (Junko Fuji films --> Wandering Ginza Butterfly --> The Red Silk Gambler --> Sex and Fury). And of course yakuza films and most pinky violence films were both gangster films. Also, films like Red Peony Gamber (as well as the Woman Gambling Expert series at Daiei, the Cat Girl Gambling series at Nikkatsu etc.) surely cleared path for 70s pinky violence by familiarizing audiences with the idea of strong females as gangster film leads.

That being said, I feel the way some writers are carelessly "reducing" Red Peony Gambler as a mere "inspiration" for pinky violence (or worse yet, criticize it for its lack of action and exploitation) is somewhat ignorant. After all, ninkyo yakuza films were a genre 10 times more popular than pinky violence ever was, and Red Peony Gambler is one of the biggest classics of ninkyo films. It deserves to be evaluated as a member of its own genre (that being said, I do understand that most writers would find that difficult since ninkyo films remain almost unknown outside of Japan... hardly any of them have been released on official subbed DVD / BD. In Japan, however, the genre was incredibly popular and prolific).

in the first of NINE of these films

EIGHT

The whole series is good. There's not a bad entry in it. My personal favourite is part 5 (Biographies of a Gambling Room, Kosaku Yamashita, 1969) which is my favourite yakuza film of all time. I highly recommend you track that one down at least.

[chazgower01]

Pardon me for the self-righteous rant that follows...

I mean this by no offence, and I'm referring mainly to other writers whom I've seen say the same thing, but I feel that emphasizing the "pinky violence connection" is mainly an idea conceived by people who weren't too familiar with Japanese yakuza films. Red Peony Gambler is one of the greatest ninkyo yakuza classics of all time, a series belonging to the most popular Japanese film genre of the mid/late 60s. What Red Peony Gambler did, in addition to having been a prime example of ninkyo cinema, is that it established Junko Fuji as one of the three major stars of (Toei) ninkyo cinema alongside superstars Ken Takakura and Koji Tsuruta.

I think there are some natural connections between yakuza and the 2nd wave (70s) of pinky violence films, of course. When old school yakuza films lost their popularity in the early 70s, studios begun to offer exploitation instead. In some cases you could see yakuza films gradually sliding to exploitation (Junko Fuji films --> Wandering Ginza Butterfly --> The Red Silk Gambler --> Sex and Fury). And of course yakuza films and most pinky violence films were both gangster films. Also, films like Red Peony Gamber (as well as the Woman Gambling Expert series at Daiei, the Cat Girl Gambling series at Nikkatsu etc.) surely cleared path for 70s pinky violence by familiarizing audiences with the idea of strong females as gangster film leads.

That being said, I feel the way some writers are carelessly "reducing" Red Peony Gambler as a mere "inspiration" for pinky violence (or worse yet, criticize it for its lack of action and exploitation) is somewhat ignorant. After all, ninkyo yakuza films were a genre 10 times more popular than pinky violence ever was, and Red Peony Gambler is one of the biggest classics of ninkyo films. It deserves to be evaluated as a member of its own genre (that being said, I do understand that most writers would find that difficult since ninkyo films remain almost unknown outside of Japan... hardly any of them have been released on official subbed DVD / BD. In Japan, however, the genre was incredibly popular and prolific).

I'm no expert on any of this, so insight such as this on it is always greatly appreciated.
I'd be curious to read more on the genre and understand it - it's evolution, what made it popular, how that popularity reflects from Japanese culture...
Are there any books out there (in English) that are a good source of information about it?

And speaking of books, have you seen this coming out March 12th:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/4163908099/

[HungFist]

I'm no expert on any of this, so insight such as this on it is always greatly appreciated.
I'd be curious to read more on the genre and understand it - it's evolution, what made it popular, how that popularity reflects from Japanese culture...
Are there any books out there (in English) that are a good source of information about it?

If you wanna read yakuza film reviews then Chris D's and March Schilling's books are both good. But I'm not aware of any English language books that really analyze the ninkyo genre.

Paul Schrader's essay from 1974 however is a good starting point. It has a few mistakes, but it's still a very good read. Although he doesn't say it, the essay is basically about ninkyo films (aka chivalrous yakuza films).

Theater of Life - Hishakaku (1963) is generally considered the first major ninkyo film. It took a few years for the genre to fully establish its form, but by around 1966 it had become Toei's most successful film genre. The most important feature of the films was the romanticised portrayal of honourable gangsters. The main themes were friendship and brotherhood between men, and conflict between duty and humanity. The stories were usually set in Taisho or early Showa era.

