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 of the Hanzo the Razor films. For Teruo Ishii, I’ve probably seen more than 10 films, including his Horrors of Malformed Men, Jigoku 1999, and Female Yakuza Tale. But even with all that experience, …

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 entities. In similar fashion to Fierce Creatures and A Fish Called Wanda, Girl Boss Revenge sees the entire cast of Girl Boss Guerilla playing completely different characters, while preserving basic setups of rivalries and affiliations.
The …

Just received the following press release from Synapse regarding their upcoming releas of the Legends of the Poisonous Seductress series. Color me excited! Cover images for the three titles are featured below.
This November, Synapse Films goes Pinky – Pinky Violence, that is – and proudly unveils the LEGENDS OF THE POISONOUS SEDUCTRESS female swordplay series
THE THREE-VOLUME SAGA OF A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG
SWORDSWOMAN ON A BLOODY TRAIL OF SAVAGE REVENGE
ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT REVENGE TRILOGIES EVER MADE!
THE BLOOD-SOAKED MODEL FOR THE PINKY
VIOLENCE EXPLOSION OF THE 1970s!
Connected only by their theme …

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 of her father, finds herself the newly branded leader of the Tachibana clan. The film opens on a dark and stormy night, with Tachibana and crew confronting her father’s killers at their clan headquarters. In …

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 character Mandy (Christy Chung, Bride with White Hair II)’s sudden loss of her own identity works on a brilliant concept, and one of my wife’s favorite topics of discussion, regarding whether one’s identity is entirely …

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 with the blaring music and gyrating, strutting, topless bodies in the center of the room. Then we notice her worry seems mixed with determination. She clutches a kitchen knife. In walk a group of local …

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 rivalry between Nikkatsu and Toei was at its peak. Both had been working to show audiences things they could not see on television, but Nikkatsu’s success with its Roman Porno (Romantic Pornography) line had spurred …

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 social satire, to serious drama, to pink film, and back again. For the audience, this is a great thing, as you are never quite sure what the next scene of his films may have in …

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. Her previous crimes are never discussed, and as she is trying to move on with her life, this is perfectly understandable. Reiko finds work at a small garage, Muraki’s, run by the father of one …

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 …

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 death of her detective father at the hands of three masked bandits, Reiko searches high and low in hopes of finding the culprits, her only evidence the flower/death cards retrieved from her father’s corpse. When …