Kaidan nobori ryu aka Blind Woman's Curse - T. Ishii - Japan - (1970)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065932/

Plot by Imdb: "Akemi and the man of her clan confront their opponents; Akemi delivers a sword thrust to kill the opponents' leader, and Aiko, his daughter, tries to interpose herself, suffering a glancing blow to her eyes, thus cutting her badly, and blinding her. Amid the ensuing fight, no one notices that a black cat laps the young woman's wound. Years later, revenge between the two clans continue, plus added dissension amongst Akemi's people, leading to more deaths. A new member comes to help them, but she is a strange woman - and blind. The curse of the blind woman is about to fell on the dragon-lady."

One fine Pinky violence movie, extremely well made and absolutely nonsensical. Several elements have nothing to do here, like the Gothic horrors sequences with the hunchback and the scenes at the Theater, or the black cat curse (and black cat flying attacks ! Hilarious !)  but they add to the weirdness of this mildly bloody Yakuza clans war tale. As often, the main characters have some kind of iconic elements to them: a huge dragon head tattoo for Meiko kaji, blindness for Aiko. One of the Yakuza gang leaders is wearing a bowler hat and goes around without pants (!!), etc... The "bizarre" elements pile up until you let it all go and just enjoy the mix. Extremely well directed by a Teruo Ishii ("Inferno of Torture") in great shape, using his technical skills to create beautiful images. Some sequences are mesmerizing: the first fighting scene, during the opening credits is amazing and so iconic that it became an instant classic for me. The ultimate bloody fighting sequence is also nicely done.

Meiko Kaji ("Female Convict Scorpion, jailhouse 41", "Lady Snowblood" and many others) is stunning as always but strangely disappears during the middle of the picture, as the story concentrates on other supporting characters. Hopefully, she returns at the end for a grand finale: a saber duel with her enemy.

Half Chambara, half Pinky violence, half Yakuza Eiga, half Gothic Horror, this movie is not the best of Ishii but needs to be seen as another demonstration of the incredible vitality of exploitation Japanese cinema in the 70's.

 

Trailer:

Amer - Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani - Trailer - (2010)

Neo Giallo made by two French directors, Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani... Looks interesting.

Fire of Conscience - Trailer - Dante Lam - (2010)

An HK action flick from Dante Lam (director of "Beast Cops", with Anthony Wong)...

Looks interesting if you're into old school action:

The Stunt Man - Richard Rush - USA - (1980)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081568/

Plot from Imdb: "A fugitive stumbles on a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out, and falls for the leading lady."

Richard Rush, after his years documenting Hippie life, like in Psych-Out, made this movie, that only can be described as a forgotten masterpiece.

A metafiction about cinema and the creative experience of a shooting set, it deals with the reality and illusion of our lives. Almost every characters in this movie invents themselves and lives in a dual reality/fiction world: the actors of the movie, but also the director, some of the crew and the general public of movies. And ourselves as viewers of the movie. The authorities will also be led in a false "world", only thanks to the will of the director. This "great Hollywood director" Eli Cross (played by Peter O'Toole and inspired by David Lean and John Huston) is really a great character: bigger than life, this god-like figure seems to model the all world around him, according to his will and interest of the moment. Even if the escape character has his life and freedom on the line, it looks like it's just another "game" for the director. Another character to be put in one of his illusion. The mixed sequences between the life of the main character and the shooting are great: it starts by a crash between those two seemingly irreconcilable worlds in the first "bridge sequence", where a criminal without anything to loose enters by accident the world of fake and play, the stuntman world, that's gonna be his way out...or maybe his fate.

Incredibly well shot, visually abundant, at moment, it touches genius. Unfortunately the movie is way too long and some scenes could have been cut or felt unnecessary or redundant. But this is really not important as the energy of the movie is so tremendous, it will blow your mind. Some scenes are as strong as some in a Frederico Fellini movie. Technically tremendous, scenaristically incredible, artistically marvellous, this amazing movie is to be discovered immediately by every movie fan.

PS: There is a two hours long documentary about the making of this movie called: "Sinister saga- the making of The Stuntman"...shot in this metafiction style, a cross between illusion and reality.

Trailer:

Ilsa, She Wolf Of The SS - Don Edmonds - USA - (1975)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071650/

Plot from Imdb: " Ilsa is an evil Nazi warden at a death camp that conducts "medical experiments". Ilsa's goal is to prove that woman can withstand more pain and suffering than men and therefore should be allowed to fight on the front lines."

First part of the infamous Ilsa series, this gruesome piece of Sexploitation and Nazisploitation is really a nasty experience. Despite the disclaimer of the producers, the movie is one of the most exploitive piece of cinema ever imagined: along with the Nazi imagery and the horror of the torture sequences, comes some erotic scenes, led by Dyanne Thorne, maybe the most unerotic figure of the Sexploitation genre (in my opinion). But as a complete fucked up and absurd experience, "Ilsa.." is an interesting viewing experienced. As much ridiculous (Dyanne Thorne characterization is sooooo over the top) as it is gruesome, the results is strange and leaves you with a bitter feeling. Can't say I'm a great fan of the film, as I had trouble to distanced myself from the subject (as I was raised amongst the Paris Jewish community, I have a hard time trying to find anything "fun" about the death camps).
Anyway, the movie is so exploitative in every aspect that it needs a viewing as it became a classic an is often referred to. It will also introduce you to the great world of Ilsa, a hardcore "mistress" of epic proportions (specially her breast).

 Trailer:

Preaching to the Perverted - Stuart Urban - UK - (1997)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119935/

Plot by Imdb: "Minister on a moral crusade employs young computer whizzkid Peter to infiltrate the London S&M scene..."

Funny movie about the hypocrisy of the mainstream toward the fetishist world. Nothing is realistic about it and it might get real S&M enthusiasts pissed off but hey, it's entertainment. And to reach it's goal, it had to be light of the flogging aspect. Too bad for the perverts, like us. As the main character goes deeper and deeper into the world of mythical Mistrees Tanya Cheex, the weirdness of it tend to disappear and leaves us with a funny feeling. To portrait to fetish and S&M english scene as just "nice people" role-playing and wearing strange outfit, the director loose completely the most interessant aspect of it, the psychological  (watch "Barbet Schroeder's "Maitresse"  for that). In the main role, Guienever Turner is cute as hell.

Harmless but visually titillating, "Preaching to perverted" offers a nice 90 minutes entertainment with lots and lots of latex and leather. Kinky !

Trailer: