Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs

An hour after I watched the movie, I calmed down enough to write this. One hell of a roller-coaster ride. Wow! The story is simple: a politician's daughter is kidnapped. He does not only want to get her back alive, but also the kidnappers must disappear completely so they can't talk to the press and everything can be hushed up. Scandals aren't good for his career. So who would do the job secretly, but with maximum violence? Zero Woman (Miki "Girl Boss Guerilla" Sugimoto)! The ex-detective who loves to strangle bad guys with the red chain of her favorite handcuffs is released from prison, goes to work and whatever she does from now on doesn't stand a chance on a PG rating. She looks great, talks even less than Arnie in "Terminator 1" and is as cold blooded as a snake in Antarctica. Got to love this woman, that is, from safe distance... staying on the other side of the screen. Recommended if you think Stallone was too sweet as Rambo.

"Rei" (Miki Sugimoto) is an undercover police officer who is working on a case involving the brutal murder of a young woman. One night at a nightclub she makes the acquaintance of a foreigner who buys her several drinks and then takes her to his apartment room where he intends on dispatching her in the same manner he murdered his other victim. Fortunately, she turns the tables on him and kills him first. Unfortunately, when it is discovered that the man was a foreign dignitary the police chief decides to throw her into prison without a trial or charges being preferred to avoid a possible scandal. Her situation changes, however, when the daughter of the incoming Prime Minister is kidnapped and Rei's services are required to rescue her at all costs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a provocative crime-drama which featured plenty of action along with two attractive actresses in Hiromi Kishi (as the Prime Minister's daughter "Kyoko Nagumo") and the aforementioned Miki Sugimoto. On the flip side, some of the acting was a bit over-the-top as were some of the special effects as well. I should probably also mention that this is an extremely violent film which had several brutal scenes involving rape and nudity which might not appeal to all audiences. In any case, it's an interesting movie and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

As an enthusiastic fan of Japanese exploitation cinema from the 70s I was full of anticipation to see Yukio Noda's "Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa" aka. "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs", and the film certainly deserves its cult status. "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs" is an extremely violent and sleazy exploitation gem that even surpassed my expectations. The film which stars the ravishing exploitation goddess Miki Sugimoto as the eponymous heroine, is explicit from the very beginning. Gory murders, rapes, tortures and all kinds of sleaze and sexual violence are omnipresent in the film, and yet the film has way more to offer than only gore and sleaze, as it is immensely stylish and brilliant in all respects. The incredibly sexy Miki Sugimoto is great in the lead, as Rei (aka. Zero Woman), a beautiful female undercover cop who is assigned to infiltrate and eliminate gang of sadistic and perverted criminals who have kidnapped the daughter of a prominent politician... I will not go into detail any further, as I don't want to spoil any of the fun, but I can assure that "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs" is a must-see for every fan of Japanese exploitation cinema.

The film is based on the manga comics by Tooru Shinohara, who also created the manga series that the brilliant "Joshuu Sasori" (aka. "Female Prisoner Scorpion") films are based on. The film has a delightfully black sense of humor, and an enormous level of sleaze and violence, even for Japanese 70s exploitation standards. The camera work is excellent and the supporting cast includes several familiar faces for Japanese cinema fans, such as Tetsuro Tamba, or Yôko Mihara, who is known for her female bully characters, most prominently in Shunya Ito's exploitation masterpiece "Joshuu 701-gô: Sasori" aka. "Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion" (1972), the first of the brilliant 'Sasori' films. The funky score in "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs" is also very good, even if it admittedly resembles the score of the 'Sasori' films a lot, especially the theme song performed by star Miki Sugimoto is very similar to the Sasori-theme 'Urami Bushi' sung by Meiko Kaji. The great Toei Company released quite a number of excellent exploitation films in the 70s, and "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs" is one of them. A bunch of new Zero Woman films, none of which I've seen so far, were released in the 90s, but they can't possibly reach the greatness of this 1974 original. "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs" has everything great exploitation cinema needs, lots of sleaze and female nudity, an enormous dose of violence and gore all brought to you with immense style, and a super-cool and stunningly beautiful heroine played by the sexy Miki Sugimoto. In short: This is exploitation-gold and an absolute must-see for all lovers of cult-cinema! Awesome!

Don't confuse this with those 90's Zero Woman films, this original film is the cream of the crop! Long unavailable on DVD anywhere in the world, Discotek has finally made it available to Western audiences. Red Handcuffs is based on the original manga series written by Toru Shinohara, who also created the Prisoner Scorpion manga.

This movie is ruff, nasty, raunchy, and as over the top as you can get! Nudity, violence, and sex fills the film from beginning to end. Zero (played by the beautiful Miki Sugimoto) is a rebel cop that is not afraid to shoot first and ask questions later. This kind of behavior gets her thrown in jail with the same trash that she is used to cleaning off the streets. Given a chance at redemption, she is brought back on a secret mission to rescue a high ranking politician's (played by the legendary Tetsuro Tanba) daughter from a gang of crazed rapists.

All hell breaks loose once she's undercover and the blood, clothes, and Red Handcuffs start flying! In order to keep her cover she must endure everything this sick gang of psychos can throw at her. Keeping cool she stays close to the kidnapped girl and close to her weapon of choice while waiting for her opportunity to strike. Climaxing in a blood filled showdown in a windy deserted Navy base, this film is a nonstop ride from beginning to end. The video quality and packaging are top notch. Inside the limited slip cover is an alternate cover that features some of the nastier and naughtier scenes. I've read that these limited versions will be sold out very soon and the packaging won't be duplicated once gone. Highly recommended and a must-have for fans of Japanese cinema!

Miki Sugimoto is Rei; undercover cop who dresses in a very cool red overcoat and delivers her own brand of vigilante justice that would be in good company with a certain Inspector Harry Callahan. She's sent after a bunch of crooks who have kidnapped a wealthy and up-and-coming politician's daughter and soon all hell breaks loose. While not as sleazy as something like Terrifying Girls Highschool or as exhilarating fun as Girl Boss Guerilla, fans of the genre will not be disappointed. It's (very) bloody, it has the requisite rape and nudity scenes that make any film of this sort work and just enough of a plot to keep you from glancing at your watch. It kind of drags in the middle but makes up for it with a blistering final act that involves among other things, blood gushing from gunshot wounds, a man burnt to a crisp and handcuff strangling.

One of the problems I had with it is that the first scene establishes Rei as this uber-cool badass cop chick with a style all her own; red handcuffs, gun and overcoat. A comic-book character that you can see kicking all sorts of butts. But then for the next hour she becomes this very passive character that gets tossed around and abused by a bunch of hoodlums. She's obviously trying to be as Meiko Kaji circa Lady Snowblood as possible (cold stare, silent, all that) but I like her better when she goes wild. All in all a decent pinku with a central character that could have been a lot better, but enough gore and sleaze to keep me happy. There's also a cameo by Tetsuro Tamba.