GIRL BOSS BLUES: QUEEN BEE'S COUNTERATTACK (1971)

 The first of the GIRL BOSS BLUES series despite the title sounding like it's a sequel(AKA QUEEN BEE STRIKES AGAIN). This would be followed by 6 more movies of which I think I've seen maybe half. I caught this one as part of a marathon of Japanese girl gang movies yesterday and quite a few of those also starred Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto. They also all had pretty similar themes of young girls getting mixed up with The Yakuza, great soundtracks and they seem to all start out as women-in-prison films before our main characters get released back into the underworld of Japanese crime. This one does stand out for one particular scene of a group of bikers incorporating fucking on motorcycles into a race. Beyond this it all does become a bit of a blur.

 

ZEIRAM (1991)

  Pretty simple Japanese sci-fi flick about a bounty hunter(Yuko Moriyama) and her computer sidekick Bob come to Earth to capture a monster/biological weapon named Zeiram. Reminiscent of John Carpenter's THE THING in the way it can transform throughout the movie. They throw in a couple of goofy electricians(phone repairmen?) for a laughs. Some great practical FX work make this worth a look for people into that sort of thing or maybe just fans of ULTRAMAN. 

 While this would seem like something that was based on a prior animated show it wasn't but there would be an animated version in 1994 and also a live-action sequel that same year(which from what I've read is really just an inferior remake). 

GORE FROM OUTER SPACE (2001)

  This title here promises something potentially pretty cool. Perhaps a bloody alien invasion romp will ensue? Nah, instead of anything like that let's just have a bunch of semi-comedic scenes thrown together that really don't seem to tell any kind of a coherent story but are loosely about a woman who maybe encounters aliens and maybe has a daughter who is kidnapped and maybe can shape shift into a balding fellow. I have to keep saying maybe because nothing is very clear after watching this thing. Maybe if you're really into weirdo David Lynch movies this might be more appealing to you. 

 This is technically a sequel to director Hirohisa Sasaki's CRAZY LIPS which I don't think I've ever viewed so maybe if you've seen that first things might make a little more sense though I kinda doubt it. 

GAMERA, THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (1995)

  I've seen this 90s reboot of the Gamera series a few times over the years but I don't think I've ever seen the UK-dubbed version before. In this version everyone has a very British accent and some pretty annoying techno jams start up every few minutes so if that sounds like something you would be into check that out. Personally I think I'll stick with the subtitled version if I ever watch this again. 

 Gamera, the giant fire-breathing, flying turtle had been gone for 15 years(GAMERA: SUPER MONSTER was his last outing) before they brought him back in this and it's generally considered a high point in Japanese monster films and I can't argue with that. They also bring back Daiei Studios own version of Rodan, Gyaos(there are technically 3 Gyaos but only one survives to the big final fight) to battle our protector of children. Steven Seagal's daughter, Ayako Fujitani plays one of the main characetrs who forms a psychic bond with our big turtle. 

 There would be 2 direct sequels to this, then in 2005 there was a film featuring an even goofier-looking offspring of Gamera. Finally an animated movie in 2023 appeared. I'm still waiting for that crossover with Godzilla though. 

OUTRAGE (2010)

  Director and star 'Beat' Takesh Kitano took a little break from these types of films for a few years to make more artsy/weird stuff but then returned to what people know him best for with this Yakuza flick. Fairly typical stuff here with some extremely violent scenes including devious use of a dentist drill, a near decapitation involving a car and some rope and tons of gun-fu. Nothing unexpected but still an entertaining watch for folks into the mobster movie genre. 

 Might be the last Asian action movie Blu-ray I ever pick up at Big Lots since they just announced that they are going out of business.

ONIBABA (1964)

 While I'm more of a fan of Japanese director Kaneto Shindo's later KURONEKO, this one is certainly not too shabby either. It's main focus is on a couple of poor ladies stuck in wartime Japan who resort to killing passers-by to make ends meet. While there are some horror elements involving a demon mask(and stabbing samurais) this one really focuses more on the drama side of things than KURONEKO and plays more like an artsy flick that just happens to also contain ample nudity and murder to go along with your symbolism and metaphors. Check it out for an fine example of some classy Asian cinema.

THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970)

  First in a trilogy of vampire films from Toho studios. This one features a gal who gets hypnotized into being a creepy vampire lady(though she mostly just acts like a ghost). Good atmospheric gothic horror, which is not something you normally expect from Japan. Does a good job at emulating 60s European horror flicks with some added blood. 

