The concept of action movies starring female protagonists was quite prevalent in East Asian cinema during the 70s and 80s but toned significantly down after that. However, lately, and as the epicenter of action movies moved towards Asean countries, it surfaced once more, as the fact that women can also can add an element of sex appeal to the action worked for a number of filmmakers. At the same time, the concept was not restricted to action movies, but also extended to art ones, as a couple of the movies in the following list will eloquently highlight.
Without further ado, here are 40 Asian movies where the action mostly derives from women, in chronological order.
1. Come Drink With Me
That also comes from the story storyline. Co-written by director Hu and Ting Shan-hsi, ‘Come Drink’ includes poignant drama into the mix as well as the action. Each of the characters has...
Without further ado, here are 40 Asian movies where the action mostly derives from women, in chronological order.
1. Come Drink With Me
That also comes from the story storyline. Co-written by director Hu and Ting Shan-hsi, ‘Come Drink’ includes poignant drama into the mix as well as the action. Each of the characters has...
- 5/10/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
When discussing Meiko Kaji, it is difficult not to rely on the word ‘iconic’. After all, what better term is there to describe a performer whose work has influenced and inspired countless filmmakers and who was once the face of female empowerment in Japanese cinema? First gracing the screen billed under her birth name, Masako Ota, Kaji has over a hundred acting credits to date and has also enjoyed a successful music career. However, her golden period undoubtedly came during the height of the exploitation boom in Japan, a time when cheap films characterised by sex and violence were produced en masse in an attempt to pry audiences away from their television sets. It was during this era that the feisty young actor earned herself a lasting place in the history of cult cinema.
Kaji had already appeared in over thirty feature films for Nikkatsu when she starred in what...
Kaji had already appeared in over thirty feature films for Nikkatsu when she starred in what...
- 3/26/2021
- by Tom Wilmot
- AsianMoviePulse
The fourth entry of the series changes its focus from racism to drugs, while retaining the same, music promoting (the film also features Meiko Kaji’s sister Tomoko Arisawa giving a performance), exploitation/action premises that characterizes the whole series. At the same time though, it becomes obvious that the peak of the collection, had already been met in “Sex Hunter”, and there was nowhere but down to go from there.
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Maya is the leader of a gang of girls who have teamed up with a motorcycle gang of men, the Dragons, led by Sakura, in order to have fun doing drugs and listening to music in clubs but also to terrorize the area they spend their time in. One day, they encounter two “country bumpkins”, Nobo and Sabu, and they proceed on harassing them for no reason, particularly for not being from Tokyo. A bit later,...
Buy This Title
Maya is the leader of a gang of girls who have teamed up with a motorcycle gang of men, the Dragons, led by Sakura, in order to have fun doing drugs and listening to music in clubs but also to terrorize the area they spend their time in. One day, they encounter two “country bumpkins”, Nobo and Sabu, and they proceed on harassing them for no reason, particularly for not being from Tokyo. A bit later,...
- 3/19/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Shot at the same time with “Wild Jumbo” (and premiering just one month later), Yasuharu Hasebe saw his protagonists shuttling between the two sets. However, while they seemed to mostly have fun in Fujita’s film, they reserved their more serious work for “Sex Hunter”, which emerges as the best part of the series.
The film revolves around two delinquent gangs; one all-female, named “Alleycats” and led by Mako, and one all-male, named “Eagles” and led by The Baron. The two crews have a peculiar relationship, since there is a definite attraction between the two leaders, but things take a turn for the rather worse, when Alleycat Mari turns down the advances of Eagle Susumu, in favor of a half-Japanese, half-African American named Ichiro. Her attitude enrages the Eagles and especially the Baron, whose sister was raped by a half-breed American Japanese man many years ago, with...
The film revolves around two delinquent gangs; one all-female, named “Alleycats” and led by Mako, and one all-male, named “Eagles” and led by The Baron. The two crews have a peculiar relationship, since there is a definite attraction between the two leaders, but things take a turn for the rather worse, when Alleycat Mari turns down the advances of Eagle Susumu, in favor of a half-Japanese, half-African American named Ichiro. Her attitude enrages the Eagles and especially the Baron, whose sister was raped by a half-breed American Japanese man many years ago, with...
- 3/17/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Quite a controversial film, particularly for its too detailed depiction of how to construct an atomic bomb and a number of scenes that can only be described as beyond controversial, “The Man Who Stole the Sun” has currently achieved the status of cult, despite being both a commercial and a critical success upon its release in Japan, for a number of reasons we will deal with going forward.
The titular man is high school science teacher Makoto Kido, a rather strange individual who boasts long hair and an almost surreal behavior in campus, which includes him practicing karate, hanging from trees with ropes, and caring very little for his classes, where he either sleeps or teaches his students the procedure of making an atomic bomb. The people in the school mock him, calling him ‘Bubblegum’ not so secretly, but everything changes when Makoto, along with hard-nosed Inspector...
The titular man is high school science teacher Makoto Kido, a rather strange individual who boasts long hair and an almost surreal behavior in campus, which includes him practicing karate, hanging from trees with ropes, and caring very little for his classes, where he either sleeps or teaches his students the procedure of making an atomic bomb. The people in the school mock him, calling him ‘Bubblegum’ not so secretly, but everything changes when Makoto, along with hard-nosed Inspector...
- 7/13/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
My thoughts and admiration for Mark Schilling’s work have already been shared in the review of “Art, Cult and Commerce“. In that regard, continuing with his bibliography was inevitable, and the fact that the present book deals with the oldest Japanese motion picture studio, and particularly its Action Cinema period, made its appeal even more intense. Even more so, since, during the latest years, there seems to be a renewal of interest regarding the genre, especially through the home video releases of companies like Arrow and Eureka.
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
The book begins with the history of Nikkatsu, focusing on the period from the late 50s until the early 60s, when the Nikkatsu Action genre started, flourished and declined. The second part deals with the main male protagonists of those movies, presenting detailed biographies of Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Keiichiro Akagi and Tetsuya Watari, highlighting the concept of the...
- 5/15/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Leader of the new generation of Nikkatsu directors in the late 1960s, Yasuharu Hasebe came up with a number of mostly realistic films about Yakuza life, of which “Retaliation” is a prominent sample, despite featuring a protagonist from the “old guard”, Akira Kobayashi.
As the story begins, Jiro is just being released from prison. However, his future looks anything but ideal. Before even walking a few meters from the prison door, Hino, another yakuza, takes him to a nearby area and attacks him, seeking revenge for a friend Jiro killed. Hino’s girlfriend stops the fight, but he is not deterred from seeking revenge. Furthermore, as soon as Jiro visits his old boss, he is informed that his gang is practically non-existent, a fact that forces him to approach the powerful Hasama family to ask for a job. Out of respect for his former boss, Hasama offers him a task,...
As the story begins, Jiro is just being released from prison. However, his future looks anything but ideal. Before even walking a few meters from the prison door, Hino, another yakuza, takes him to a nearby area and attacks him, seeking revenge for a friend Jiro killed. Hino’s girlfriend stops the fight, but he is not deterred from seeking revenge. Furthermore, as soon as Jiro visits his old boss, he is informed that his gang is practically non-existent, a fact that forces him to approach the powerful Hasama family to ask for a job. Out of respect for his former boss, Hasama offers him a task,...
- 2/1/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Review by Roger Carpenter
After laboring for close to a decade as an assistant director for Nikkatsu Studios, Yasuharu Hasebe burst onto the scene as a lead director in 1966 with Black Tight Killers and 1967 with the more subdued but very good Massacre Gun. Retaliation, which starred some of Nikkatsu’s primary actors (called the “Diamond Line”), was an A-list film, in color, and was a return to a more violent yakuza tale than Hasebe’s previous Massacre Gun.
Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro, a yakuza who has just been released from a long stint in prison. He returns to find his family dismantled, with only his ailing boss and one loyal yakuza member remaining. On top of this, Hino (Jo Shishido), brother of the man Jiro was imprisoned for killing, is tailing him and seeking revenge. Jiro reaches out to another family for help in rebuilding his gang and is...
After laboring for close to a decade as an assistant director for Nikkatsu Studios, Yasuharu Hasebe burst onto the scene as a lead director in 1966 with Black Tight Killers and 1967 with the more subdued but very good Massacre Gun. Retaliation, which starred some of Nikkatsu’s primary actors (called the “Diamond Line”), was an A-list film, in color, and was a return to a more violent yakuza tale than Hasebe’s previous Massacre Gun.
Akira Kobayashi stars as Jiro, a yakuza who has just been released from a long stint in prison. He returns to find his family dismantled, with only his ailing boss and one loyal yakuza member remaining. On top of this, Hino (Jo Shishido), brother of the man Jiro was imprisoned for killing, is tailing him and seeking revenge. Jiro reaches out to another family for help in rebuilding his gang and is...
- 1/8/2018
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Review by Roger Carpenter
Director Yasuharu Hasebe was a well-known director in Japan right up until his death in 2009. He directed most of the Stray Cat Rock series of films in the early 1970s as well as the final installment of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song. He became known as the “Father of Violent Pink,” after directing a series of graphically violent and sexually sadistic films for Nikkatsu Studios with titles such as Rape!; Assault! Jack the Ripper; Rape! 13th Hour; and Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train. These films proved to be both highly controversial and very lucrative for Hasebe and Nikkatsu but, typical of Nikkatsu, the studio execs got cold feet after much bad press and began toning down their series of violent pink films.
But before all this, Hasebe cut his teeth as an assistant director for the great Seijun Suzuki, himself a...
Director Yasuharu Hasebe was a well-known director in Japan right up until his death in 2009. He directed most of the Stray Cat Rock series of films in the early 1970s as well as the final installment of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song. He became known as the “Father of Violent Pink,” after directing a series of graphically violent and sexually sadistic films for Nikkatsu Studios with titles such as Rape!; Assault! Jack the Ripper; Rape! 13th Hour; and Secret Honeymoon: Rape Train. These films proved to be both highly controversial and very lucrative for Hasebe and Nikkatsu but, typical of Nikkatsu, the studio execs got cold feet after much bad press and began toning down their series of violent pink films.
But before all this, Hasebe cut his teeth as an assistant director for the great Seijun Suzuki, himself a...
- 1/3/2018
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Mubi is showing the Stray Cat Rock series in the United States from August 29 - October 23, 2016High on snorted glue and really, really pissed off, the Stray Cat Rock series takes a switchblade to the Japanese Old Guard. Released in five parts during 1970 and 1971, the series, with its unabashed feminist, anti-colonialist and anti-militaristic politics, is a surprisingly detailed and sprawling account of both the radical spirit that intoxicated the air and the racist, sexist and nationalist sentiments that were planning a coup in Japan around the same time. Packaged in a consumable genre form, as ubiquitous as the films’ reoccurring Coke bottles, the series is an effective bait-and-switch, a “fuck you” from inside the system.As Japanese studios were falling apart and Hollywood imperialism was claiming more and more of the box-office pie chart, the ruling class welcomed its own critique, commodifying the anti-establishment sentiments that had crossed the Pacific.
- 8/29/2016
- MUBI
Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of "Arrow Video" in the Us with several new home video titles available July 2016, including "The Swinging Cheerleaders" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 5th), "Crimes Of Passion [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 12th) and "Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 26th):
"The Swinging Cheerleaders" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 5th):
"'Kate', an undergraduate at 'Mesa University', goes undercover as a cheerleader for her college newspaper in order to expose 'female exploitation in contemporary society'. But instead of oppression she finds love, friendship and a bigger fish to fry: namely corruption in the football team, headed up by the coach and his pals..."
Cast includes Colleen Camp ("Wayne's World"), Rainbeaux Smith ("Caged Heat") and Playboy Playmate Rosanne Katon.
