Furyô anego den: Inoshika Ochô

Well, if blaxploitation films exploited the black culture and nunsploitation films exploit the nun image, then Sex and Fury falls under the sexploitation genre because it very decidedly exploits sex. And that ain't a bad thing in my book. Anyhows, Sex and Fury is a film that also falls under what is called Pinky Violence. Essentially what Pinky Violence is, is a bunch of Japanese films that came out in the 70s that dealt with hot lady killers who went out and distributed large amounts of vengeance on evil doers. It eventually died out, but boy what a legacy of films it left behind. Sex and Fury was one of the good ones.

The story is about this little girl called Ocho Inoshika. When Ocho sees her father get murdered right before her eyes by a bunch of Yakuza leaders she grows up to be a vengeful spirit. She does nothing else in this life but search for her fathers killers. And that she does, but not without helping a soul or two along the way.

At first when Sex and Fury started out, I thought it was going to be a rehash of the story I had seen before in the truly excellent Lady Snowblood. Its a very similar story dealing with a little girl who grows up to be a stone cold killer because she had an extremely traumatic childhood experience, but the only thing is that Sex and Fury amps up the sleaze and the tits and ass a whole lot more. Suddenly, without no apparent reason Ocho begins to fight and loose her clothes. Suddenly and without warning a bad guy slashes away the top part of her gown and Ocho begins to swordfight topless! Or in another sequence a bunch of hoodlums attack Ocho as she takes a bath and she proceeds to fight them buck naked! And not just a flash, I mean the fight sequence goes on for a long time and shes totally naked, gotta admit Id never seen that in a movie before, but it rocked! Of course it does add a level of sleaze to the movie because its obviously gratuitous nudity we are seeing here solely for the purpose of titillating the males in the audience. But so what, I gotta say it works.

So I'm like oooh, OK. So thats what this is all about! A movie that purposely shows a woman fighting and killing while naked. OK, I can go with that. But it wasn't only that. This movie has some sex scenes that scratch on being porn. Suddenly and without warning these two chicks start to make out on screen, necking each other. So I was thinking "thats probably as far as they are going to go with this cause this movie is old". Boy was I wrong, that sequence totally turned out to be an extended lesbo action sequence that was practically soft porn! I was like alright! This movie is pushing boundaries, its going all out and I dug that very very much. So be on the look out for certain kinky scenes.

And as for the violence, well its plentiful. Blood sprays body parts fall and the snow is sprinkled with red on more then one occasion. Its pretty freaking obvious this one was also a heavy influence on Tarantino. The whole ending sequence is extremely similar to Oren Ishii and Beatrix Kiddos showdown in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Both in terms of music and shots. It was crazy but I was having flashbacks. Anyhows that came as no surprise to me since I had heard about this movies and Lady Snowbloods influence on Tarantino.

The only thing that hinders this film a bit is the acting from Christina Lindberg an American actress that appears in this film playing an English spy. For those familiar with Grindhouse films, she appeared in another bad girl film called Thriller: A Cruel Picture. Anyhows Christina Lindberg does some pretty bad acting on this flick and it was really the only thing that kind of messed things up for me on this movie. But its a small imperfection on an otherwise cool flick.

So, if your into film with naked chicks going around on revenge killing sprees then this my friend is a film for you! I'm off to check out its sequel: Female Yakuza. Hope its every bit as good as this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ocho (Reiko Ike), decades after witnessing her father's merciless death, sets out on a quest to find the three responsible for the travesty and exact revenge. In her travels she befriends a handsome your anarchist who's involved with a European spy (the beautiful Christina Lindberg, perhaps best known for her "Thriller" film). This sexy spy along with co-horts wants to dismantle the country from within. All this comes together in a cinematic experience that has to be seen to be believed. Probably very controversial when it was released in Japan of the early '70's, the films more 'outragious' scenes (the battle in which Ocho is completely nude amongst others) seem almost quaint now, yet the film retains it's beautiful, almost poetic feel and is definitely one to actively search out. Followed by a sequel that couldn't really reach the same level as this had.