 This has quite a few alternate titles including FEAR OF THE GHOST HOUSE: BLOODSCUKING DOLL, THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE, THE GHOST MANSION'S HORROR: A BLOODSUCKING DOLL and just plain old BLOODSUCKING DOLL. Released on video as THE LEGACY OF DRACULA.

Released in Mexico as THE DOLL THAT DRINKS BLOOD:

THE BODYGUARD (1973)

  Sonny Chiba plays Sonny Chiba here except in this universe Chiba is not just an actor playing an ass-kicking karate man but also a super dangerous martial artist out to destroy gangsters who push drugs so he takes a job as a bodyguard which puts him into their sites. Doesn't really make much sense like most things that happen in this film. There's quite a bit of bloody violence including a guy who gets his arm ripped off, a decapitation and much bone breaking. Sadly the version I watched of this was a crappy pan-and-scan DVD from back in the day so I mighta missed a few things. Stick with THE STREET FIGHTER for a much better example of Chiba's skills. AKA VIVA CHIBA! THE BODYGUARD

 Quentin Tarantino ripped off the Ezekial 25:17 quote from the beginning of this movie like he rips off pretty much everything else he's ever done. 

LEGEND OF THE SHADOWY NINJA : THE NINJA DRAGON (1990)

  Go Nagai is one of the most important figures in manga and anime, pretty much inventing the giant robot genre. This here shot-on-video production is currently his only foray into live-action as writer and director. It's not up to the level of some of the better animes he was involved with(MAZINGA Z, DEVILMAN, GRENDIZER etc.) but it's an ok watch with some absurd elements(the movie comes to a halt while we watch 2 lady wrestlers battle it out and it all ends with a spaceship popping up) and gore(a guy gets his face ripped right off!) thrown in between all the expected ninja/kung fu action.

ROBO GEISHA (2009)

  While usually CGI-filled movies are at the very bottom of my list of things I enjoy in these early 2000s over-the-top Japanese gorefests it doesn't really detract all that much since what we're viewing is basically a live-action anime with very little basis in reality to begin with. BIG TITS ZOMBIE and MACHINE GIRL are the other 2 similar films from this era that I recall enjoying for their sheer stupidity and ludicrousness. In this one you get all kinds of deadly weapons that emerge from various nether-regions of the body of various cyborgs. It also shoehorns a story about sisterly love and features a building that turns into a giant robot and other Transformers-like hijinks. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and things are weird just for the sake of being weird so check your brain before watching. 

              Yes, even the trailer doesn't make sense!:

 

LADY OF THE STABLE (1991)

  Japanese director Hisayasu Sato is known for making pretty extreme pinky violence movies and this certainly falls into that category. Not so much violence in this one, until the very end which gets very stabby, this one deals more with a lady who has a very strong affection for horses(she even masturbates with a bloody severed horsedick at one point!) and seems to get seuxally assaulted a whole lot. Sadly the copy I watched of this, and seemingly the only version currently available, is a very dark VHS rip which makes following what little plot exists a bit rough. Not sure though if even a pristine blu-ray would help all that much since this is clearly in the obtuse artsy-fartsy zone and even at a mere 59 minutes this was a bit of a chore to finish. 

 Also goes by the amazing title of NEIGH MEANS YES!

FIRST LOVE (2019)

 You could call this one director Takashi Miike's version of TRUE ROMANCE where you take a couple and drop them into the middle of some mobsters fighting over drugs. Miike seems to have gone the David Cronenberg route where he starts out making really strange oddball cinema and then ends up making more straight forward gangster movies. Of course Miike has made way more fims then David so he's really ventured outside of any strict genre guidelines over the years. A bit overlong at almost 2 hours but it does manage to maintain a high energy level throughout. Heads roll, arms roll and lots of gun-fu commences.

 

ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN (1986)

 I had seen the first movie in this series, ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN, a while back and recall it being alright. This follow up, which is not really a sequel, ramps things up in the absurdity category. It all starts out like a Yakuza film(a very rape-filled Yakuza film!) before unexpectedly(unless you had seen the first movie) morphing into a monster movie. I guess you could technically call this a rape/revenge flick but it's certainly not your standard example of that subgenre. You get a melty, gooey creature that kinda reminded me of The Toxic Avenger but only if ol' Toxie had a giant monster penis that resembles the Alien baby from ALIEN. A good one for lovers of weirdo Japanese gore flicks if they can manage to make it through the first half. AKA GUTS OF A VIRGIN 2 and GUTS OF A BEAUTY

Our poor rape victim commits suicide(but luckily turns into a watermelon before hitting the ground):

2LDK (2003)

  Two struggling Japanese actresses, with some serious mental issues, share an apartment. Yeah, having roommates sucks and this fairly short(70 minutes) exercise in showing that(and other run-of-the-mill female jealousy) takes that concept to the extreme horror area. A chainsaw, a samurai sword and other implements of destruction are brought into play. This movie was made on a bet by director Yukihiko Tsutsumi and shot in 8 days and you can really tell that. 

 The other movie made from this bet is something called ARAGMI by Ryuhei Kitamura and I'm told that is even worse so I'm in no hurry to watch it.

GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS (2000)

  This one is the 25th Godzilla film(but only the 2nd in the "millennium series" which ran from 1999 to 2004) or the 24th film if you ignore that terrible American one from the 90s. It does what most of the films in this series do and ignores all the movies that came before it except for the very first one. Godzilla's foe is pretty bland being just a giant flying dragon-fly bug but the humans do come up with a black hole-generating weapon which is kind of a cool idea. Not my favorite but not the worst Godzilla flick you could catch. 

DEMON WITHIN (1985)

  This was the big highlight from a recent horror movie marathon I attended. Even though it was shot on video it looks light years better than your average American film shot the same way in this era and just looks like your typical TV program of the time. It also helps that it's only 54 minutes long since the story is not the most complex. We're dealing with demons here(based on some Japanese folklore?) that impregnate themselves inside humans and then violently, and gorily, burst out. From there it takes some very oddball unexpected turns as Japanese horror is sometimes wont to do. Maybe not for everyone but if you're a weirdo like me give it a look. Rubber monster effects by Tsuburaya Productions(responsible for ULTRA-MAN among other groovy Jap sci-fi things) really spice things up. AKA THE TASTY FLESH and GAKIDAMA

                Giving birth to a Gakidama demon sure looks like a drag!:

A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE (1975)

  This 70s Japanese flick plays mostly as one of those pinky violence movies about a whorehouse and a gangster  dude who treats his wife, and pretty much everyone else, like shit(including murdering them!) up until it becomes a revenge-filled ghost tale towards the end.  They also throw in some comedy for better or worse(who doesn't love a bubbledance?), a pinch of Edgar Allen Poe(The Black Cat sees everything!) and we get a memorable cat-lady monster who claws and kung fus her way to vengeance. Definitely a unique one that furries might really dug,  

THE GHOST STORY OF YOTSUYA (1959)

 Most of this movie deals with a relationship between a samurai, his fiancé and his friend. It only becomes a ghost story towards the very end of the film. It is pretty gruesome for something made in the 50s with festering wounds and sword slashes shown clearly. There's plenty of murders and some pretty clear cut villains on show, Based on some very old Japanese folklore it's worth a look for the atmosphere alone as many of these old Japanese ghostly epics are.

TERRIFYING GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL: LYNCH LAW CLASSROOM (1973)

 Very similar to the GIRL BOSS QUERILLA movies (it stars Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike who are in most of those movies also) but not actually part of that series. This one takes place in a reform school for troubled girls. It starts right out with a pretty brutal torture and murder scene but then the tone of the movies shifts wildly in intensity from super serious to scenes that would seem tailor-made for a typical teen sex comedy of the 80s. I think the silliness is what keeps this one from being higher-rated by fans of this sleazy subgenre but I'd still say to check it out for some pinky violence goodness. You do get lightbulbs in vaginas, shock treatment, straight razor hijinks and lots of naked flesh on display. So what's not to love?

YAKUZA LAW (1969)

  I caught this one recently, right after watching director Teruo Ishii's other insane masterpiece HORRORS OF MALFORMED MEN, and the one-two punch of both of these violent epics has made him my new favorite Japanese director of the moment. This movie starts out with all sorts of bloody torture and assassination scenes portraying various ways Japanese mobsters deal with those they perceive as going against the rules of the Yakuza. It's also an anthology movie told in 3 chapters that spans a large amount of time taking us up to the present day(of 1969 anyway). I know a few American movies were starting to display the ol' ultra-violence but this film takes it to almost-HG Lewis-levels of extremeness. Definitely a good one for fans of violent cinema with a strong stomach for eyeball-gouging, limb-chopping and other various acts of gruesomeness.  

  

                                      Just a small taste of the gore buffet!: