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Female Teacher: Private Life (Japan, 1973) [VoD] - 2/5
The title says it all. This is a rather dated sex melodrama, and one of Noboru Tanaka's first films. It's about a high school teacher who is in a relationship with a young student boy. There's a wonderful scene, in which a nervous boy takes her female classmate to his home, that really echoes Tanaka's talent that later made him possibly Nikkatsu's best director. Otherwise the film is quite underwhelming and suffers from excessive visual censorship.
Kurutta seiyokusha: Shufu o osou! (Japan, 1979) [VoD] - 2.5/5
This small budget serial rapist thriller was produced by an independent company but released in the Roman Porno series. It's a surprisingly mean, and in parts energetic, grindhouse type film following a rapist just released from prison and trying to fight his animalistic raping desires. It's an interesting b-movie premise, and at times the execution is thrilling, especially the aggressive use of horror movie -like music and some glorious "evil acting". Ultimately, however, the film struggles to keep the level up between the highlights. Furthermore, all of the film's actresses are oddly unattractive. Nevertheless, the film packs more punch that many of Nikatsu's bigger budgeted in-house productions and certainly has its trash appeal. Violent pink fans may want to take a look.
Seiko's Juicy Thighs: Zoom Up (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 2/5
Leave it up to Koyu Ohara to deliver an upskirt-photography-love-story-showbiz-parody. Shy loser Toshihiko is obsessed with cute college girl Seiko and keeps snapping panty shots of her (he imagines that will somehow make her fall in love with him). This is yet another silly pop cinema romp by Ohara. It's kinda cute a times and uses pop music frequently, but the screenplay is pretty worthless and there's loads on boring sex scenes that Ohara doesn't put any effort into. The lead characters are named after two popular singers, Toshiro Tahara and Seiko, who were rumoured to be dating at the time.
Young Girls' Holding Cell (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 2.5/5
Director Yoshihiro Kawasaki and writer Takuya Nishioka must have been proud of themselves when they came up with an idea to combine high school girls and women in prison movies. The winning idea was to disregard all logic and make a high school flick where the teachers act just like evil prison guards. There are even cells reserved for bad students - indeed, the film was probably shot in the left-over sets of an earlier WiP movie. It's a silly film, but a relatively entertaining one. The prison stuff only lasts for a while, after that it turns into an early 80s idol film derivative with added sex. Not too different from some of Koyu Ohara's films. Stars Jun Miho, who was Nikkatsu's cutest actress, but needed a good director to get the best out of her. Here she doesn't get one. Kawasaki is more keen on the audio-visual delivery.
Girl and the Wooden Horse Torture (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 3.5/5
Between 1974 and 1988 Nikkatsu produced nearly 40 adaptations from SM author Oniroku Dan's novels. Most of them were intellectually underwhelming, morally questionable, and tiresome at best. But what would happen if one of the best Japanese screenwriters of the 1980s, Takashi Ishii, adapted a Dan novel and handed it to first time director Fumihiko Kato, who later became known for his atypical Dan films?
Despite the misleading title, this movie bears all the trademarks of Ishii's psychological erotic thrillers and could be an SM-oriented entry in the Angel Guts series. The protagonists are Nami and Muraki: a bullied high school girl and her terminally ill teacher. The opening scene sees Nami saved from violent delinquents by her teacher, who however then collapses in front of her. She leaves him there. The experience haunts her in her dreams, which begin to merge with reality. Years later they meet again after Muraki has been fired and has hit the rock bottom. The film never loses its psychological tension, even though the prolonged SM finale - and a few other bits - may be a bit much for the casual viewers. The overly simplistic Oniroku Dan conventions are nowhere to be found. The film also looks pretty good with the usual urban and occasionally surreal Ishii imagery.
Gemini Woman (Japan, 1984) [VoD] - 1/5
The late 1970s saw the end of Japanese action and exploitation cinema as it had existed until then. The studio system that had been churning out cheap but enjoyable trash came to an end, and studios begun to focus on dramas and more expensive productions. Many of them were geared at female audiences. Nikkatsu was the only major studio that still kept making shameless exploitation, but even they were affected. Gemini Woman is a case in point. Take the roman porno genre, extend the running time to 91 min, add television drama level human relationship story with some kind of suspense element, deduct anything that might be interesting, and then pretend it's serious cinema. Zzzzz.
Female Leopard (Japan, 1985) [VoD] - 1.5/5
This was intended as some sort of super-charged erotic mystery. A rich student girl returns from USA to her gorgeous family mansion in Japan and discovers her beloved brother is secretly organizing Eyes Wide Shut style orgies, 80s style. Director Koyu Ohara manages a couple of stylish scenes with slow motion and cool music, but otherwise this is little more than an overdose of the worst 80s Japanese aesthetics. Expect lots of suits, masks and immoral rich people. Despite it being a mystery thriller, there is very little mystery to it.
Exotic Mask in Hell (Japan, 1988) [VoD] - 3/5
Here's a surprisingly good and atmospheric late Roman Porno. It's based on a Oniroku Dan SM novel, but directed by Fumihiko Kato who is known for atypical Dan adaptations. The film follows a young woman who travels to a small village in the mountains only to discover something strange is going on. Director Kato seems to be influenced by traditional Japanese horror tales and even occult horror movies. He makes a good use of beautiful images, including sunsets, cherry trees, and devilish masks. Unfortunately when the bondage begins the film takes a few steps back in style and originality. Still, it's much better than most films of its kind and can be recommended even to non-genre fans to some extent.
