Kaidan nobori ryû

All I have to say is that them Japanese seem like they have way too much fun sometimes. Lots and lots if bloody sword fighting. Eccentric characters. The plot is straightforwards although it jumps around to odd places here and there. Not for everyone thats for sure.

'Blind Woman's Curse (1970)' is a bit of a mishmash of genres, a female yakuza semi-exploitation movie by way of early J-horror such as 'Kuroneko (1968)'. It's the first starring role for the piercingly beautiful Meiko Kaji and it showcases her steely gaze, strong constitution, gentle strength and capacity to kick ass right out of the gate; it's easy to see why she became such an icon. The film is mostly successful despite the disjointed nature of its relatively loose narrative, kept afloat by a bevy of colourful side characters and the never-quite-delivered-on promise of powerful otherworldly intervention. It establishes itself as an interesting endeavor right from its opening titles, which play over a battle that ensues after the lead reveals her gang's dragon tattoo which slithers its way across all of their backs. The narrative's most intriguing elements are relegated to the background for a lot of its runtime, but even the standard gang v gang stuff is compelling enough for what it is. Everything comes to a head in a brilliant final movement which begins with a striking sequence of a gang's march to war in front of an ominous blue sky, proceeds to feature several stabbings and slashings which spew geysers of ruby red blood, and ends with a one-on-one battle set in a surrealist arena marked by strange swirling clouds and the heavy presence of long-held hate. It's a really strong note on which to end and it makes up for the flick's slower portions towards its midsection. Still, this ultimately isn't as good as some of the films it obviously heavily inspired ('Lady Snowblood (1973)', for instance) and almost feels like a fairly standard entry in its specific subgenre. It has all the right elements but doesn't quite combine them in the most potent way. It's an enjoyable but relatively forgettable affair.

This action-horror-thriller from Japan begins with the main character, Akemi, leading an imperialist attack against the rival Goudan clan.

Akemi is a master swordstress; the enforcer for a Yakuza-like clan known as the Tachibanas- of which she is second in line to inherit leadership of. One element of a five person team: all of whom are marked with a segment of dragon tattooed across their backs. Their collective technique and style, renders them best described as the Dragon Force. And, seeing as Akemi is their leader...she sports the head.

While engaged in this opening battle, Akemi is about to strike down the Goudan leader...when his younger sister- Aiko- suddenly rushes to his side, in an attempt to beg for his life to be spared. But Akemi strikes without flinching. And when she does, she accidentally grazes the face of Aiko, as well. Blinding her in the process.

At this moment a strange black cat appears, lapping up the blood oozing from Aoki's eyes...before leaping at Akemi.

Whereas the Tachibana clan emerge from the battle largely victorious, most of their men are killed, or imprisoned- lncluding Akemi. While locked up, she suffers from recurring nightmares that haunt her with images of Aoki and the cat. Though, she still manages to use this oppourtunity to rebuild her fighting force in Orange-Is-The-New-Black fashion.

Once Akemi is released from prison, the Tachibana clan confront a rival gang called the Azoras- who had taken control of their territory in her absence. The rival gang leader is a hilariously, bizarre character who walks around in assless chaps. If anyone has caught Guy Moshe's Bunraku, it's quite evident that Kevin McKidd's Killer #2 character (and his gang of redcoats) are based off this guy (and his gang).

A local, social justice oriented, lone wolf-type, named Tatsu, intervenes in the confrontation on behalf of Akemi and the Tachibanas- though he does not represent any particular clan, himself. Either way, it is his intervention that helps run the Azoras off...and Akemi won't forget it- as she's become enamoured by him.

Everything seems to be going well for the Tachibanas after this. That is, until a traitor named Aniki, aligns himself with the Dobashi clan- who are planning to rid themselves of the Tachibana's, once and for all. The Dobashi leader has been hatching a plot to manufacture a conflict between the Tachibanas and Azoras, with the hope they will severely weaken each other in a war- allowing their clan to move in and seize control in the aftermath.

A mysterious blind woman suddenly shows up and presents herself to the Dobashis- seeking employment and wishing to join their cause. After testing her skills, their leader accepts her proposition- allowing her to join the ranks. Though, it quickly becomes clear that she is the one manipulating the Dobashi leader into acting on her suggestions.

This mysterious woman is Aoki. She has become a witch, who uses a black cat- and madman that acts like a cat- to plague Akemi and the Tachibanas with her curse.

