Sukeban gerira

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.

Good Japanese cult film with everything a cult movie needs: girls on motorcycles, cat fights with exposed breasts, nuns (also on motorcycles and with exposed breasts), groovy 70's music, and plenty of BDSM. The girls are really hot, especially the lead, Miki Sugimoto. My cult arch-nemesis, Reiko Ike, is also in it, but she's not too bad here. She doesn't get naked and her hairstyle hides her chubbiness. The film is exciting and fun, though it does lack drive. The plot takes a long time to emerge. My favorite part is when a folk singer puts his fingers to his guitar strings and it emits piano music. I'm still kind of glad that I haven't purchased the Pinky Violence set (I'm getting the discs through Netflix), but this film almost would have made it worth it.

Admittedly the Japanese exploitation cinema of 70's, and then particularly the so-called "Pinky Violence" movie trend, wasn't my personal biggest area of cinematic expertise but I've learned a lot in one week through watching a handful of classics. I even learned some Japanese, like I know that the term "Sukeban" means 'delinquent boss girl' and refers to a series of films revolving on untamed all-girl biker gangs and their fierce adventures. Less impressive than the contemporary WIP efforts (like the "Female Prisoner: Scorpion" series) and less virulent than the Yakuza flicks (like "Sex and Fury"), but definitely great entertainment and quintessential cult cinema!

"Girl Boss Guerrilla" introduces the bad-ass Red Helmet gang, led by the self-assured and insanely luscious Sachiko. The girls proudly expose their sexily tattooed left boobs and fill their days by making illegal money, like through blackmailing religious monks and stealing charity money meant for the victims of the Hiroshima bomb. See, it's little details like that what make films like "Girl Boss Guerrilla" so provocative, scandalous and shocking for the time & spirit in which they came out. The girls head from Tokyo to Kyoto, where Sachiko promptly takes over the leadership of a local girl biker gang. This is naturally settled through a cat-fight where shirts are torn to shreds and eyes are nearly scratched out. Halfway through the film, Sachiko falls in love with an amateur boxer and the gang runs continuously in conflict with the male Yakuza criminals until war and deadly vengeance become inevitable.

This is another terrific Pinky Violence "classic" that has it all. There's plenty of kinky sex and turbulent violence, but particularly the demented sub plots and bizarre flashes of (unintentional??) slapstick make "Girl Boss Guerrilla" such a fascinating and compelling experience. There's the priest with an STD, sentimental guitar singing by a long- haired Japanese hippie and the random kidnapping of a boxing instructor's daughter. Excellent acting performances from the stunning Miki Sugimoto, the even more stunning Reiko Ike – who strangely enough keeps her clothes on throughout the whole film – and a whole lot of other unscrupulous Japanese beauties.

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!

All out sexy, bloody, violent action plus girls on bikes fighting girls on bikes as well as sorting out the yakuza. This may not be the most subtle of movies, although there is a fair amount of character development, but what this excels at is in the thrill quotient. Almost non stop, just one little comedy/slapstick moment of dubious taste and then it's back on the road. Not always easy to follow who is the baddie and who the even badder but our girls do have those wonderful breast tattoos so you can't go too far wrong. Missing a big fight out at the end and instead we get an explosion preceded by some of the most brutal beating of bound women you are likely to see. Not family viewing then but certainly a wow for everyone else.