Joshû sasori: 701-gô urami-bushi

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.

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.

And so at last we come to the end of the great Matsu the Scorpion's bloody, weird, and incredibly thrilling saga. This is the only entry in the series not directed by Shun'ya Ito, so I was a bit nervous going into this film; I've really enjoyed all the FPS movies, and I really didn't want the final outing to fall flat on it's face.

To my great delight, this film didn't fall flat; it delivered everything I'd want from an outing with Matsu. At the same time, Matsu's story seems to be wearing a little thin; at this point in the saga she's escaped from prison with others, had her revenge, and in the last entry ("Beast Stable") she even become a kind of savior for oppressed women. In this entry, history more or less repeats itself; the storyline in "Grudge Song" is relatively the same as the first and second entries ("FPS #701" & "FPS: Jailhouse 41"), only the story is compressed into an hour and a half. If you've seen the other entries, you pretty much know what's going to happen in this entry, and while there isn't necessarily a problem (people still line up for Marvel movies, and they're all relatively homogenous), to me, the series has started to loose a bit of it's appeal, and I honestly think ending it here was probably the best choice: go out on a note that is still relatively positive, and people will be keener to return to the franchise. I, for one, will happily go through Matsu's journey multiple times in my life.

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.

Grudge Song is the last entry in the "official" Female Convict Scorpion series and is often considered lesser to the other three. This is true, it's not quite as good as those that went before it; but even so, the film is certainly a worthy entry. Grudge Song is directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, as opposed to Shunya Ito who directed the first three. That doesn't really affect the quality, however, as the new director adequately emulates the style of the previous ones and the film certainly fits into the series well. The first three films all had different styles, though this one seems to take the most influence from the one that came directly before it, 'Beast Stable' as the action is fairly slow. The plot once again focuses on the quiet dark haired lunatic that goes by the name 'Scorpion'. She's still on the run and after a run-in with the cops, finds herself injured. She's helped by a young man who takes her in, gives her shelter and forms an alliance with her. However, after another run in with the cops; he's captured and finds himself with a dilemma...

This film is not as surreal as the previous entries as the new director seems to prefer a more direct and exploitative approach, and that's OK with me. The surreal elements are what made the previous films what they are in a way, but I've come to expect a different thing each time from this series so I don't mind that change in style here. Meiko Kaji once again takes the central role and once again does excellently with it. She doesn't say a lot as is usually the case, but she looks so sinister and this is what really makes her performances in these films. This film has less of a revenge theme and more of a political one and it works fairly well. The violence is still the main focal point for me, but this film probably has a bit more 'meat' on it than the previous three. There's still plenty of room for what Scorpion does best, and those hoping to see her get revenge on people won't be disappointed as she certainly gets it once again. Overall, this film is not as great as the fantastic original; but it still fits into the series nicely and overall I'd say it's on par with the three sequels. Recommended!