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  • Got a hold of a nice looking HD Rip of Johnny Lung Wang-wei's early girls with guns/triad revenge flick, WIDOW WARRIORS. This was the prolific Shaw Brothers villain's third to last directing credit and his last as action director. Sun Chien of Venoms fame is also credited as co-action director for this one. Plot centers around Sek Kin as the patriarch of an old money Triad family who is ruthlessly gunned down along with his sons after a set up by a rival gang. The widows of the men (hence the title) stake their lives to get revenge and expose the traitorous mole amongst them. Tien Niu (Fu Sheng's side chick) is the lead lady in charge alongside big 80s hair Kara Hui and Japanese export, Michiko Nishiwaki. Nobody really cares about the plot in these type of films but unfortunately, the action choreo, gunplay and effects are decent but nothing special to elevate this flick above similarly themed films. The main issue is that it tries too hard with the melodrama for my liking and takes too long to set things up for the action sequences. Watch once and forget.

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    • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
      Got a hold of a nice looking HD Rip of Johnny Lung Wang-wei's early girls with guns/triad revenge flick, WIDOW WARRIORS. This was the prolific Shaw Brothers villain's third to last directing credit and his last as action director. Sun Chien of Venoms fame is also credited as co-action director for this one. Plot centers around Sek Kin as the patriarch of an old money Triad family who is ruthlessly gunned down along with his sons after a set up by a rival gang. The widows of the men (hence the title) stake their lives to get revenge and expose the traitorous mole amongst them. Tien Niu (Fu Sheng's side chick) is the lead lady in charge alongside big 80s hair Kara Hui and Japanese export, Michiko Nishiwaki. Nobody really cares about the plot in these type of films but unfortunately, the action choreo, gunplay and effects are decent but nothing special to elevate this flick above similarly themed films. The main issue is that it tries too hard with the melodrama for my liking and takes too long to set things up for the action sequences. Watch once and forget.


      Just watched Queen's High (1991) directed by Chris lee kin sang starring Simon yam and Cynthia khan and a lot of what you just said I feel could be said about this I hyped this one up in my head really high ever since I read about it a few years ago . Man they really dropped the ball with this one they could've used Cynthia so much better in this .i may be in the minority with this though seems like a lot of people quit enjoy this one maybe I just overhyped it in my head lol

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      • Originally posted by lil_hatred_fo_life View Post
        Just watched Queen's High (1991) directed by Chris lee kin sang starring Simon yam and Cynthia khan and a lot of what you just said I feel could be said about this I hyped this one up in my head really high ever since I read about it a few years ago . Man they really dropped the ball with this one they could've used Cynthia so much better in this .i may be in the minority with this though seems like a lot of people quit enjoy this one maybe I just overhyped it in my head lol
        Haven't watched that one in years. I still remember the fight between Kim maree Penn and Cynthia with the florescent tube. I'm gonna have to re-watch it again.

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        • ok, I found that scene that I was talking about here. man, Kim Maree Penn was sexier than all those other gweilo ladies like Rothrock and Sophia Crawford IMHO.

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          • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
            ok, I found that scene that I was talking about here. man, Kim Maree Penn was sexier than all those other gweilo ladies like Rothrock and Sophia Crawford IMHO.

            She's definitely hotter then rothrock but for me Sophia Crawford is the hottest lol

            I just watched shuji terayamas “the boxer” from 1977 , it's my first terayama movie and I liked it a lot the movies really pretty to look at the environments seems surreal in moments . the mystery behind the trainers motives seem questionable as his backstory is brought to light . from what I've read prior to the watching it , it was inspired by rocky ? It reminded me much more of John huston's fat city more so then rocky maybe because I haven't seen rocky in a good 10 years lol .
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            I'm not very good at writing so excuse my poor efforts but I do want to try and make more of an effort to talk movies with you guys lol
            lil_hatred_fo_life
            Junior Member
            Last edited by lil_hatred_fo_life; 03-22-2020, 04:53 PM.

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            • Originally posted by lil_hatred_fo_life View Post
              I'm not very good at writing so excuse my poor efforts but I do want to try and make more of an effort to talk movies with you guys lol
              No worries and please do. Always good to have more activity on the forum, particularly regarding Asian films. I have not seen The Boxer yet... been meaning to, though.