Bonus Materials include :
- Brand new 2K restoration from original film materials
- High Definition (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Presentations
- Optional subtitles
- Audio commentary
- Brand new interview with Jack Hill
-...
"The Swinging Cheerleaders" [Blu-ray + DVD] (July 5th):
"'Kate', an undergraduate at 'Mesa University', goes undercover as a cheerleader for her college newspaper in order to expose 'female exploitation in contemporary society'. But instead of oppression she finds love, friendship and a bigger fish to fry: namely corruption in the football team, headed up by the coach and his pals..."
Cast includes Colleen Camp ("Wayne's World"), Rainbeaux Smith ("Caged Heat") and Playboy Playmate Rosanne Katon.
Bonus Materials include :
- Brand new 2K restoration from original film materials
- High Definition (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Presentations
- Optional subtitles
- Audio commentary
- Brand new interview with Jack Hill
-...
- 5/27/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Can’t get enough looks at Independence Day: Resurgence before its release on June 24th? Four new behind-the-scenes videos have dropped, giving us a look at some pivotal scenes in the film as well as a profile of director Roland Emmerich. Also: a Ghoster concept trailer, details on three new Arrow Video Us releases, and info on the Dances with Films screening of Beacon Point.
Watch Four New Independence Day: Resurgence Videos: “We always knew they were coming back. After Independence Day redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
Directed by Roland Emmerich,...
Watch Four New Independence Day: Resurgence Videos: “We always knew they were coming back. After Independence Day redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
Directed by Roland Emmerich,...
- 5/20/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
When dealing with exploitation cinema of the 1970s in the post-Tarantino era, there’s something of a heightened balance between “the thing” and “what the thing looks like.” The dichotomy was always there – the posters typically promised a good deal more than could be delivered on small budgets and quick schedules – but has since become even more grotesque now that celebrating such films has become an industry unto itself. Arrow Video has become a key player in this with their dozens (nearing hundreds) of Blu-ray editions celebrating the best, and a good deal of some of the lesser, genre films from decades past. Their new collection rounding up the films in the Stray Cat Rock series offers a little of each end of the spectrum. None are the sort of hyper-charged, riotous, nonstop-sex-and-carnage onslaughts that modern imitators revel in, but at its best, the series is a rather potent drug...
- 9/23/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Before Toshiya Fujita shot the icon making Lady Snowblood films and Yasuharu Hasebe lensed Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Son, each staring their ice cold action muse Meiko Kaji, they all teamed up at the famed Nikkatsu Studios just prior to its increased interest in the sexualized pink films on a quintet of psychedelic pop infused series of films produced under the banner title Stray Cat Rock. Bathed in pop tunes and shot, cut and performed with hyper-stylized fervor over the course of just two years from 1970-1971, the series, loosely connected by cast, crew and aesthetics alone, thrives in the clubbing circuit of underground street gangs while dabbling in every pop genre imaginable, from heist film to jailbreak picture with varying results.
Kicking off the series with wild-eyed ambition, Hasebe’s Delinquent Girl Boss sets the tone for the series with a complex yarn of girl power infused gang...
Kicking off the series with wild-eyed ambition, Hasebe’s Delinquent Girl Boss sets the tone for the series with a complex yarn of girl power infused gang...
- 8/18/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Prior to helming a trio of the Meiko Kaji starred Stray Cat Rock series, the fourth and final film in the Female Convict Scorpion series, or a number of violent pink films after Nikkatsu studios slid into the gutter of softcore porno flicks, director Yasuharu Hasebe began his career with a trio of yakuza action quickies featuring budding genre standbys Jô Shishido and Akira Kobayashi. The second and third, 1967’s Massacre Gun and 1968’s Retaliation, respectively, have been lovingly released for the first time on home video by Arrow Video, restoring bit by bit Hasebe’s rather spotty oeuvre by highlighting his knack for stylish economy in his early work.
