The Pinky Violence Collection — dvd review
If there is one box set that has caught the eye of near every Japanese cult film enthusiast, it has to be Panik House’s Pinky Violence Collection. Its shocking pink trapper-keeper case houses four of the most renowned, well loved, hard to find sukeban pics from Toei’s infamous Pinky Violence run: Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess, Girl Boss Guerilla, Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom, and Criminal Woman: Killing Melody. Boasting major directorial and cinematographic talent, these films run the whole girl-gang gambit, from loose-socked school-girl delinquents to hard-assed (topless) biker punks, and feature some of the biggest cult icons in the biz: Reiko Ike, Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Oshida, Yuko Kanno, Masumi Tachibana, and more!
Each film has been lovingly restored from its original vault materials, and given the full special edition treatment, complete with commentaries by some of the biggest Japanese cult film scholars, photo galleries, production notes, and original theatrical trailers. Topping off the collection are a lengthy essay on the origin and history of the Pinky Violence genre and some of its most popular stars, a CD copy of an extremely rare 1970’s audio cassette release featuring the breathy vocal stylings of Reiko Ike (titled simply enough, Reiko Ike Sings), and Panik House’s usual sticker offering, a la their Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture DVD releases.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be reviewing the entire Pinky Violence Collection from start to finish. Each film will receive a full review, along with a rundown of the special features provided. The reviews for each will be linked below, as they are published, as well as in our normal review listing, so bookmark this page for easy viewing. Lastly I will deliver a verdict on the set as a whole. Enjoy!
The Reviews:
Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess
Girl Boss Guerilla
Terrifying Girl’s High School: Lynch Law Classroom
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody
The Verdict:
Panik House’s Pinky Violence Collection is nothing short of amazing. These four legendary cult films have been given restorative processes more often reserved for widely accepted, mainstream classics. As such these are some of the best transfers I’ve seen from any company offering cult or obscure films (take note Kino). Furthermore, the special features are well rounded. Though all films have near identical supplementary options (trailer, bios, galleries) they are quite a bit of fun to browse through following the film. And, not being a fan of commentaries (most are nothing more than masturbatory), the fact I enjoyed all four of the commentary tracks proved to be a pleasant surprise. All are informative, and two are actually entertaining!
The films themselves are wonderful. Though the term Pinky Violence carries a certain smutty, soft-porn stigma, these films go far to demonstrate the fact that genre did produce quite a few works of genuine technical and artistic merit. In fact, three out of four I would watch in polite company.
The Reiko Ike Sings CD is a nice bonus what with its funky, sexy tunes, though the majority of the tracks, featuring Ike moaning, as if mid coitus, and muted trumpet sounding something like a gurgling stomach, are a bit embarrassing to listen to in public. When Ike does sing it is rather off key, sounding not unlike Crayon Shin Chan. But complaints of tone deafness aside, do see tracks 13 – 15 for some ultra cool, moan-free listing.
Lastly, there’s the packaging. As mentioned above, the trapper keeper packaging is tres cool. PanikHouse could have gone the route of the amray collection in a paper box, but they didn’t. Rather, they’ve provided a conversation starter. A package that screams “watch me!” from across the room. A superb, standout addition to your DVD collection.
If you like cult exploitation flicks, The Pinky Violence Collection belongs on your shelf. If you’re a curious newbie, having seen Tarantino’s Kill Bill, or something similar, this is a great place to start. But keep in mind this set is being released in an extremely limited run. Pick it up while you still can.
About the Author
