Meiko Kaji

262 posts in 'Meiko Kaji'

VIDEO FIND . Meiko Kaji, Still Grudge Singing after all these years

by Chris   ⋅   October 3, 2007   ⋅   Comment [1]

Check this out. Meiko Kaji, now in her sixties, performing Urami Bushi (Female Prisoner Scorpion’s Grudge Song). She actually looks pretty healthy for her age (she’s dropped the stick-skinny thing, but not the Stray Cat Rock clothes), and still sounds exactly the same as on her Zenkyokushu album. Check out the video below.

DVD REVIEW [Early] . Blind Woman’s Curse

by Chris   ⋅   April 29, 2007   ⋅   Comments [2]

The third film in Nikkatsu/Daiei’s Rising Dragon series of female yakuza films, Blind Woman’s Curse marks quite a departure from the norm. This entry features a new heroine, new enemies, and a new theme: that of a period yakuza/horror hybrid. Meiko Kaji, in her first starring role, plays Akemi Tachibana, who, following the death [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41

by Chris   ⋅   April 15, 2007   ⋅   Comments [3]

Way back in high-school, Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41 and Black Lizard served as my introduction to 1970’s Japanese exploitation cinema. I was a bit reluctant to review this film, lest my opinion be clouded by rosy glasses and nostalgia. But, having gone back to the film again, I believe I’m prepared, and my love [...]

DVD REVIEW . Yakuza Graveyard

by Chris   ⋅   August 9, 2006   ⋅   Comment now

Rage, honor, betrayal, duty, racism, love. All are at the heart of Fukasaku’s magnum opus, Yakuza Graveyard, a stunning cops and Yakuza tale that stands with the best hard boilded cop films of all time, be it domestic or international.
Tetsuya Watari plays tough as rusty-nails cop, Kuroiwa. An outcast from his youth, Kuroiwa is [...]

Review Smash! Lady in the Water, Basic Instinct 2, Stray Cat Rock, and more

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   July 24, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

Lady in the Water
Including a critic in your film, and making him the brunt of jokes and ridicule is guaranteed bad reviews, even if the film is quite good. This is certainly the case with M Night’s latest, Lady in the Water, a tale of a lost sea nymph who winds up in the pool [...]

MUSIC REVIEW . Meiko Kaji - Zenkyokushu

by Chris   ⋅   July 15, 2006   ⋅   Comments [11]

I was first introduced to Meiko Kaji’s music back in the late 1990’s with Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41. Though only my initial viewing, I found the theme song amazing, and it stuck with me long after the film. It wasn’t until later that I became a true Kaji fan. I had knowledge of her [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion: Grudge Song

by Chris   ⋅   June 1, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

The last Scorpion entry starring Meiko Kaji is certainly the least of the films. Moving forward sans director Shunya Ito, this installment finds Sasori on the run from yet another gung-ho police inspector, facing threat of execution, and falling in love. That’s right, Sasori in love. When the film starts the police are hot [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable

by Chris   ⋅   May 14, 2006   ⋅   Comment [1]

These days the term fierce has been so overused by hip-hop artists, Tyra Banks, and Inside Hollywood celebrity-trash mongers, it seems to have lost its meaning. But if one were forced to find a dictionary definition personification of the word fierce, that one person that would fit the bill would have to be Meiko Kaji [...]

MOVIE REVIEW . Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion

by Chris   ⋅   July 21, 2005   ⋅   Comments [4]

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is the first film in the Scorpion trilogy, as well as the first film by director Shunya Ito. Based on the manga of the same name, The story follows Nami Matsushima (Meiko Kaji), the fiercest inmate in the Japanese women’s prison system, and for that matter, all women in prison films. [...]

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