The title says it all. This is a rather dated sex melodrama, and one of Noboru Tanaka's first films. It's about a high school teacher who is in a relationship with a young student boy. There's a wonderful scene, in which a nervous boy takes her female classmate to his home, that really echoes Tanaka's talent that later made him possibly Nikkatsu's best director. Otherwise the film is quite underwhelming and suffers from excessive visual censorship.
Kurutta seiyokusha: Shufu o osou! (Japan, 1979) [VoD] - 2.5/5
This small budget serial rapist thriller was produced by an independent company but released in the Roman Porno series. It's a surprisingly mean, and in parts energetic, grindhouse type film following a rapist just released from prison and trying to fight his animalistic raping desires. It's an interesting b-movie premise, and at times the execution is thrilling, especially the aggressive use of horror movie -like music and some glorious "evil acting". Ultimately, however, the film struggles to keep the level up between the highlights. Furthermore, all of the film's actresses are oddly unattractive. Nevertheless, the film packs more punch that many of Nikatsu's bigger budgeted in-house productions and certainly has its trash appeal. Violent pink fans may want to take a look.
Seiko's Juicy Thighs: Zoom Up (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 2/5
Leave it up to Koyu Ohara to deliver an upskirt-photography-love-story-showbiz-parody. Shy loser Toshihiko is obsessed with cute college girl Seiko and keeps snapping panty shots of her (he imagines that will somehow make her fall in love with him). This is yet another silly pop cinema romp by Ohara. It's kinda cute a times and uses pop music frequently, but the screenplay is pretty worthless and there's loads on boring sex scenes that Ohara doesn't put any effort into. The lead characters are named after two popular singers, Toshiro Tahara and Seiko, who were rumoured to be dating at the time.
Young Girls' Holding Cell (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 2.5/5
Director Yoshihiro Kawasaki and writer Takuya Nishioka must have been proud of themselves when they came up with an idea to combine high school girls and women in prison movies. The winning idea was to disregard all logic and make a high school flick where the teachers act just like evil prison guards. There are even cells reserved for bad students - indeed, the film was probably shot in the left-over sets of an earlier WiP movie. It's a silly film, but a relatively entertaining one. The prison stuff only lasts for a while, after that it turns into an early 80s idol film derivative with added sex. Not too different from some of Koyu Ohara's films. Stars Jun Miho, who was Nikkatsu's cutest actress, but needed a good director to get the best out of her. Here she doesn't get one. Kawasaki is more keen on the audio-visual delivery.
Girl and the Wooden Horse Torture (Japan, 1982) [VoD] - 3.5/5
Between 1974 and 1988 Nikkatsu produced nearly 40 adaptations from SM author Oniroku Dan's novels. Most of them were intellectually underwhelming, morally questionable, and tiresome at best. But what would happen if one of the best Japanese screenwriters of the 1980s, Takashi Ishii, adapted a Dan novel and handed it to first time director Fumihiko Kato, who later became known for his atypical Dan films?
Despite the misleading title, this movie bears all the trademarks of Ishii's psychological erotic thrillers and could be an SM-oriented entry in the Angel Guts series. The protagonists are Nami and Muraki: a bullied high school girl and her terminally ill teacher. The opening scene sees Nami saved from violent delinquents by her teacher, who however then collapses in front of her. She leaves him there. The experience haunts her in her dreams, which begin to merge with reality. Years later they meet again after Muraki has been fired and has hit the rock bottom. The film never loses its psychological tension, even though the prolonged SM finale - and a few other bits - may be a bit much for the casual viewers. The overly simplistic Oniroku Dan conventions are nowhere to be found. The film also looks pretty good with the usual urban and occasionally surreal Ishii imagery.
Gemini Woman (Japan, 1984) [VoD] - 1/5
The late 1970s saw the end of Japanese action and exploitation cinema as it had existed until then. The studio system that had been churning out cheap but enjoyable trash came to an end, and studios begun to focus on dramas and more expensive productions. Many of them were geared at female audiences. Nikkatsu was the only major studio that still kept making shameless exploitation, but even they were affected. Gemini Woman is a case in point. Take the roman porno genre, extend the running time to 91 min, add television drama level human relationship story with some kind of suspense element, deduct anything that might be interesting, and then pretend it's serious cinema. Zzzzz.
Female Leopard (Japan, 1985) [VoD] - 1.5/5
This was intended as some sort of super-charged erotic mystery. A rich student girl returns from USA to her gorgeous family mansion in Japan and discovers her beloved brother is secretly organizing Eyes Wide Shut style orgies, 80s style. Director Koyu Ohara manages a couple of stylish scenes with slow motion and cool music, but otherwise this is little more than an overdose of the worst 80s Japanese aesthetics. Expect lots of suits, masks and immoral rich people. Despite it being a mystery thriller, there is very little mystery to it.
Exotic Mask in Hell (Japan, 1988) [VoD] - 3/5
Here's a surprisingly good and atmospheric late Roman Porno. It's based on a Oniroku Dan SM novel, but directed by Fumihiko Kato who is known for atypical Dan adaptations. The film follows a young woman who travels to a small village in the mountains only to discover something strange is going on. Director Kato seems to be influenced by traditional Japanese horror tales and even occult horror movies. He makes a good use of beautiful images, including sunsets, cherry trees, and devilish masks. Unfortunately when the bondage begins the film takes a few steps back in style and originality. Still, it's much better than most films of its kind and can be recommended even to non-genre fans to some extent.
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