Essentially a downbeat yakuza film that covers all the basics in warring gangs over territory and reputation, Retaliation is unique in that it also dabbles in enemy bromance and the inevitable overtaking of nature by the unstoppable force of industry.
Essentially a downbeat yakuza film that covers all the basics in warring gangs over territory and reputation, Retaliation is unique in that it also dabbles in enemy bromance and the inevitable overtaking of nature by the unstoppable force of industry.
- 5/19/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
There are always new corners of cinema history to explore, and one very much worth investigating is the '50s and '60s output of Nikkatsu. The popular Japanese studio unleashed a wave of genre films, many of which are still unknown on this side of the ocean —"Retaliation," which has just arrived for the first time on home video, is ripe for discovery. Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe ("Massacre Gun," "Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter") before he made his name as a sexploitation director, the film stars the great Jo Shishido ("Tokyo Drifter," "Branded to Kill"), Akira Kobayashi and Meiko Kaji. The gritty tale follows a yakuza lieutenant recently released from jail only to find his old boss dying and a rival who wants him dead. Things get up close and personal in this clip in which a knife fight gets bloody. "Retaliation" is on Blu-ray right now, but you better get on it fast.
- 5/18/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Stars: Akira Kobayashi, Jô Shishido, Hideaki Nitani, Tamio Kawachi, Eiji Gô, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Meiko Kaji, Shôki Fukae, Ryôji Hayama, Kaku Takashina | Written by Yoshihiro Ishimatsu, Keiji Kubota | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
There’s something about Japanese gangster movies, whether it be the Stray Cat Rock films or others like Massacre Gun. These movies are getting Arrow Video Blu-ray releases and as I review them I’m beginning to get a taste for the effortlessly cool style of not only the directors but also the actors, especially Jô Shishido. Retaliation is an excellent example of just why I am getting hooked.
Jiro (Akira Kobayashi) an ex-convict is released onto the streets after being in jail to find his gang all but disbanded with only the aging boss hanging in there on his sick-bed. Still loyal Jiro approaches the Hasama family for assistance. Hasama gives Jiro a job, to settle...
- 5/12/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Arrow Video restores a rare title from director Yasuharu Hasebe with his sophomore directorial effort, Massacre Gun. A late 60’s yakuza narrative, the film displays Hasebe’s influence of American film noir, but defined by a striking amount of violence that makes it feel ahead of its time despite a familiar premise. Fans of genre icon Jo Shishido should be especially excited for this restoration, and it bodes well as a reconsideration for the work of Hasebe, a once prominent name that’s fallen into relative obscurity in cinematic conversations.
Ryuichi Shishido (Jo Shishido) is a mob hitman ordered to execute his lover. He follows through with the tasking but is visibly bothered by it, causing his younger brother, Saburo (Jiro Okazaki), an aspiring boxer, to directly challenge the dreaded mob boss Akazawa (Takashi Kanda). For his hubris, Saburo is badly beaten, leading his older brothers Ryuichi and Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji...
Ryuichi Shishido (Jo Shishido) is a mob hitman ordered to execute his lover. He follows through with the tasking but is visibly bothered by it, causing his younger brother, Saburo (Jiro Okazaki), an aspiring boxer, to directly challenge the dreaded mob boss Akazawa (Takashi Kanda). For his hubris, Saburo is badly beaten, leading his older brothers Ryuichi and Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji...
- 4/14/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Stars: Jô Shishido, Tatsuya Fuji, Jirô Okazaki, Ryôji Hayama, Takashi Kanda, Hideaki Nitani, Ken Sanders, Tamaki Sawa | Written by Yasuharu Hasebe, Ryûzô Nakanishi | Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
Gangster movies have always been popular, especially with the likes of The Godfather Trilogy and Goodfellas almost defining what we see as masterpieces of the genre. When we look to world cinema though, and especially Japan there are some movies that fans should look at to broaden their perspective. Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenjû) is one of them which gets a release on Blu-ray from Arrow Video this week.