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              • Delinquent Boss vs. Scoundrel

                Delinquent Boss: Money Hunters (不良番長 一獲千金) (Japan, 1970) [VoD] - 1/5
                Part 7 in the Furyo bancho series, and it's a complete piece of shit. Director Yukio Noda put three banchos - Tatsuo Umemiya, Reiko Oshida and Akiko Wada * - in one film and somehow the result still came out less than zero. The first 50 minutes is non-stop retard comedy with almost no action or gang stuff. Even super-girl Oshida is annoying in the film (Wada too, but that goes without saying). She doesn't get to ride a bike either. The last third is a bit better with action and bikes, but nothing can make up for the miserable first two. A rare highlight moment in the film: Bunta Sugawara stabs a man by dropping a knife from a helicopter!

                * To be accurate, both the Stray Cat Rock and the Delinquent Girl Boss series started briefly after this film, so soon-to-be banchos, actually.



                Delinquent Boss: First to Fight (不良番長 突撃一番) (Japan, 1971) [VoD] - 1.5/5
                Part 13. Umemiya's gang try to shoot a porno while evading the police. Daiei refugee Junko Natsu appears (not in a porno). Another pretty miserable comedy entry in the series, though it does at least have boobs and a great Shingo Yamashiro moment where he does spear fighting, ninjutsu and karate, even pulling one guy's guts of. Sonny Chiba's role model, eh? IMDb has the direction mistakenly credited to Makoto Naito, who did a few entries but not this one. Yukio Noda is the correct answer.

                Delinquent Boss: Moving Against the Stray Dog (不良番長 のら犬機動隊) (Japan, 1972) [VoD] - 3.5/5
                Part 14, the one with Reiko Ike. And it fucking rules! In the first few scenes alone the gang has already terrorized the streets, bike-duelled with nemesis gang, caused a man to explode, pulled out biker girl Ike's boob, and abducted a bunch of girls who get raped, arrested, sent to reform school, escape, and then sold to a brothel. And it's not even 10 min into the film yet. The whole movie bears notable similarity to the Girl Boss series made around the same time (ironic, isn't it?) except that this is Toxic Masculinity - The Movie! Also, Umemiya's gang has done away with the goofier members and are now a bunch of anarchistic assholes. Tatsuya Fujii has joined the ranks, and even Shingo Yamashiro is a machine gun wielding lone wolf killer. There's barely any comedy at all, and the ending is a total bloodbath. There's a bit of Nikkatsu New Action influence too, and not just in form of Tatsuya Fuji. What a delightful surprise.




                Scoundrel (極道) (Japan, 1968) [VoD] - 2/5
                The 1st in Tomisaburo Wakayama's action comedy series, unfortunately this is 75 minutes of talk with yakuza bumpkin Wakayama doing table conversations with rivals, friends, women etc, followed by a rather satisfying last 15 min of action. There are some out-of-the-blue fine scenes, and the gun/explosives action at the end is better staged than in many other yakuza films, but it's hard to get terribly excited about the film. Bunta Sugawara plays one of Wakayama's men in one of his first Toei roles; Koji Tsuruta does a guest appearance.

                Return of the Scoundrel (帰って来た極道) (Japan, 1968) [VoD] - 2.5/5
                Superior sequel weighted down by a dull opening third. Gokudo has been thrown in jail, which produces rivalry/bonding with fellow hood Minoru Oki + boring comedy routines í  la Abashiri Prison. At least you get regular bad guy Bin Amatsu as one of the guards. Once done with the prison, the film gets faster, funnier, better. Reiko Oshida pops up as a cute stripper (who doesn't strip), Gokudo's battle axe wife is back (with a Hong Kong bodyguard), and the ending is a fine machine gun massacre. This would be a 3 star film had the opening been better.



                Scoundrel Soldier (兵隊極道) (Japan, 1968) [TV] - 2/5
                Gokudo goes to war, but spends most of his time quarrelling with other yakuza and trying to charm Chinese girl Reiko Oshida. Too lightweight to achieve anything memorable, this is strictly filler material. Bunta Sugawara plays one of the men, but has almost no dialogue at all. Wakayama did a better gangsters-in war-picture called Cockroach Corps (1969), which was a more serious action adventure with death row prisoners sent on a suicide mission.

                Scoundrel vs. the Delinquent Boss (極道VS不良番長) (Japan, 1974) [TV] - 2/5
                This is a Toei fraud! Delinquent Boss Tatsuo Umemiya dumbfucks himself into hospital in his first scene, and remains there for the rest of the film. So much for Scoundrel vs. Delinquent Boss. What we're left with is new delinquent Tsunehiko Watase (not a bad trade) leading a bunch of bikers who clash with Scoundrel Wakayama's rather harmless army of street vendors armed with food stalls (wait for the Lone Wolf and Cub joke) and guest star Judy Ongg whose uninspired extended cameo as a singer is just about the best thing about the film. Watchable, but pretty low thrills to be honest. This was the last in both series. Kosaku Yamashita directed.

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                • Been slacking on writing here, and slacking on roman pornos since last year so here's some catching up, 2 by some french fansubbing community



                  Daydream of Love (1980) 6.0/10 Koyu Ohara
                  A young girl paints a shark devouring a nude woman, while on her playboy-father's yacht surrounded by young delicious women. Her father eventually decides to settle down with a christian woman but the daughter ain't having it... Solid effort which is somewhat of an oddity in it's meanspirited nature. The Daydream (1964) reference should be quite obvious once you've seen the movie.

                  Cruel High School Girl: Sex Lynch (1975) 6.5/10 Isao Hayashi
                  A suicidal girl gets into trouble at school with two bullies but eventually ends up in a situation where they are forced to work together. In ways similiar to above mentioned move with the stepmother/daughter situation. Again solid but a bit uneven. The climax scene comes a bit to early which atleast made me feel like what comes after is a bit dragged out. This and other english titles of the movie is imo a bit to lucrative, although I don't mind, just putting it out there.
                  ropo1
                  Senior Member
                  Last edited by ropo1; 03-26-2020, 10:01 AM.

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                  • @lil_hatred_fo_life

                    hey man, can you clear some space in your inbox because it's full. I need to send you a link.

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                    • I recently checked out the sequel to BODYGUARD KIBA from same director Ryuichi Takamori. I've seen this before but finally got around to watching it in HD from a Amazon web rip. A bit of a let down for any fan of the first one in terms of everything (the violence, sleaze factor, butt kicking action) - in fact, the first 10 minutes or so with Chiba fighting arch nemesis, Masashi Ishibashi and his goons in the rain with his sister, Etsuko Shihomi (who is temporarily blinded by Ishibashi & later plays an important role in the final fight scene) was the highlight in terms of Chiba karate action until the finale. The rest of the story deals with Chiba forming a bond & a debt of gratitude with ex-prison mate, Tsunehiko Watase over an Okinawan night club singer that aids a freshly released from prison Chiba. This trio goes on a mission to exact revenge of a group of Yakuza who wronged Watase and brutally gang raped his girl. There is also a brutally frank scene where Watase rails against the way Okinawans and Koreans are both screwed over by the mainland Japanese and this fuels his thirst for vengeance. Not terrible by any means but falls short of the entertaining shlock of the first movie. While the sequel isn't as cheesy or grindhouse in tone, it is also just not as entertaining either.
                      Last edited by 47lab; 03-29-2020, 06:10 PM. Reason: inadvertently logged out and lost the last few lines

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                      • Shintoho x 7

                        Queen Bee (女王蜂) (Japan, 1957) [DVD] - 2/5
                        Talkative, dated opening film in Shintoho's otherwise noteworthy Queen Bee series. The problem here is that an occasional gambling and action bit aside, the film hesitates letting its heroine into the action. The restraint also extends to the "sleaze" factor, busty star Naoko Kubo holding on to her clothing aside a flash of a shoulder in a gambling den scene, though one incredibly agile night club dancer makes a lasting impression. Yoko Mihara pops up (only) briefly. All this would change after Teruo Ishii took the helm of the series (parts 2 & 3).



                        Female Beast (女獣) (Japan, 1960) [DVD] - 2.5/5
                        A crime thriller with police woman Namiji Matsuura infiltrating a dangerous gang whose one lead figure is a cold blooded woman (Kinuko Obata) harbouring female delinquents. Detective Bunta Sugawara (at 27 years old, looking almost like a Nikkatsu youth idol!) provides back-up. Progressive for its era, this still isn't quite as slick as you'd wish, at least compared to what would follow 10 year later. There are quite a few bits pre-dating 70s Pinky Violence, including ruthless women, water torture and a reform school segment complete with an extended girl fight similar to Criminal Woman: Killing Melody. Unfortunately the climax has the women take the back seat again, as typical for the era.



                        Death Row Woman (女死刑囚の脱獄) (Japan, 1960) - 2.5/5
                        A Nobuo Nakagawa / Shintoho WiP film with an innocent woman framed for murder and thrown in jail full of foul-mouthed ladies and lesbians. Despite an occasional sensationalist moment, this is mainly a suspense drama, and only the 1st half is spent behind the bars. Not badly made, but not awfully exciting either. The storyline is pretty good.

