Exzesse im Folterkeller

Gave this film a 10 out of 10, which it probably doesn't deserve if you compare it with 'Citizen Kane' but if it's about originality it deserves it.

On the surface, it's just another of those Japan-shock-films. But notice how one girl is set free and how another one is shot on top of a building for everyone to see.

Disguised as a Japan-shocker this is an anarchist smuggler-film. Of course it is not too obvious as such, but still enough to enjoy. Easily the best of Japan-shockers.

With shocking scenes of violent rape, murder, bestiality, necrophilia and torture, Beautiful Girl Hunter (my first foray into the 'pinku-eiga' genre) is certainly an eye-opener.

Tatsuya is a little messed up: he is the result of a vicious sex attack on his mother by a violent rapist/thief. His surrogate father treats him like dirt as a child, and degrades his mum (by tying her up, whipping her and having sex with other women in her presence) until she can take no more and kills herself.

Tatsuya eventually gets even by killing his father, inheriting a fortune as a result. But it seems that he has also inherited his real father's penchant for mistreating women, and is soon following in daddy's footsteps, abducting, raping and killing beautiful women.

A misogynistic, ultra nasty and disturbing movie, Beautiful Girl Hunter is certainly not for everyone. However, those who have an 'anything goes' attitude towards their viewing matter will probably enjoy this simply for its willingness to show pretty much anything in the name of entertainment.

A series of busty victims suffer at the hands of Tatsuya (and his biological father, who turns up towards the end of the film to join in the fun) and the humiliation they have to endure is certainly very imaginative: one is smeared all over with butter, only for it to be removed by a dog with an obliging tongue; another is forced to masturbate in front of her captor; and, in a particularly gob-smacking scene, one poor girl is denied lavatorial facilities until she can hold on no longer...

The forced sex, which occurs at regular intervals throughout the film, is also very unsettling and not for those who are easily offended. Peculiarly enough, though, for a film that is so extreme in places, the nookie is at times made rather laughable by carefully placed objects in the foreground obscuring the 'action' (think of that scene in Austin Powers and you'll get an idea of what I mean). I always find it amusing when I see what the Japanese find acceptable to show and what is deemed too obscene (for example, they have no problem with a scene in which Tatsuya masturbates over photos from the Nazi holocaust!!).

What is also rather surprising about this film is its technical excellence. There is no evidence of the low quality prevalent in many of filmdom's more seamy productions—the cinematography is great and the direction very effective. Director Norifumi Suzuki has managed to imbue this sordid tale with a level of class which is rare in exploitation movie-making.

And if Eli Roth thinks he is the last word in extreme bloodletting, he ought to check this baby out: his Mrs. Bathory bath scene in Hostel 2 pales in comparison with the bit where Tatsuya stabs a girl suspended by chains and is drenched in her blood! Beautiful Girl Hunter ends with a rather confusing and pretentious finale which might be a case of the director trying to justify his film with some kind of message. He needn't have bothered: viewers of this movie will be too busy gasping at the on-screen filth to care about any deeper meaning.

This is a well made beautiful film about the kidnap and torture of women. Its great to look at but I have yet to determine why I should want to watch it. Don't get me wrong it has nothing to do with refined sensibilities, I can enjoy twisted exploitation as well as anyone, but there's simply something wrong.

I think the problem with it is that its rather a dull movie. Terrible things happen to good looking woman...and thats about it. There is some attempt at character, but its not all that interesting. Its as if its trying to be more than the bondage porno it is.

I had been drawn to the film when I had read several articles that mentioned its bad reputation, so when I found a cheap copy I figured I'd give it a try. Perhaps back in 1979 it was something, but today with these jaded eyes its unremarkable. I've seen films of every sort and this one didn't strike as much of anything.

Will you find it offensive? If naked tortured women offends you, or you have stayed in the mainstream in your tastes, you probably will be offended or made uncomfortable, but for anyone else, this is probably going to bore you much more than it will shock or excite you. It has not lived up to its reputation.

When a man's wife is raped and impregnated by a serial killer, the result is a handsome playboy who grows up with a fetish for sex, torture, and murder. This Japanese production is like a morality play with no morals, with a protagonist who is at once charming, intelligent, and unredeemable; the multi-layered script fleshes out the character and those he abducts, and makes some surprisingly insightful observations about a society fixated on religion, morals, and beauty. While not achieving a balanced mix of depravity and fascination like Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Salo," "Beautiful Girl Hunter" comes close enough, though the violence and sexual content becomes excessive near the end.

6.5/10

This might be up your alley, but chance is that it isn't. The whole thing starts of one rainy night with an escaped sex-convict, a happily married couple and some rope. You can sort of figure out the rest of that evening. The wife ends up pregnant and her husband can never get over the fact that it isn't his child, so he humiliates and tortures her until the day she 'off's' herself. The sons grows to be a man unworthy of his 'fathers' love and constantly reminded of his horrible heritage. Whit a dick like that as your dad, you just have to search for your roots, don't you? Hooking up with chicks isn't a problem for this rich playboy, so he builds himself a dungeon to store them in. The rest of the film is filled with torture, murder and mayhem, but also real lust and true love. Wait a minute, you might say. What ever happened to his biological father? What? You want me to tell you the whole damned movie? Just watch it already!

PS. All timid girls aren't as timid as they might look.