Sexual Adventure From Nikkatsu

Impulse Pictures (Synapse) released the "Nikkatsu Roman Porno Trailer Collection" last year to the gratitude of diehard Nikkatsu fans and devotees of on-screen erotica . Its release was not dissimilar to the sexy neighbor half disrobing for you as you ogled her from the assumed cover of a darkened room. She knows you want her, but she's not going to make it easy. She wants to test your long term interest, and who can blame her? A one night stand won't pay the bills or fuel her fires when nights are cold.

Finally, the sexy neighbor has made good on her promise and exposed her sleek little body not once but twice with the releases of True Story of a Woman in Jail - Sex Hell (Koyu Ohara), and Debauchery (Hidehiro Ito). Like many a shy lass, this one is full of delicious surprises.

Ohara's flick, the first in a a sleazy trio, is modeled on Shunya Ito's Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 ('72), but it's less surreal, more erotic, and far sleazier than any 'Scorpion' entry with the exception of Masaru Konuma's Caged ('83). Having directed a minor erotic classic (Fairy in a Cage; '77) and one of my favorite pink flicks of all time, White Rose Campus - Then, Everyone Gets Raped ('82), Oharu delivers the expected goods to Sex Hell, but he also succeeds in bringing a surprising amount of solid characterization to the movie, as well as some sharp performances. In all honesty, female prison flicks can be repetitive and overly familiar, usually meeting conventions and little else, but Ohara's effort here demonstrates commitment to producing a work that rises above the usual.

From a kink perspective, this is one juicy and creative exercise. Ticking the usual boxes (lesbianism, rape, and shower fondling), it also adds a cheery helping of golden games and sensual brutality. A bloody tampon makes an appearance here, too, and would again seven years later in the wild White Rose Campus; in that, a pervert  enters a public bathroom and engages in some mind-boggling tampon-sniffing. Ohara's strength is his guiltless commitment to the material.

A terrific DVD bonus here is a color reproduction of the film's original poster; it's an absolute corker. On top of that, Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp provides concise and info-rich liner notes on the film and its cinematic context.


Highly recommended... and the first sequel is on its way...

 Impulse's simultaneous release is the inferior Debauchery ('83) from director/writer Hidehiro Ito. Ryoko Watanabe stars as an unhappy housewife who finds herself on a semi-reluctant erotic odyssey to a land way beyond her personal boundaries.

Directed and shot with an average amount of style, it's powered by a strong central performance and a constant escalation of its shock factor. 

The theme of a woman exploring her limits is not new at all in Japanese cinema. Recent releases such as the Flower and Snake remakes have plumbed these well-worn depths with unbridled panache, but Debauchery, though a more modest affair, lifts itself out of typical 'Oniroku Dan' territory (many of these efforts are based on Dan's novels) by sheer invention and a refusal to remain within "acceptable" limits (relatively speaking); the "explosive" climax neatly returns our heroine to her initial starting point, completing a neat circle. During this period in Nikkatsu's history, their output was as controversial and limit-pushing as possible. Debauchery reflects that status.

With these two releases, Impulse has established a solid standard for their Nikkatsu releases. The transfer/print quality is as good as it's going to get (bar a Blu-Ray bump), and the choice of material is strong.

One of the upcoming titles that excites me immensely is 'Zoom In: Rape Apartments', a truly mind-boggling piece of fiery erotica that will be retitled Zoom In: Sex Apartments for its US debut. This film is a must for the whole damn family (well, at least those over eighteen).

 

Also falling into the must-buy category are Eros School: Feels So Good, and Zoom Up: The Beaver Book Girl (not seen by me, this one, but I'm as excited as the bloke on the cover).

 

The New Female Convict Scorpion

 

 The original 'Female Convict Scorpion' films (from Japan's Toei) are uneven masterpieces. Made between '72 and '73, and influenced by American Women in Prison (WIP) films such as The Big Bird Cage ('72), School for Unclaimed Girls ('68), Women in Chains ('72), The Detention Girls ('70), and the French Prison Without Bars ('38), they established a new standard for the genre while adding intense surrealism and a psychedelic edge. 

The 'Scorpion' films are more brutal than most of their foreign counterparts and fit into a Japanese 'art' film category also. If you've never seen the four originals, I urge you to make haste to experience their sweet nectar.

Four years after the beautiful Meiko Kaji was immortalized in the original Scorpion pictures, Toei restarted the franchise with New Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701 ('76) . Unfortunately, Meiko Kaji did not return as the mysterious and lethal Scorpion/Nami, but newbie Ryoko Ema fills her shoes adequately, if not spectacularly.

Following a standard premise for this series, Ema is wrongly imprisoned for exposing political corruption at the highest level, and is marked for murder in a concrete hellhole run by state-sanctioned rapists and murderers. The prison's warden is a depraved maniac who supervises a staff sharing his proclivities. Although there are a few decent employees, they are forced to toe the most vile line possible.

Four years after the first series ended, this 'Scorpion' entry represents a big elevation in the series' sleaze factor. The beatings here are as nasty as they were in the original films, but the raping in this entry is harder, longer, and more frequent. Some of the set-ups reminded me of Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs in their raw sexual candor, and director Yotaka Kohira, who also made the sixth and last film, stages and frames every sequence with unbridled enthusiasm and creativity. The film doesn't capture the original film's almost orgasmic surrealism, but there are some theatrical touches that are pure poetry.

Naturally, and thankfully, Nami exerts her female power, castrates her jailers, escapes from prison, and take revenge on the animals who wronged her, but the film's final image is a dramatic mixed blessing for her.  

In New Female Prison Scorpion: Special Cellblock X, Yoko Natsuki takes the role of subdued super- feminist Scorpion/ Nami, replacing Ryoko Ema, who replaced Meiko Kaji from the originals.

Although this was made one year after the previous entry, it ignores that film's events and introduces us to the new prisoner as she is brought back to jail after yet another escape and rampage. We learn that Nami, whose rampage was not associated with the previous Nami's actions at all, has been convicted for murder, a crime she was forced to commit. One again, she is beaten and raped, and subjected to long periods of confinement, before she unleashes her girl powers once again.

This sixth film has something in common with the very first 'Scorpion' film in that much of its narrative takes place with its leading lady on the run. But, to make matters worse for her, she is handcuffed to a prison guard who hates her guts and she his. This development is a novel Eastern take on the Sidney Poitier/Tony Curtis cons-on-the-run classic The Defiant Ones.

The chase sequences give the film great scope and a sense of high adventure. The relationship of dependence that develops between the chained couple is not romantically developed, but they do acquire a grudging tolerance for each other, and he quickly learns that the real pussy on this jaunt is not between the lady's legs.

This final entry in the series, like the entry above, is not as widely distributed as the original four; it's a weeping shame because both films are superior to almost all other WIP films, and proudly stand alongside the originals.