Joshû 701-gô: Sasori

I've seen a handful of women in prison films and before seeing this one, hadn't seen a really good one. It's a genre closely associated with lesbian sex, torture and general sleaze and is one of the staples of the oeuvres of Italian trash directors such as Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato. Female Convict Scorpion adheres to the trends of the genre, but it does it with so much more class than the majority of genre offerings and the result is a film that transcends its trash origins into masterpiece territory. Female Convict Scorpion excellently straddles the boundary between the two types of film - its trash shot as art! Like most women in prison films, this one focuses on one particular prisoner inside a women's prison. The prisoner is Nami Matsushima, a woman betrayed by her boyfriend (a police officer with mob ties) and wrongly imprisoned. She wants revenge on the man who put her in jail, and since she knows a lot of his secrets; he wants her dead. The policeman/mobster soon decides to have one of the other prisoners arrange an "accident" for Nami Matsushima...

The film starts as it means to go on; first we get a prison break that sees two prisoners hunted down and caught by the ruthless prison guards, and the next scene sees a bunch of naked women being directed about by said prison guards. There is not as much sleaze in this film as there is in my other women in prison flicks, but there's more than enough - and the fact that it doesn't go over the top means that the sleaze we do get is far more potent. The film is also rather gory, and although much of the violence is in a comic book style, seeing the blood spill is still a treat. The film features some stunning cinematography, and director Shunya Ito is obviously keen to get the art-house style across as much as possible. There's also several excellently shot sequences; the scene involving a disgruntled inmate rampaging through the showers with a shard of glass being particularly excellent. It's all topped off by a sensational performance by Meiko Kaji in the lead role, and overall; it has to be said that Female Convict Scorpion is a masterpiece that does not deserve to be missed!

Brutal, evil, nasty and gory. Looking very much forward to the second film in the series.

Meiko Kaji is a beast. If you are into this genre then do not pass this one up I guarantee you will dig it.

I'm really starting to love this era in Japanese exploit film-making. As of this writing I've only seen slightly more than a handful of these films, but they all tend to be top-notch. I end up saying the same things about all of them, and FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION is not much different - excellent sets, interesting and deep story lines, good acting, beautiful camera-work - all the sorts of things that you wouldn't expect to see in an exploitation film, but the Japanese did it consistently in those days spawning plenty of truly excellent trash films...

The FEMALE PRISONER in question is a nice girl who just had a run of bad luck. Her scumbag boyfriend is an overly ambitious cop who uses her as bait in trying to bust a crime ring. When the bust goes to hell, the criminals and the ever chivalrous boyfriend/cop make a deal to hang homegirl out to dry. She ends up in jail and after a failed jailbreak, is abused in all kinds of fun and sleazy ways. A riot eventually ensues in the jail and this time our heroine makes it out to seek revenge on the man who scorned her...

I have to honestly say that FEMALE PRISONER is not quite as compelling and "beautiful" as say, LADY SNOWBLOOD (who is also played by our leading lady in this film...), or maybe SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST, but it is still a very enjoyable, artfully sleazy film that definitely holds up on it's own. Recommended to fans of any Japanese exploit/pinky film - this one won't disappoint. 8.5/10

Some films, while not entirely believable are still able to pull you into them and make you invest your interest and full attention in them nonetheless. This is such a film. While it's not entirely believable, to me it's a film that is still extremely interesting and enjoyable. Of it's subject matter, this may truly be the best film of it's kind. Even with it's age and fairly low budget, somehow it still comes across to me as very poetic. Violent poetry no less, but there's certainly much more to it than just violence. This film inspired at least 6 sequels I believe, and it has been an inspiration for many remakes and imitators too. The Kill Bill films are two of them at least to some degree, they certainly draw inspiration from it at least. This is overall quite an amazing little film. It's brutal, yet still somehow it is also quite beautiful. These are not easy things to balance in the art of filmmaking, but here it is on wonderful display.

8.5/10.

Just watched Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion 39years after it came out and it is still a good movie.

This is the 1st of the Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion series (I had actually watched it backwards from 4 to 1), and it shows how the "Scorpion" ended up in prison and how hard she is. The Scorpion is HARD.

The movie has all the prison exploitation themes, sadistic guards, naked prisoners, mean prisoners, torture etc. But it also has the Scorpion; imagine Cool Hand Luke but who does not talk, with no humour, a willingness and readiness to kill/injure/maim her tormentors and a single mindedness quest for vengeance. Meiko Kaji (actress) is more widely known for her Lady Snowblood character and movies but IMO her Scorpion Character is way more awesome.

I recommend this movie just so you have a lead up to the second movie Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41 which is a MUST watch.