A typical ninkyo storyline would feature Ken Takakura as a stoic gangster hero returning to his honourable clan who are yakuza but never exploit the innocent. On his way he might encounter and make friends with another good man, only to later discover that man is under obligation to a dishonourable gang that is causing trouble in the area. The other man would usually redeem himself in blood in the film's final massacre.

It's possible to see the influence of samurai films in ninkyo movies. The problem with traditional samurai films was that audiences were getting bored with such righteous heroes. In ninkyo films you'd get almost samurai-like heroes who could, however, go through moral conflicts since they weren't 100% good guys. Also, audiences familiar with John Woo's 80s heroic bloodshed films should recognize similar themes in ninkyo films.

I think one reason why the films were so popular was that Japanese working class audiences could both look up to and identify with these stoic heroes who suffered throughout the films following strict codes of conduct, but at the end grabbed the sword and slaughtered all evil doers. I think some of the audiences were dreaming of doing the same at their company office

The ninkyo films were mainly a Toei genre although Nikkatsu and Daiei also did some. But Daiei was better known for samurai films, while Nikkatsu's yakuza films drew from youth films. Toei's ninkyo films were quite conservative in comparison.

The audiences eventually got tired of the ninkyo films in the early 70s, but only after hundreds of films had been produced. They were very formulaic since the heroes always had to be honourable men, so in that sense the genre really did not evolve much. The idea with the genre wasn't so much to be original but to excute the usual formula as gracefully as possible.

The jitsuroku films of the 70s were a sort of response and rebellion against ninkyo films. The title of Battles without Honor and Humanity says it all... a new kind of look at the gangster world where heroes were no longer honourable outlaws but morally corrupt killers.

If you'd like to educate yourself in ninkyo films, I'd recommend to start with:
- Brutal Tales of Chivalry (1965)
- Brutal Tales of Chivalry 2: The Chinese Lion and Peony (1966)
- Big Time Gambling Boss (1968)
- Red Peony Gambler: Biographies of a Gambling Room (1969)

And speaking of books, have you seen this coming out March 12th:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/4163908099/

Yeah, I was aware of that. Reading full books in Japanese is a bit too much for me though.

[HungFist]

Japan's Underworld History: Blood Feud (日本暗黒史　血の抗争) (Japan, 1967) [TV] - 2/5
Just how many times could Toei tell the same story of a small gang made of goofballs rising from the ruins of WWII Japan? It's a formula that was done to death in the 1960s until the ultra gritty jitsuroku genre pumped some fresh energy into it in the 70s. "Blood Feud" falls into the gap that existed between the better defined ninkyo and jitsuroku genres, featuring too much comedic relief to convince as a gritty gangster tale, and not enough action and romanticism to come off as solid escapism entertainment. It's just not a very exiting film. Or perhaps I've seen too many of these films. Toei audiences apparently had not; a sequel followed later the same year.

Retaliation (縄張はもらった) (Japan, 1968) [VoD] - 3/5
Just out of prison yakuza Akira Kobayashi is tasked with taking a city under his control from two other gangs, using his wits a few trusted men. Fast paced neo noir throws in enough violence, boobs - including a glimpse of Meiko Kaji - and kinetic camerawork to keep the audience entertained. The plot is a bit convoluted, but generally avoids the kind of predictable, prolonged melodrama that often hurt yakuza films, including Hasebe's Massacre Gun, of the era.

[grim_tales]

The Executioner 2 - Karate Inferno: 4/5

This film is crazy at times with not as much as action as the first - but it is funny There's a silly scene involving superglue, and a great bit, during a heist scene where Chiba saves his partner from burning by pissing on him Maybe this inspired something similar in Hard Boiled
Actually "not much action" (if I mean combat) is perhaps a bit generous, but there is a great piece at the end that reminded me of The Street Fighter series - Chiba rips out a guy's intestines and whacks him across the face

[chazgower01]

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (Japan, 1974) DVD 4.5/5
Maybe as close to a perfect exploitation movie as we can get, this flick doesn’t wink or nod at the audience, it punches it right across the face.
There are no good guys, only the bad, and those that get in the way of the bad. Part way through the movie you can just sort of tell that NO ONE is going to get through this in one piece. Even Miki Sugimoto, the Zero Woman Cop sent to rescue a politician’s daughter from some nut cases, manages to simply outlast everyone else. She takes plenty of abuse along the way, some of it hard to watch… and yet you can’t help but watch.
Eiji Go is a psycho here, with Tetsuro Tanba as the ice cold Politician who’s daughter has been kidnapped.
A classic of it’s genre!

