Hana to hebi: Kyûkyoku nawa chôkyô

Yeah baby...what is there NOT to like in FLOWER AND SNAKE: ROPE MAGIC??? For the pinku fans out there - this one has it all. If you don't know about this sort of material, or you're a "newbie" you may wanna wait awhile to slide this one in...

Gambling debts cause a scumbag to "sell" his girlfriend and her step-mother to local Yakuza thugs. The step-mom tries to make a deal to have her step-daughter released, but nothing's doin' for her. The gang decides to sexually torture both women in some pretty steamy scenes - and when the mother-daughter-duo try to escape with the help of the boyfriend and are double-crossed by the mother's maid...all hell REALLY breaks loose for the trio...

Straight-up - this is one of the best pinku films I've seen in a while. Sleazy as hell, involving incest themes, lots of vibrator/dildo torture, hot-wax "fun", Christmas bell vag torutre, shibari-style rope bondage, p!ssing, an opium vaginal torture see-saw, and all other types of twisted sleaze - ROPE MAGIC is a SURE winner to fans of the "harder" Nikkatsu fare. Not as violent as typical pinku favorites ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER or RAPE! 13TH HOUR - this one is more comparable to WIFE TO BE SACRIFICED, FEMALE MARKET: IMPRISONMENT, or maybe STAR OF David (aka BEAUTIFUL GIRL HUNTER) - but is also reminiscent of Gaira's RUSTED BODY in terms of the sexual-torture on display. The absolute BEST part is the completely un-PC ending - which I won't spoil - but I'll say is a PERFECT mesh for the rest of the trash on display here. A must-see for hard-core pinku fans, and an automatic favorite of mine...8.5/10

A pretty dark film, both with regard to picture quality and the tone. Not much new in this one of the generally imaginative series. Being forced to pee in the open is the first of several humiliations we have seen better done before and we even get an escape followed by further betrayal by the maid, which actually replicates the plot-line of one of the earlier films. Apart from the rather dull scenes, except, I guess from a particularly enthusiastic beating by the aforementioned maid and the kinky end, the baddies really do seem the most tedious bunch of goons. Being unpleasant and laughing a lot is about all they do and when they actually have penetrative sex with the girls goodness only knows why the director asked the ladies to go into ecstasies. Sexy violent for the most part this is not.

First, the rope magic is just from the opening scene and has absolutely nothing to do with the movie. What's with the titles anyway?!

The plot is basically a remake of Flower and Snake 3 Punishment with a few changes. It does have a surprise ending (the best part of the movie) which I won't give away. It seems like they took some shortcuts to cut down on filming time & expenses. They often use a fundoshi (loincloth) for the women instead of spending time Blocking scenes to keep body parts from showing. The sets are very minimal as well. If you're looking for the sex & torture scenes, they are boring and again not much time or effort was put in & you've seen it all before. Except one scene 16 minutes from the end they have a sexual torture item I haven't seen in Pink films before. But unfortunately, it's very boring and goes on (10 minutes) too long.

This really is a boring movie even by pink eiga standards. It makes me think, this killed off the Flower and Snake series of it's original 1980's run. Just skip this one.

Masayuki Asao's "Flower and Snake 4:Rope Magic" tells the story of the gambler,who is unable to pay his loan.His wife and daughter are kidnapped by Yakuza gang and subjected to many days of torture and sexual degradation.Typically twisted pinku eiga sickie that features lots of nudity,torture and rape.The plot is easy to follow,the acting is okay and the film is well-made and interesting.Overall,if you like Japanese pink cinema you can't go wrong with this one.7 out of 10.My other recommendations:"Beautiful Girl Hunter","Woman in a Box","Wife to Be Sacrificed","Convent of a Sacred Beast","Mu Zan E","Assault!Jack the Ripper" and "Angel Guts" series.7 out of 10.