Joshû sasori: 701-gô urami-bushi

Grudge Song, Meiko Kaji's final outing as sexy female prisoner Nami Matsushima (AKA The Scorpion), opens with our beautiful anti-hero narrowly avoiding capture by the police during a wedding. Badly injured during this latest escape, our tasty fugitive breaks into a strip club where she is tended to by club employee Teruo Kudo (Masakazu Tamura), who bears a grudge against the police for torturing him when he was younger.

Grateful for his kindness, and recognising Kudo as a kindred spirit, Nami lowers her defenses and forms a relationship with the young man—but can Kudo be trusted not to betray Nami, especially when he is put under pressure by sadistic policeman Kodama (Yumi Kanei) and his brutal cohorts?

After being somewhat disappointed by director Shunya Ito's third Female Prisoner movie, Beast Stable, which I believe lacked the effortlessly cool vibe of the first two films and saw the formula becoming somewhat tired, I was excited to see that this fourth chapter for Meiko Kaji's cult character was directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, the man responsible for such delightfully depraved Pinku classics as 'Assault! Jack the Ripper' and 'Rape! 13th Hour'. Surely this guy could inject some new life into the series.

Unfortunately, Grudge Song proves to be a rather restrained affair from Hasebe, one that features little of the shocking sexual and violent content that I would normally associate with the director's work, with even the film's nastiest scene, a gang-rape, lacking his usual impact (possibly suggesting that the director was holding himself back, compelled to try and be as stylish and classy as his predecessor when dealing with such a well established franchise). Hasebe also unwisely turns Kaji's Nami into a much less sympathetic character than before, making it harder for the audience to care about her fate.

Had Hasebe given Grudge Song the same outrageous, exploitative approach that made his aforementioned titles such deviant guilty pleasures, this would have been a lot more fun, and a great way for Kaji to leave the series. Sadly, as it is, this one is my least favourite of all the Female Scorpion films.

5.5 out 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

The fourth installment in the incredible 'Female Prisoner' series, starring Meiko Kaji. Director Shunya Ito declined to direct this final part because of budget cuts. Yasuharu Hasebe takes over here, and directs a respectable final chapter to one of the most loved serials in Japanese cinema. Hasebe was also responsible for a controversial trilogy of rape themed films including "Rape! 13th Hour". His influence is seen here, as 'Grudge Song' features some over-the-top scenes of torture and rape. Of course though, not on the extreme level of his more subversive works, as I think the Scorpion series was aimed at a somewhat larger audience. This one begins with Nami on the run once again, from the angry cop that has been pursuing her through the entire series. She finds a little solace with a man (!) who hides her from the police and helps to nurse her back to health. Surprisingly, Nami allows a man to get a little close to her, however she keeps him at arms length, as she knows that no man can truly be trusted. No worries though; the film never gets bogged down by sappy romance, as that would make 'Sasori' look somehow weak. I believe she only mutters two lines of dialog to her companion throughout the film.'Grudge Song' takes a little while to pick up speed, but it surely does, just about at the halfway mark, when she is once again caught and thrown into prison. It is always a rush to see the 'Scorpion' dressed in the familiar prison stripes. I don't care how many times they do it, it never gets boring. With each passing installment Kaji seems more 'godlike'. Here she comes across as some vengeful spirit from another world. Was this sequel necessary? Not really, but who cares. A chance to experience another adventure with this amazing heroine is always welcome. If you are a fan of this series, then this film is a must. It also a good opportunity to see a film from Yasuharu Hasebe, as most of his other films are extremely hard to find. And if you are wondering if Nami puts on the black coat and hat to seek out revenge once again...She does! And this time her vengeance is more personal. Recommended!

Yasuharu Hasebe (Black Tight Killers) took over for director Shunya Ito for this, the last Female Convict Scorpion picture starring Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood). The film opens with Nami Matsushima (a.k.a. Matsu, a.k.a. Scorpion) once again on the lam. The police track her down at a wedding, but she manages to escape. Badly injured, she is saved by a man who works in a strip joint and holds a grudge against the police for torturing him. Can the Scorpion trust a man again? Should she?

One of the reasons Kaji decided to stop doing the Scorpion pictures is that Toei kept slashing the budget with each new installment. This film is smaller in scale and more straightforward than the first three chapters. It is easily the least of the four Scorpion films featuring Meiko Kaji; however, it is still engrossing whenever she is on the screen.

This begins well enough and has enough going on, a male helper this time, to maintain the interest until the most exciting scenes come along. It is a good idea that Meiko's seeming saviour here has had history with the police already from his days of 60s student rebellion. Flashbacks enable stand-in director Hasebe to double his violent police demonstrations with current and b/w past. This is number four in the series, however, and needed more not less in the way of interesting action and visuals. Gone are the stylish sequences and gone the surrealism. The endings, both false and actual are fun and if this is a disappointment it is no disgrace and while not the greatest of finales, probably a much better fourth episode than many might have expected. Worth seeing.

Nami Matsushima, the Scorpion, still on the run from Kodama, meets Yasuo. Together they try to exact revenge on the corrupt detective, but when things go awry, Nami is back in prison and has to find a way to escape before being hanged.

Meiko Kaji returned to play the title role, but director Shunya Ito was replaced by Yasuharu Hasebe (1932-2009). Hasebe was more controversial, and is best known for his movies in the "violent pink" subgenre of the Pink film, such as "Assault! Jack the Ripper" (1976), and the provocatively-titled "Rape!" (1976), "Rape! 13th Hour" (1977) and "Raping!" (1978). Take from that what you will.

Because of the change in director, some people do not consider this to be a "full" sequel in the Scorpion series, despite the lead actress returning. I have no opinion on that one way or the other.