[chazgower01]

Pulp International had a Miki Sugimoto post the other day, showing some pics from a 2007 magazine. It was a pictorial feature called "Remember Zero Woman".
I guess it included some previously unpublished pics, or no longer censored pics, because there was better than a hint of pubic hair in two of those shots! I wonder how many (much more) revealing pics are out there that could be published uncensored today?
http://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/e ... imoto.html

[HungFist]

True Account of the Ando Gang - Yakuza and Feuds (やくざと抗争 実録安藤組) (Japan, 1973) [DVD] - 2/5
An underwhelming jitsuroku yakuza film depicting Noboru Ando's rise from a delinquent school boy to a remarkable gang leader. Despite some ultra violence, including a fork in the eye, axe in the arm, and the cutting of Ando's face, the film is surprisingly bland. The tale is very much told by the numbers, except for a strangely laidback soundtrack that is at odds with the cruelty seen on the screen, and an anti-climatic ending which build up for a huge gunfight which it chooses not to show at all. Also, although the film is set in the 50s some of the cityscapes are unmistakably 70s. The film is the second part in the series that begun with the equally boring Yakuza and Feuds (1972). The third and final film, True Account of the Ando Gang - Story of the Attack (1973) would be a notable improvement, however.

Savage Wolf Pack (野獣を消せ) (Japan, 1969) [TV] - 3/5
An slightly unusual piece of Nikkatsu New Action where the bad guys are more interesting than the hero. Tatsuya Fuji leads a homemade gang of savage villains, one of whom (Mieko Tsudoi) is a party girl who loves hurting people and dancing topless in disco. The bunch may seem like generic pack of bullies at first, but eventually grow into a tragic, perhaps even allegorical (of the post war Japan and the kind of people it gave birth to) bunch of sad anti-heroes. It is no wonder Fuji fought to get the role. Tetsuya Watari is slightly miscast as the actual hero, a back-from-Alaska hunter whose sister was raped and driven to suicide by Fuji's gang. He becomes the unwilling protector of a runaway girl (Mieko Fujimoto in a worthless role) who is also being targeted by the baddies. Director Yasuharu Hasebe inserts surprisingly graphic violence (one guy has his guts blown out), and would basically re-use the Fuji gang in a hippier context in the first Stray Cat Rock film.

[HungFist]

The Executioner 2 - Karate Inferno: 4/5

This film is crazy at times with not as much as action as the first - but it is funny There's a silly scene involving superglue, and a great bit, during a heist scene where Chiba saves his partner from burning by pissing on him Maybe this inspired something similar in Hard Boiled
Actually "not much action" (if I mean combat) is perhaps a bit generous, but there is a great piece at the end that reminded me of The Street Fighter series - Chiba rips out a guy's intestines and whacks him across the face

Glad you enjoyed it and hope you will see more Chiba! The Killing Machine and Wolf Guy should be easily available in the UK!

Most western viewers miss the joke at the end... the old prisoner is Onitora (Kanjuro Arashi), a character who appears in Teruo Ishii's Abashiri Prison series (1965-1967). Sonny Chiba also appeared in two of the Abashiri films. That's why Chiba's character "recognizes" Onitora in Karate Inferno (though it's a bit of a meta joke... Chiba is of course playing a different character here).

[grim_tales]

The Killing Machine is part of the boxset I have I think
Haven't seen Wolf Guy though.

[HungFist]

Lusty Wife: Temptation of Flesh (色情妻　肉の誘惑) (Japan, 1976) - 1.5/5
A sexually frustrated housewife runs into a creepy gypsy lady who tells her she's going to die unless she gets laid soon. Oddly enough, she doesn't go on a sex spree but instead gets scared. A rare specimen among Roman Porno, a sex film veering to occult horror. The plot is ridiculous and Shogoro Nishimura's direction utterly mediocre, but there are some bizarre moments especially towards the end that are worthy of some attention.