My Grade: B+

A masterpiece of Japanese 70s sexploitation and a pinnacle film of the Japanese Pink Violence era and no doubt influential on a host of films which came after it. This film is unique in so many ways. Reiko Ike is just gorgeous as Ocho, the Female Yakuza who not only kicks ass.. but kicks it while she's totally nude as we see in the highlight fight scene of the film shot in and outside of a Haiku House in the snow. Sound familiar? Think Kill Bill. The characters are all slick and seedy, some seem to be taken right out of a comic book. The photography is well mastered. The fighting choreography is great, the scenes are ultra violent with blood spraying action and a bevy of erotic sex. Recommended for any fan of Asian sexploitation and martial arts violence. The follow up film to this is Female Yakuza Tale.. which I also recommend for even more over the top sex and sword sport.

SEX AND FURY is a classic of the Toei "pinky-violence" (Japanese films typically of the 70's containing heavy violence and lots of nudity and simulated sex...)genre. A strong plot, beautiful cinematography, and a decent amount of swordplay and tits-and-ass make this one a winner.

The story surrounds Ocho - a female gambler, thief, master swordswoman...basically an all-around badass. When a fellow gambler is killed, his dying wish is for Ocho to retrieve his sister from the brothel that she's been sold to. Ocho agrees and begins a journey that will ultimately lead her to her own father's murderers - and revenge is sweet...

SEX AND FURY is so well made that it is hard to view this one strictly as a pinky-violence or exploit film. The cinematography is amazing, the fight choreography is well done, the acting is very good, the sets are elaborate, and the plot is tight and well thought out. A MAJOR high point for this film is that it also co-stars the GORGEOUS Christina Lindberg, of THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE fame, as a sexy British (?) spy - and of course she's showing plenty of skin in this one, too.

My only real gripe with SEX AND FURY is that there could have been a lot more violence. I would have been happier if the violence was more on par with films like the LONE WOLF AND CUB series, for example. Even so, I would definitely recommend this to fans of the aforementioned LONE WOLF AND CUB films, the ZATOICHI series, LADY SNOWBLOOD, etc...and for fans of Lindberg - seeing her naked is always a treat...Recommended 8/10

As a little girl, Ochô Inoshika witnesses the bloody murder of her father, who dies clutching three gambling cards, clues to the identities of those responsible for his death. Two decades later, Ochô (Reiko Ike) is now a skilled card player and deadly swords-woman and uses her talents to try and track down her father's killers. Her search leads her into a world of political intrigue, her path crossing with an idealistic revolutionary Shunosuke (Tadashi Naruse) and his British ex-lover, undercover spy and gambler Christina (Swedish sex star Christina Lindberg).

Approximately twelve minutes into Sex and Fury and viewers are treated to an exquisitely exploitative scene in which beautiful star Reiko Ike is attacked by numerous sword wielding baddies while taking a relaxing soak in a tub. Leaping from the water to grab her sword, she proceeds to hack and slash her way through the enemy, her naked body becoming drenched with blood in the process. The action moves into a snowy courtyard, where the carnage continues in slow motion, until all the men are dead.

Director Noribumi Suzuki (Beautiful Girl Hunter, School of the Holy Beast) closes his film in a similar fashion, with Ike going topless to slice up countless henchmen in her pursuit of justice. Excessive arterial spray ensures that, once again, Ike winds up drenched in bright red gore. This time, she uses the snow outside to clean her bloody chest.

Sadly, these gloriously bloody bookends to the film's intricate revenge plot are easily the film's highlights, with not an awful lot of note going on between them. The rather dull political plot-line offers very little opportunity for more action, and although there is copious nudity and sex along the way, the soft-core shagging and light bondage soon becomes tiresome (even Lindberg's lesbian session with a Japanese woman outstays its welcome).

Sex and Fury is, as these kind of movies so often are, extremely stylish, with classy cinematography and a cool jazzy score, but the acting from some of the cast is decidedly ropey (Lindberg speaks both English and Japanese, mangling both languages). If you're new to Japanese cinema and are looking for a classic female swords-woman revenge tale, I suggest either of the Lady Snowblood movies over this film; and if you're after something really sleazy, then the aforementioned other films from Suzuki offer more in the way of general perversion. Sex and Fury is passable pinky violence, but there are better examples out there.