From Norifumi Suzuki, director of the equally brilliant films School of the Holy Beast and Beautiful Girl Hunter, comes this visually stunning Pinky Violence gem.
Set in Meiji era Tokyo, Sex and Fury features Pinky starlet Reiko Ike as Ochô Inoshika, a skilled gambler, pickpocket and swordswoman whose father was murdered when she was a young child by some Yakuza. After making a promise to a dying fellow gambler to save his sister from being forced to work in a brothel, she finds herself in Asakusa having to compete against European spy & gambler Christina (Christina Lindberg, star of Thriller: A Cruel Picture) in a card game for the safety of the gamblers virginal young sister.
While in Asakusa she meets back up with her old gang of thieves and subsequently crosses paths with the ex-Yakuza now turned corrupt government officials who murdered her father and does away with them in a series of blood-soaked sword battles. There's also a subplot concerning Christina's planned espionage to start an opium war with Japan and her search for an old lover who is now the leader of a revolutionary group.
This really is high class exploitation. The cinematography is simply superb, the colorful set-pieces are at times psychedelic; audacious juxtaposition is used when various scenes of rape & brutality are underscored with joyful melodies and not to mention the generous amounts of sex and violence - what more can you ask for?
There are so many incredible scenes here, whether it be Reiko Ike's naked blood-splattered body lopping off limbs in the snow, the mindblowing ''torture disco'', the blasphemic S&M session in a church or even the switchblade-wielding nuns that witness it, this is must-see Japanese genre cinema. Highly recommended for fans of the Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion or Girl Boss films. 9/10
Set in Meiji era Tokyo, Sex and Fury features Pinky starlet Reiko Ike as Ochô Inoshika, a skilled gambler, pickpocket and swordswoman whose father was murdered when she was a young child by some Yakuza. After making a promise to a dying fellow gambler to save his sister from being forced to work in a brothel, she finds herself in Asakusa having to compete against European spy & gambler Christina (Christina Lindberg, star of Thriller: A Cruel Picture) in a card game for the safety of the gamblers virginal young sister.
While in Asakusa she meets back up with her old gang of thieves and subsequently crosses paths with the ex-Yakuza now turned corrupt government officials who murdered her father and does away with them in a series of blood-soaked sword battles. There's also a subplot concerning Christina's planned espionage to start an opium war with Japan and her search for an old lover who is now the leader of a revolutionary group.
This really is high class exploitation. The cinematography is simply superb, the colorful set-pieces are at times psychedelic; audacious juxtaposition is used when various scenes of rape & brutality are underscored with joyful melodies and not to mention the generous amounts of sex and violence - what more can you ask for?
There are so many incredible scenes here, whether it be Reiko Ike's naked blood-splattered body lopping off limbs in the snow, the mindblowing ''torture disco'', the blasphemic S&M session in a church or even the switchblade-wielding nuns that witness it, this is must-see Japanese genre cinema. Highly recommended for fans of the Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion or Girl Boss films. 9/10