True Account of the Ando Gang - Story of the Attack (実録安藤組 襲撃篇) (Japan, 1973) [TV] - 3.5/5
Noboru Ando was a real life gangster who ordered a non-fatal hit that left a businessman seriously injured in 1958. Ando was arrested after 35 days on a run, and sentenced to prison for eight years (of which he serve six), after which he disbanded his gang and became a reasonably successful yakuza film star utilizing his own notoriety. This is the third and final film in a series based on Ando's life, and the most realistic of them. Director Junya Sato goes for a documentary approach, accounting the events before and after the infamous incident almost hour by hour. Due to its realism, the film is far less violent than most jitsuroku movies (only one person is killed in the film) but mostly no less intense. The film is visually very stylish, mixing grainy images with stylish use of colour and shadows, and features a solid cast with Ando as himself; Eiji Go as the gangster who shot the businessman (the bullet he fired went through the target's arm into his chest), and several other tough guys like Rikiya Yasuoka. For an interesting comparison piece, see Noboru Tanaka's lesser but much more over-the-top sexploitation accounting of the same incident, Noboru Ando's Filthy Escape into Sex (1976).

[chazgower01]

Train to Busan (South Korea, 2016) Netflix 4/5
Zombie outbreak on a train! Infinitely better than World War Z and Fear the Walking Dead, this South Korean Zombie flick has characters you like, moral conflicts, and non-stop action once the zombies show up (which is early on). Really well made, and entertaining, I'm exhausted after watching this, but in a good way.
The zombies are fast and ruthless; and the 'unlikely scenarios' are held to a very bare minimum - all the while presenting enough of a human element to keep you entertained without rolling your eyes.
Su-an Kim, as the little girl of the main character, is pretty amazing - that's a lot of emotion for a little kid!
Well worth seeing!

[grim_tales]

The Lady Assassin (Vietnam, 2013): 3.5/5

Enjoyable, felt like an early 90's HK film in many ways - aside from quasi 3D (?) and a fun volleyball training sequence that resembled something like Shaolin Soccer. There's even some songs (which arent translated for some reason). Plenty of wirework and slow motion but also - martial arts, swords, lovely locations, seriously beautiful women - what's not to like?

[HungFist]

Fossilized Wilderness (化石の荒野) (Japan, 1982) (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 1/5
A cop (Tsunehiko Watase) is framed for murder. At the same time something fishy is going on at the mountains which are swarming with gangsters and shady businessmen with metal detectors. He's got to solve what's that all about while being chased by the cops. Novel-based overlong (123 min) pseudo epic of a crime film, in many ways typical 80s Japanese mainstream cinema at its worst. Producer Haruki Kadokawa is probably to blame for the dull commercialism and expensive but mind-numbingly dumb action bits that prove money alone doesn't do the job. Watase's sunglasses and snowy Hokkaido scenery at the end are the best things about the film. Director Yasuharu Hasebe was better suited for leaner, meaner action and exploitation films.

His Motorbike, Her Island (彼のオートバイ彼女の島) (Japan, 1986) [VoD] - 3.5/5
A lesser known, romantic Nobuhiko Obayashi film about a young biker chap on the road searching for himself after breaking up with a girlfriend (Noriko Watanabe). He then runs into another girl (Kiwako Harada) who shares his love for bikes. "All my dreams play in black and white" he says, and consequently half of the film is painted in black & white or a blend of muted colours and grainy black & white film, seamlessly shifting from one to another throughout the film. While there are some cliché parts, it's really quite a charming tale with some truly cinematic audio-visual sequences. Performances are all good, especially Harada who is charming despite occasionally overdoing her cuteness/cheeriness act, and has a wonderfully funny and cute hot spring scene with nudity. And balance the eye candy, there's is plenty of rear nudity by the male protagonist, played by none other than the 22 year old fluffy haired Riki Takeuchi, almost unrecognizable in his debut role!

[chazgower01]

Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (Japan, 1973) Filmstruck VOD 3.5/5
dir: Yasuzo Masumura
The second Hanzo movie, bringing back all of the samurai sword fights, corrupt public officials, crazy hidden weapons, and Hanzo’s special ‘torture'.
This time around though, we also get a bald, naked preistess, weird ritual abortions, sex trafficking, gangs of thieves - as the corruption goes higher up the ladder, so does the perversion.
But strangely enough, some of the best scenes in these movies is still Hanzo’s complete disrespect for any sort of authority. EVERYONE is corrupt in the system, and Hanzo sees right through it and snubbs his nose at their ‘codes of honor’ and rules of upholding the law. If everyone is on the take, how are they going to preach to HIM about right and wrong? Classic.
As UN-politically correct as it can be from before that was even a concept.