When hitman Kuroda (Jô Shishido) is ordered by his employers to kill the woman he loves he joins forces with his brothers Eiji (Tatsuya Fuji) and Saboruo (Jirô Okazaki) to gain revenge on the wrongs that have been done to them. As their power rises and the violence escalates Kuroda knows the inevitability is...
- 4/8/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Mvd Entertainment Group continues to distribute Arrow Video in North America with a strong schedule of April 2015 releases receiving the deluxe treatment in video, audio, supplements and artwork:
"Blood and Black Lace" (Blu-ray / DVD), plus a Limited Edition Steelbook, follows "...the 'Cristiana Haute Couture' fashion house, a home to models, backstabbing, blackmail, drug deals and murder. This influential film by director Mario Bava, newly restored from the original camera negative, would have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese..."
"Massacre Gun" on Blu-ray and DVD, stars Jo Shishido in a classic 'yakuza' action film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, following
"...'Kuroda' (Shishido), a mob associate who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers are hot-headed 'Eiji' (Tatsuya Fuji) and aspiring boxer 'Saburô' (Jirô Okazaki), as the trio escalate their retaliation to an all-out...
"Blood and Black Lace" (Blu-ray / DVD), plus a Limited Edition Steelbook, follows "...the 'Cristiana Haute Couture' fashion house, a home to models, backstabbing, blackmail, drug deals and murder. This influential film by director Mario Bava, newly restored from the original camera negative, would have a huge effect on filmmakers as diverse as Dario Argento and Martin Scorsese..."
"Massacre Gun" on Blu-ray and DVD, stars Jo Shishido in a classic 'yakuza' action film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, following
"...'Kuroda' (Shishido), a mob associate who turns on his employers after being forced to execute his lover. Joining forces with his similarly wronged brothers are hot-headed 'Eiji' (Tatsuya Fuji) and aspiring boxer 'Saburô' (Jirô Okazaki), as the trio escalate their retaliation to an all-out...
- 2/3/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Feature Dan Auty 19 Jun 2013 - 06:55
Dan looks back at the best films to come out of Japan's Nikkatsu studio...
Formed in 1912, Nikkatsu was Japan’s oldest film studio, and prior to World War II, one the most prolific and successful. The Japanese government’s control and consolidation of the film industry during the war years effectively forced Nikkatsu to cease movie production, and the studio spent more than a decade working solely in exhibition and distribution.
In 1954, the company resumed production, and entered a period that was not only a golden era for the company, but for Japanese cinema in general. Eschewing the period samurai films being made elsewhere, Nikkatsu focused on contemporary stories - action and crime movies, comedies and the increasingly popular ‘wild youth’ films, attracting young, imaginative filmmakers who had found it hard to flourish within the regimented structure of studios like Toho and Shochiku. Throughout the 60s,...
Dan looks back at the best films to come out of Japan's Nikkatsu studio...
Formed in 1912, Nikkatsu was Japan’s oldest film studio, and prior to World War II, one the most prolific and successful. The Japanese government’s control and consolidation of the film industry during the war years effectively forced Nikkatsu to cease movie production, and the studio spent more than a decade working solely in exhibition and distribution.
In 1954, the company resumed production, and entered a period that was not only a golden era for the company, but for Japanese cinema in general. Eschewing the period samurai films being made elsewhere, Nikkatsu focused on contemporary stories - action and crime movies, comedies and the increasingly popular ‘wild youth’ films, attracting young, imaginative filmmakers who had found it hard to flourish within the regimented structure of studios like Toho and Shochiku. Throughout the 60s,...