                        Dark Breasts (黒い乳房) (Japan, 1960) [DVD] - 3/5
                        Nightclub hostess / gangster's woman Kinuko Obata sees a short cut to the riches upon learning from dying mother that she's an Abashiri convict's daughter, while her innocent sister's real father is a wealthy company president (unaware of having a daughter). She tells her sister and the old man the exact opposite of the truth, schemes to marry herself to her new daddy's favourite employee (nice guy Bunta Sugawara) and plots a couple of tactical murders to get rid of people standing on her way. Impressively twisted psycho drama with good pacing and slick output, pre-dates similar mid-60s Mako Midori films at Toei. Character psychology remains superficial and borderline offensive (inherited evil/good) though, and the pigment of Obata's breasts unconfirmed. It would still take some time till the nipple was freed in JP mainstream cinema, though Shintoho was pushing the boundaries here, filling the OP credits with hand-drawn boobs and live model side views.



                        Female Slave Ship (女奴隷船) (Japan, 1960) - 3/5
                        An amusing Shintoho concept film with a group of prostitutes behind bars on a slave ship, then thrown into a jungle prison after pirates sink their ship! Bunta Sugawara is a noble soldier shot down and saved from the sea, to emerge as the saviour for the girls. This film actually anticipated the 70s Filipino WiP actioners a great deal. It's a bit repetitive for the 1st 60 min, but the last 25 min is tremendous fun with Sugawara going complete machine gun Rambo on the pirates and arming the girls with grenades and rifles. Tetsuro Tamba plays the pirate leader, Yoko Mihara an evil slave trader's girl always siding with the strongest man in sight.



                        King of the Girls Cave (女巌窟王) (Japan, 1960) [DVD] - 3/5
                        Enjoyably frank pulp entertainment with two sexy and busty night club dancers (Yoko Mihara & Masayo Banri as sisters) caught in the middle of a drug related gang war. Their brother gets killed after losing the merchandise, and the girls escape into an island cave (!). Thought to be dead, it's revenge time, but not before making bikini out of the shreds of their clothes and finding a way out of the island. Slick and trashy, with a fair bit of visual style, this sometimes feels like it could've been a Teruo Ishii film. The actual director is Yoshiki Onoda, who also did Female Slave Ship.



                        The Shining Horizon (地平線がぎらぎらっ) (Japan, 1961) [DVD] - 3/5
                        A moderately insane action thriller with six criminals meeting in prison and conceiving an escape plan to go after hidden diamonds. The first half is old school tough guy cinema behind bars, thankfully free of the dumb humour that plagued Toei's similar mid/late 60s pictures. The second half is where the film abandons all self-restraint. There's a scene where they steal a circus truck but have to stop to sing with children after being surrounded by kids. Later they see some hot women on the countryside road and decide to rape them, chasing the screaming women in forest while still in clown outfits. The six criminals themselves are a miscellaneous bunch: one is a suave playboy, another is a crybaby who is constantly beating people with bats and other sticks, and so on.

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                        • Originally posted by Takuma View Post
                          Dark Breasts (黒い乳房) (Japan, 1960) [DVD] - 3/5
                          Female Slave Ship (女奴隷船) (Japan, 1960) - 3/5
                          King of the Girls Cave (女巌窟王) (Japan, 1960) [DVD] - 3/5

                          I'd love to get my hands on those three.

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                          • Thank you, Takuma, for your continuing reviews. They're priceless.

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                            • Recently watched Katsuji Kanazawa's 1999 female assassin V-cinema flick, KILLING ANGEL MUHAN. Thanks to TheCataComb for transcribing the subs from the VHS to the Geneon dvd release. Kanazawa is probably be best remembered in the West for this Riki Takeuchi straight to video Yakuza flick, HARD BOILED which I have copy but without subs. Based on a manga character by Takashi Ishii, Muhan played by Reiko Kataoka is a female killing machine trained at a young age by a mysterious organization to take out political targets. Unfortunately, it sounds a lot better than it plays out. Kataoka is an attractive & fairly fit lady and I remember her from KAMIKAZE TAXI & HUSH! and the BLACK ANGEL films by Ishii but she's so stiff in this role. Ok, no one watches these straight to video jobs for story but even the action was sorely lacking. Other than the bad ass opening scene and finale, it's quite boring. In between is a weak attempt to flesh out character development with a lame backstory & series of repetitive flashbacks. There are quite a few sex scenes and nudity (topless and ass shots of Kataoka) but just seemingly thrown together to keep the audience awake. This flick is in limbo - not enough exploitation or action to satisfy the target audience. Watch once and forget or just forget altogether unless you're a fan of Reiko Kataoka and some gratuitous nudity.

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                              • I wish there were more info on v-cinema on the internet seems like the era gets thrown in the trash outside of a handful on flicks , I have a little book on v cinema but there's damn near zero titles in English in the entire book .

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