This is where stuff starts to get a bit confusing and weird... After going to what has got to be one of the oddest stage-show attractions ever seen, some Tachibana members are found murdered...only to reanimate into what seems like a zombie-type state. While others are killed and left with the tattoos skinned from their backs.

Only Akemi knows what is going on. As, in each instance, she witnessed the presence of a black cat and/or the madman. She is well aware that it is Aoki, out to reap vengeance on her and those she is close to- mainly, Tatsu and her clan. Hence why Aoki and the Dobashis use them against her.

Inevitably, the whole story wraps up with an epically, atmospheric showdown where Akemi and Aoki go head-to-head with one another. However, --SPOILER-- it doesn't end in bloodshed. As, when Akemi slays the cat- who tries to blindside her at one point- Aoki snaps out of the demonic trance that had beholden her, and which was responsible for diving her toward rage and revenge.

Seems Aoki wasn't doing the cursing after all. Rather, she had been the one who was cursed all along.

This is a beautifully stylish film, with a great blend of action, mystery, horror and comedy. The characters are particularly excellent. Especially Kantoro, and the Azora leader- who is just wild. My biggest beef with this film would be the editing, which I found to be quite choppy and amateurish at parts (but that is really nitpicking). It's particularly worth watching for it's female-oriented cast- all of whom do a great job, other than at a few weak sword fighting scenes (though this is the fault of both the male and female actors). I did feel the ending was a bit abrupt, but I liked how Ishii wraps things up. Thoroughly enjoyed the film, overall.

6.5 out of 10.

For me, nothing illustrates the yawning chasm between Eastern and Western culture as effectively as a film like Blind Woman's Curse. What might seem perfectly reasonable to a Japanese audience can be totally perplexing to an Englishman like myself. Of course, a film like Blind Woman's Curse, which features some truly 'unique' (for want of a better word) scenes, might seem just as baffling to the average Japanese person; it's hard to be sure. Suffice to say that the film, written and directed by Teruo Ishii (so you know there'll be some torture there somewhere), doesn't play out in predictable fashion. Or perhaps it does, if you're Japanese.

Gorgeous Meiko Kaji plays sword-swinging Akemi, leader of the Tachibana gang, who avenges her father's death by attacking the Goda gang. While dealing several deadly blows to the Goda boss, Akemi accidentally blinds his sister Aiko (Hoki Tokuda), who stupidly gets in the way. Akemi sees a black cat slurping up the girl's blood and believes herself to be cursed.

Three years later, Akemi is released from jail, and resumes leadership of her gang, but other organised criminals have their eyes on the Tachibana territory. Up and coming gang boss Dobashi (Tôru Abe) uses Tachibana traitor Tatsu to help him seize control, but is also assisted by a mysterious blind woman who is deadly with a blade.

Now this might sound like the makings of a rather routine tale of revenge, but trust me, the film is far from straightforward. For starters, one of the gangs is led by a man in a loincloth, who suffers from terrible body odour. Then there's the little matter of the weird hunchback (Tatsumi Hijikata) who lives in a theatre full of realistic looking wax heads and who cackles maniacally like Salacious Crumb; did I mention that he has the power to reanimate the dead by licking them? As for the black cat that haunts Akemi's dreams... it shows up from time to time, flying across the screen on clearly visible wires, occasionally making off with tattooed skin flayed from the backs of members of the Tachibana gang.

Throw in opium addict sex slaves, a zombie who loses his head, and lots of bright-red blood (including that Japanese favourite, excessive arterial spray), and what you have is a film that is definitely different, but not one that I can wholeheartedly recommend because it is so uneven, awkwardly lurching from yakuza gang drama, to supernatural thriller, to avant-garde arthouse flick.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the spiral cloud backdrop during the final fight between Akemi and Aiko. Very cool!

The way this film juggles being a samurai/yakuza, crime, and horror film all at once is quite impressive, and keeps things from feeling predictable. It's worth watching to see all those genres in play at once.

I think it may have become a little less satisfying in the second half, with maybe more characters than it needed, and Meiko Kaji (who's great here) unfortunately gets a little less focus in that back half.

It comes together well enough by the end at least, and the action's pretty good, the samurai/yakuza stuff is fun, and the horror elements work well, leading to a couple of creepy sequences. It's an odd and pretty good movie overall.