- 6/18/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
The Twitch curated Tokyo Drifters: 100 Years Of Nikkatsu screening series is nearing its end with the penultimate screening coming to the Tiff Bell Lightbox this Saturday with a a blast of straight exploitation in the form of Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter. Nikkatsu superstar Meiko Kaji plays the leader of an all-girl gang who declare war on their male rivals in this deliciously disreputable exploitation opus. The third of three Stray Cat Rock films helmed by veteran sexploitation ace Yasuharu Hasebe in a single year, the irresistibly named Sex Hunter stars the great Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion and literally scores of other delightfully disreputable titles) as Mako, the leader of an all-girl street gang that serves as the ladies' auxiliary to...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 3/28/2013
- Screen Anarchy
The Twitch curated Tokyo Drifters: 100 Years Of Nikkatsu screening series continues at the Tiff Bell Lightbox this Saturday with a rare screening of Hasebe Yasuharui's Retaliation. An early effort from a director who would go on to shape the pinky violence movement, this one features a young Kaji Meiko (Stray Cat Rock, Lady Snowblood) in a key role!Two years before they collaborated on the immortal Stray Cat Rock series, director Yasuharu Hasebe and soon-to-be-superstar Meiko Kaji teamed up for this potent gangster flick that also stars the great Joe Shishido (Branded to Kill) and Akira Kobayashi, who would shortly thereafter star in Kinji Fukasaku's epic yakuza series Battles Without Honor and Humanity. Emerging from a stint in prison, yakuza lieutenant Sumukawa (Kobayashi) discovers that...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 1/30/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Velvet Bullets and Steel Kisses: Celebrating the Nikkatsu Centennial was a sidebar at this year's New York Film Festival that Dan Sallitt, writing a couple of weeks ago, found "so exciting that it threatens to overshadow the main slate: a retrospective of the Japanese studio Nikkatsu, whose opportunistic shifts of focus always seemed to open doors for some of Japan's most creative filmmakers. Compare film magazine Kinema Junpo's 1999 and 2009 lists of all-time greatest Japanese films to the Lincoln Center series schedule, and count the overlaps." Last year in the Notebook, Dan reviewed one of the 37 films in the series, Tomu Uchida's Earth (1939).
"The sidebar is peppered with nearly impossible to see rediscoveries," notes Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "early silent films like 1927's A Diary of Chuji's Travels and harshly realistic World War II dramas like Mud and Soldiers. Shot on location in China in 1939, the latter film blends...
"The sidebar is peppered with nearly impossible to see rediscoveries," notes Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "early silent films like 1927's A Diary of Chuji's Travels and harshly realistic World War II dramas like Mud and Soldiers. Shot on location in China in 1939, the latter film blends...
- 10/16/2011
- MUBI
Yasuharu Hasebe is best known for directing films such as Black Tight Killers and the Alley Cat Rock series. In 1976, Hasebe dove into an entirely different style of film making with titles like Assault! Jack the Ripper (Bôkô Kirisaki Jakku). This film was an early entry in Nikkatsu’s Violent Pink series, which represented the studio’s attempt to toughen up its erotic Roman Porno line. Assault! Jack the Ripper is very far removed from the snappy pop-oriented approach of Hasebe’s earlier works. The film, which is now available on English-subtitled DVD from Mondo Macabro, is a surreal, amoral thriller that mixes and matches exploitation tropes in a way that favors explicit nastiness over engaging story telling. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with this.
- 11/3/2008
- by Rodney Perkins
- Screen Anarchy
With Mondo Macabro dipping their toes into the world of 1970’s Nikkatsu roman porno flicks - see the above post on The Watcher In The Attic for details - the question now is which of these films will be coming and how can we get a peek in advance? Watcher, obviously, is one, and Assault! Jack The Ripper! will be the second and we’ve got the trailer to share. Nikkatsu cooked up a pretty potent formula for these films back in the day and it looks just as effective today ... the trailer for this is weird and compelling stuff and very definitely not safe for work.
The director on this one is Yasuharu Hasebe, who started off as an assistant to Seijun Suzuki before making his own name as the director of Black Tight Killers, three Stray Cat Rock films and one entry in the Female Convict Scorpion series.
The director on this one is Yasuharu Hasebe, who started off as an assistant to Seijun Suzuki before making his own name as the director of Black Tight Killers, three Stray Cat Rock films and one entry in the Female Convict Scorpion series.
- 7/20/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
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