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Stars: Vic Morrow, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, Philip Casnoff, Peggy Lee Brennan, Tetsurô Tanba, Mikio Narita, Makoto Satô, Seizô Fukumoto, Hiroyuki Sanada | Written by Kinji Fukasaku, Shotaro Ishinomori, Hirô Matsuda | Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

Message from Space, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, is a Japanese science fiction film that blends traditional space opera tropes with unique cultural elements, delivering a visually captivating yet narratively uneven experience. Released in the wake of the monumental success of Star Wars, this film ambitiously seeks to carve out its own niche within the genre.

One of the standout features of Message from Space is its visual presentation. The film showcases an impressive array of special effects for its time, with meticulously designed spacecraft and vibrant alien landscapes that reflect a distinctively Japanese aesthetic. The miniature models and practical effects, though not as polished as those in Hollywood blockbusters, possess a charming quality that adds to the film’s retro-futuristic appeal.

Over the course of two features, “Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion” and “Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41”, director Shunya Ito had made two of the most beloved entries within the exploitation genre, in Japan and worldwide. Indeed, the character of Nami Matsushima, nickmamed “Sasori” (“Scorpion”), played by Meiko Kaji, would continue to become something of a pop-culture phenomenon given her looks, her sense of style, but most importantly of all as an icon of womanhood within the genre. In “Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable” Ito and his main actress explored more facets of Nami’s world in which she again is the one being hunted, the person whose mere existence poses a threat and some kind of rebellion to the status quo. As the former entry had emphasized Nami’s status as a representative of women being exploited, abused and violated, in this third entry she becomes a much stronger presence,...

After “,The Tale of Zatoichi”, the first story of the now-legendary blind masseuse swordsman, and “Fight, Zatoichi, Fight”, one of the best entries in the whole series, director Kenji Misumi returned for the third time in as many years with another interesting entry, “Zatoichi and the Chess Expert”.

Zatoichi heads to Honshu Island by boat, on which he manages to win a lot of money gambling and also meets and befriends Tadasu Jumonji, an expert Shogi chess player and swordsman. Once he reaches Honshu Island though, a group of swordsmen, who Zatoichi won against in a game of dice on the boat journey, ambush him and a tussle ensues. Ichi ends up kicking a man who falls down a storey and lands near little Miki, severely injuring her foot. Feeling responsible for her pain, Ichi promises her aunt Otane to go to the nearby village and get Miki the medicine she needs,...