Sukeban gerira

This movie begins with four young women who belong to a gang known as "the Red Helmets" riding motorcycles from Tokyo to Kyoto with the idea of making a few bucks by pulling a few con jobs here and there. However, once they finally get to Kyoto they encounter an assembly of the female gang members living there who tell them to get out of town. This prompts the leader of the Red Helmets, "Sachiko Kiyami" (Miki Sugimoto) to challenge the leader of the Kyogoku Group named "Rika" (Ryoko Ema) to a fight--with the winner taking over everything. Although Sachiko wins the fight, she soon finds out that being a girl boss in Kyoto is much more difficult than than anything she expected. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie was pretty much a standard "Pinku Eiga" film made during this particular time in Japan but with the added benefit of having several attractive actresses like Emi Jo (as "Yuki"), Miwako Onaya ("Tatsumi"), Kyoko Tsukasa ("Kazuko") and the aforementioned Miki Sugimoto thrown in for good measure. In any case, all things considered I found it to be somewhat entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I'm really torn between this movie and Criminal Woman: Killing Melody, both of which are in the Pinky Violence box set. They're both really good, with the stories being similar (gangster girls go for revenge against the Yakuza who did them wrong) and they both have Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike. But I think this movie gets an edge, 'cause in this one the girls are part of a BIKER GANG. And the all have TATTOOS OVER THEIR LEFT BOOBS. Which is so effing cool.

Here we get Miki as the leader of a biker gang from Shinjuku who go to Kyoto and end up taking over the girl gangs there (the scene where the girls face off and do their gangster "who I am" speeches is really cool). Reiko Ike is running around as the sister of one of the local Yakuza and won't align herself with Miki and her crew but serves as kind of a "big sister"/authority figure to the girl gangs of Kyoto.

Eventually Miki and the girls get on the bad side of the local Yakuza boss and the girls hit the road to meet up with Miki's boyfriend, a boxer in training down the coast. He gets himself murdered by the Yakuza as a result and it becomes time for Miki and her crew to make up with Reiko and get down with some revenge.

What I really dig about these movies (as opposed to the "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" movies my boyfriend is always bringing home) is that the female leads have some dimension to them that you wouldn't normally expect in an "exploitation" film. I didn't really like Miki's character at first (she was bratty) but I actually felt it when her boyfriend got killed. Up till then she seemed kind of a like a one dimensional power junkie bitch with cool sunglasses, but watching her meet and fall for Michitaro Mizushimi and her grieving at his death filled her out and made her feel like an actual woman. You know, complicated and conflicted.

In fact, as an exception to "action" movies the one-dimensional characters in this film are all men. They're simply greedy or sadistic or horny. Which I'm not saying is a good thing. It's just a nice change of pace.

And did I mention the tough-ass tattoos?

I'm a great fan of Pinky Violence flicks, and "Sukeban Gerira" aka. "Girl Boss Guerilla" of 1972 is another sleazy and great example for this awesome Japanese Exploitation subgenre coming from the great Toei Studios. The film, which revolves around an all-female biker gang, stars two of Japanese Expoitation's greatest and most ravishing sirens, Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike in the leading roles, and once again features a lot of stylish sleaze that no Exploitation lover should consider missing. The beautiful and tough Sachiko (Miki Sugimoto)is the leader of the Shinjuku-based 'Red Helmet' biker girl gang. The tough girls, who have trade-mark tattoos on their breasts come to Kyoto in order to take over other girl gangs. After a while they get in trouble with the local Yakuza... While this is not necessarily one of the greatest Pinky Violence flicks I've seen (the absolute greatest of all are the "Joshuu Sasori" aka "Female Prisoner Scorpion" films with Meiko Kaji, and there are a number of other truly brilliant entries to the subgenre), it is definitely a very stylish one. Miki Sugimoto is once again stunningly beautiful and extremely cool in the leading role of tough girl Sachiko. So is fellow Exploitation goddess Reiko Ike, who plays Nami, a former gang leader who refers to herself as a 'lone wolf' and is the sister of a local Yakuza. Director Norifumi Suzuki is one of the most prolific directors in the field, most memorably with films like "Sex And Fury" of "Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom" in his repertoire, and he once again did a great Job with this little gem. "Girl Boss Guerilla" is very comedic in the beginning, and it gets very sleazy later. It is not nearly as gory as some other Pinky Violence flicks (such as "Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs", for example), but it gets pretty sadistic occasionally (as usual for the genre, there's quite some torture and lots of sweet revenge). A sleazy and immensely entertaining film, "Girl Boss Guerilla" comes along with a funky score, and stars two ravishing stars of Japanese cult-cinema, Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike. Miki and Reiko alone would be reason enough to see this film twice, and "Girl Boss Guerilla" even has a lot more to offer. Highly recommended to all my fellow Exploitation fans!

Well, it might not always make sense and it certainly does have far too much going on - but Girl Boss Guerilla is yet another excellent and extremely entertaining dose of Pinky Violence that is sure to delight anyone in love with this bizarre genre. The chief thing that makes this films so enjoyable is simply the fact that the focus is always on entertainment and while this is sometimes at the expense of coherency, that's really not too important. As usual, the film is peppered with various plot and sub-plots - some connected and some not - and writing out a complete plot summary for this film would take some time! The basic plot, however, focuses on an all-girl group of bikers that move into a new town and take on the local bike gang, eventually muscling in on their rackets and pinching their money. It's not long before the girls' actions catch the attention of the local (male) Yakuza and they're none too happy about having the biker girls in town! A war between the two is broken out, eventually leading to a bloody showdown.

The film is extremely violent as you would expect, but director Norifumi Suzuki clearly has a sense of humour also and some of the scenes in the film are delightfully funny. This does provide some entertainment, although it also means that the film can be a little hard to take seriously - for example, the lackadaisical nature of the Japanese Yakuza shown in this film doesn't exactly correspond with their reputation or actions. The film utilises the talents of two of the genres finest actresses in Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike. The two provide amicable and believable leads and do actually manage to cut imposing figures. One of the things I liked most about this film is the trademark of the girl biker gang - a tattoo over the left breast, which is just the sort of thing I'd like to come into fashion these days! The violence is all very comic book styled and way over the top, which is sure to please; although it's not actually quite as graphic as some of the other Pinky flicks. Overall, this is a great example of the genre - its fun and entertaining all the way through and never gets boring for a second - which is exactly what is needed from a film like this. HIGHLY recommended!

The British may have their video nasties, but the Japanese "pink" is much more exciting.

Sachiko (Miki Sugimoto from the Red Handcuffs episode of Zero Woman) is the leader of a girl gang from Tokyo. We aren't 5 minutes into the film when she is unzipping her leather to show a flower tat covering her entire left breast to a group of harassing males, which the gang dispatches quickly. I thought that may be the leaders sign, but later in Kyoto all the gang is topless with the same tat which they are applying to a new member - a nun.

The nunsploitation angle continues as they take pictures of a nun getting a real religious lesson from a monk and use them for blackmail.

There is a lot of fighting in the flick - mostly girl on girl - and that leads to some ripped blouses, of course. There is also a whole lot of sex, as one of the gang members seems to want it frequently.

But, the thrust of the film is the girl's constant scrapes with a yakuza gang, and after losing a friend to a yakuza knife, she gets even more determined to do something, which ends up in a stunning scene of torture.

Sugimoto does a good job and has help from some other good actresses in this wildly entertaining sexploitation film that has elements of nunsploitation, torture, golden showers, and even a little incest.