Sukeban Guerrilla Onna Bancho aka Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban - Norifumi Suzuki - Japan - (1973)

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0358717/ 

Plot by TLA Video: ""A car, loaded with delinquent girls, is headed to reform school when it crashes and the girls escape to freedom. On the run from the law, girl boss Komasa and her friends seek refuge right in the middle of Osaka's hardcore gang territory. Rival gangs battle it out for supremacy in a corrupt world of money-hungry degenerates whose only objectives are to make a quick buck and score a quick score. When Komasa and her pals get involved, it throws the whole underworld into chaos and they soon find themselves at the mercy of some sinister thugs. Abused to no end at the hands of some rough customers, the girls find themselves the currency in a brutal transaction. But girl boss Komasa won't consider any debts paid in full until she has her revenge!"

Ahhhh, Miki Sugimoto again ! And this time with Reiko Ike !!  Always nice to see them, fighting each other and other girls (breast naked if possible) and being submitted to some brutal & demeaning treatments by evil Yakuza goons. But don't worry, our heroins and their girls gang will find a way to get back at them. Big time. Yeah, I know, it's silly. But it's so nice to see this "japanese urban pop scenery" and those erotic movie icons one more time. I guess I'm addicted to Pinku's and "Pink Violence".
A nice message in this Pinku: the men are always worst than the women. The women might fight between gangs and kick the shit out of each others, then don't treat each other like object, witch is exactly what the "bad" Yakuzas are doing here. A special post for the "day of the woman". Cheers !

Trailer:

Gau ngao gau aka Dog Bite Dog - Pou-Soi Cheang - HK - (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0819765/ 

Plot from Imdb: "A Cambodian assassin finds himself on the run from Hong Kong police after completing his assignment."

What a cool surprised it was to discover a new hard-boiled crime story from HK ! This dark tale of overcoming inhumanity is told like any crime movie in HK, it's got the looks, the feel but the taste is much more bitter. It deals with an "inhuman" Cambodian assassin, somebody that has been treated like a dog and became one. A rabid dog. The discover of his human side could have been very sentimental and lame and the choice of Edison chen (HK loverboy) could have been a disaster. It's not. Far from it. On all aspect, this movie works perfectly. The killing sequences have great impact, the chases are thrilling and all the characters, as over the top as they are, feel real. The violence is lurking at every corner of this story, like a dark secret we don't want to admit. The two main characters are fascinating and the direction is perfect. Pou-Soi Cheang is a director to watch, his last work "Yi ngoi" is very interesting also, if not completely successful on all aspects. Anyway, every time, this director comes with an original idea, witch is remarkable in the HK movie industry. He represents the new generation some of us waited a long time to see emerging from the ex British colony. The ending of the movie is so bleak and furious, so pessimistic that you fell you took a beating, like the characters, watching this.

Great dark hard-boiled thriller, for the fan of the genre.

Trailer:

Henri, Portait of a Serial Killer - John McNaughton - USA - (1986)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099763/ 

Plopt from Imdb: "Henry likes to kill people, in different ways each time. Henry shares an apartment with Otis. When Otis' sister comes to stay, we see both sides of Henry; the "guy-next-door" and the serial killer."

Considered by many, including myself, as a masterpiece of "psycho-killer" cinema, "Henry..." doesn't offers clues as why does he kill or what triggers his killing. It, as the title says, only show you the everyday life of Henry. And it's remarkably uneventful, apart for the gruesome murders. This characters is empty and just act as a vessels for his killing urges. There's nothing to understand, there's nothing to be done. Just acknowledge the fact that Henry is a killing machine. A highly disturbed killing machine. We don't get to hear his thoughs and we don't see his whole life spanning before our eyes, it's only a "diary" of what's happening during a certain moment in his life and nothing more. It's not exhaustive, it's not psychological, it's not a biopic per se. This leave you with the facts, and nothing else.
The murders in themselves are revolting, as they are not cinematographic and are paced in real time. Stabbing someone takes time, well, in this movie, it takes time. And it's not pleasant. It was the first time I saw something close to reality and it was very impressive. John McNaughton plays also with the notion of "voyeurism", our position in this movie, as the two psychos record some of their murders on tape and watch them over and over, drinking beer on the sofa, like they would watch Baseball on a Sunday afternoon.  Like us watching this movie. Scary shit.
This movie still is one of the creepiest of the "psycho-killer" genre and one of my favorite. Its influence on genre movie is still huge. A cult movie indeed.

Stacy, Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies - Naoyuki Tomomatsu - Japan - (2001)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368296/ 

Plot by Wikipedia: "In the near future, the entire world is struck with a bizarre malady which affects every girl between the ages of 15 and 17 years old. Victims first experience a period of giddiness called "Near Death Happiness (NDH) before expiring. Within minutes of death the victim rises again as a flesh-eating zombie—a "Stacy". These Stacies run amok until they are cut into pieces in an act called a "Repeat-Kill" . The government has organized the poorly-trained "Romero Repeat-Kill Troops," who ride around on garbage trucks, ordered to act out the disposal of the Stacies. By law, a Stacy may only be Repeat-Killed by her loved ones or the Romero Repeat Kill Troops.

Through research, it is discovered that a key to the Stacy phenomenon is the "Butterfly Twinkle Powder" (BTP) that accumulates on the Stacies' skin."

Did you get the story ? Me neither ! Who gives a damn ? Zombies, Japanese schoolgirls, fake Military Special Unit Black Ops whatever, fake infomercial about anti-zombie Chainsaw (called the "Blues Campbell right hand") and lot's and lot's of blood and guts and gore. And some more gore !

Can't say it's a great movie but hey, it's entertaining enough for a beer party with your friends. It really does the job, as the mix between iconic japanese and western horror elements collapse together  in a  great chaos.

Much better, much sicker was Tomomatsu's previous movie "Eat the Schoolgirl", that I'll be reviewing soon.

In the "gory-let's not take ourselves seriously" area, I'm looking forward to see the "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl". You can watch the trailer here.

Trailer:

Alucarda, la hija de las tinieblas - Juan López Moctezuma - Mexico - (1978)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075666/ 

Plot by Imdb: "A young girl's arrival at a convent after the death of her parents marks the beginning of a series of events that unleash an evil presence on the girl and her mysterious new friend, an enigmatic figure known as Alucarda. Demonic possession, Satan worship, and vampirism follows."


More Mexican nuns in heat !
Another nunsploitation gem that really will rock your world ! It puts back to back Satanism and Christianism. As the movie progress, the parallelism between the satanistic rituals and the catholic exorcism grows stronger. Even if the movie at the beginning feels like a cheap  "Hammer studio movie", you'll be knocked out in not time by the incredible force of Moctezuma imageries and visual madness. Location of the "church-convent" is highly original: it's located in a cave, that looks more like a Gothic crypt, lightened by candles...Have no idea if it’s real but it's effective. Nothing is sacred in this movie that feels more like something done by Luis Bunuel on acid then a Mexican nunsploitation flick. "Satanico Pandemonium" is dull, compared to the insanity of Alucarda's scenes of satanic possession and rituals (lesbian orgy in blood !). Another movie that pop's in mind immediately is "Ken Russel's "The Devils", as the surreal actions of the protagonists leads us into a world of madness. Of course, this movie carries a violent anti-religious message that needs no explanation.
All hail to Satan if Satan gives us naked nuns and frightens religious zealots!

 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Trailer: