Director: Teruo Ishii
Starring: Tetsuro Tanba, Yuriko Hishimi
Genre: Japan, action, action
Release Date: May 21, 2008
Now, I’m no stranger to Kazuo Koike or Teruo Ishii. I’ve seen the films (and in cases television series) based off of Koike’s Lone Wolf and Cub, Crying Freeman, Demon Spies, Lady Snowblood (even read the manga), and have seen a bit [...]
Rather than continuing to debate over a catchy introduction, I’ll just jump right in. If you’re reading this article you’re probably familiar with Panik House’s release of Girl Boss Guerilla. If not, no need to worry. Unlike other sukeban series (ie: Delinquent Girl Boss), the films in the Girl Boss series are pretty much stand-alone [...]
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 [...]
So here are a few more quick reviews of films I couldn’t, or wouldn’t devote more time to. And to those looking for bad reviews, you’ve got a couple to keep you entertained.
Astonishing (aka: Jing xin dong po) – The only astonishing thing about this film is how terrible it is. The film, concerning main [...]
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody, the first film in the Criminal Woman series, marks the 10th pairing of Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, and frankly, it is one of the best.
The film opens on Reiko Ike in a trendy go-go club. Dressed in everyday housewife garb and looking quite worried, she seems incredibly out of sync [...]
If I were still my bachelor self from six years back, I think Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom might have been my favorite film in the set. However, for the me that exists today, the film was a tad uninteresting. The second film in the Terrifying Girls High School series came as the [...]
Like the great Seijun Suzuki, or today’s Takashi Miike, Norifumi Suzuki (Sex & Fury, Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom) was never content with making a straight genre piece, much less art. Suzuki sought to make films of interest to himself, often resulting in rapid tonal shifts from stylistic action, to gonzo comedy, to [...]
The fourth entry in the Delinquent Girl Boss series, Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless to Confess (aka:Zubekô banchô: zange no neuchi mo nai) is widely considered the best of the series. The film sees Reiko (Reiko Oshida), the gang boss from the previous film, freshly released from prison and back on the mean streets of Shinjuku. [...]
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 [...]
Relesed the same year as Toho’s Lady Snowblood, Toei’s entry in the female-gambler period piece sub-genre of Sukeban (translated “delinquency”) shares more than a few similarities with that landmark film. In Sex & Fury Reiko Ike plays Ocho, a gambler/thief in late Meiji era Japan. Saddled from a young age with avenging the wrongful [...]