Joshû sasori: 701-gô urami-bushi (1973)

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Siskoid
Despite having the same screenwriters as the rest, the fourth Female Prisoner #701 movie does not survive losing Shunya Ito's direction. Yasuharu Hasebe includes a couple of artistic flourishes at the beginning and end, but given how the body of the film is energetic but not at all stylish, they seem like winks more than effort. The Scorpion has always done bad things to bad people, but here, does bad things to good ones who don't deserve it. The plot is as confused as her motivation, with a second act heist that's pulled for little reason, and a scheme by the main villain that's rather absurd AND includes the ugliest rape in the series - and that's saying something - all the worse for being needless and unbelievable. For this world to work, I think it really does need to be stylized, and part of the stylization is an extremity of cruelty and violence. But it has to be maintained. Here, we get the first man who isn't a sadist or rapist (because he's been castrated) and thus a good person, as well as an empathetic warden. These ground the film in a morality more realistic, but it just makes the extreme moments less palatable, even objectionable. You're better off stopping at the third film which, while open-ended, has a satisfactory and true ending. This story is just tacked-on in an effort to keep the franchise going, and is surplus to requirements. 3 years 4 months ago
snag
aka Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song 9 years 12 months ago