Female Yakuza Tale - Inquisition and Torture
If you want to know where Quentin Tarantino got some of his inspiration forKill Bill, check outFemale Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture, a spicy slice of Japanese sexploitation from 1973. It's a brazenly unrestrained sequel to Norifumi Suzuki's similarly trashySex & Fury(another cult favorite among fans of Japanese pulp cinema), and director Teruo Ishii demonstrates his disdain for sequels by dishing up a lurid crime tale filled with rampant sex, female nudity, and blood-spurting ultraviolence. Set in Meiji-era Tokyo circa 1905, the outlandish story kicks into high gear when renegade thief and gambler Ocho (Reiko Ike, fully recovered from the bloodbath inSex & Fury) is joined by a "lone wolf" drifter (Ryohei Uchida) in pursuit of a gang of murderous thugs with connections to the gruesome "crotch gouge" murders (involving deadly injuries that are best left to the imagination). By the time they close in on a disgusting kingpin who's been enslaving prostitutes to smuggle Chinese heroin in their nether regions, Ocho has recruited a small army of sexy, sword-wielding hookers who aren't feeling the least bit merciful. The result is an outrageous orgy of boobs, bullets, and bloodshed, carried out with abundant humor, chaotic choreography, and dazzling use of colorful low-budget settings. Befitting such a delirious dose of sexplo-trash, this high-quality, beautifully mastered DVD release caters to its intended audience with an authoritative audio commentary by Chris Desjardins (author ofOutlaw Masters of Japanese Film), whose expert programming of this and other "Pinky Violence" films (at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles) resulted in a renewed appreciation for mind-blowing Asian action films that are defiantly off the beaten path. High-minded prudes and the weak-of-heart are advised to stay away!--Jeff Shannon