Joshuu 701-gô: Sasori (1972)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Shunya Ito

Writers:

Fumio Konami (writer)
Hirô Matsuda (writer)

Release Date:

25 August 1972 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Plot:

After being cruelly set up and deceived by Sugimi (Natsuyagi Isao), a conniving and crooked detective...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Prison | Mafia | Mob | Love

Cast

Meiko Kaji	...	Nami Matsushima (aka Matsu the Scorpion)
Rie Yokoyama	...	Katagiri
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Sugimi
Fumio Watanabe	...	Warden
Yayoi Watanabe	...	Yukiko Kida
Yôko Mihara	...	Red-Haired Bully
Akemi Negishi	...	Otsuka
Hideo Murota	...	Okizaki
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kôji Hio
Emi Jo		(as Emi Jô)
Chie Kobayashi

Also Known As:

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (Japan: English title)

Runtime:

87 min | France:83 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | UK:18 (2006)

Quotes:

Nami Matsushima: To be deceived is a woman's crime.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Women in Prison, Eastern style.

Not quite as hallucinogenic and surreal as Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41, (the sequel, which I mistakenly watched first), but still more art-house than your average 'Women In Prison' flick, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a cool exploitation classic that is a must for anyone who digs cult Japanese cinema, violence, and busty nekkid oriental chicks.

Meiko Kaji plays Nami Matsushima, a beautiful woman who is viciously gang-raped after her lover, Sugimi, a corrupt cop, convinces her to go undercover to help him bust a gang of drug dealers. When it becomes clear to Nami that she was merely a pawn in Sugumi's plan to help the Yakuza (by ridding them of their competition), she seeks revenge and unsuccessfully attacks her loathsome lover—an act that ends her up in prison, where she becomes the target of both a sadistic warden and a female prisoner turned assassin.

Just like any self-respecting Western W.I.P. flick, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion contains plenty of nudity, sadistic guards, equally sadistic inmates, and the obligatory lesbian sex scene (when Matsushima seduces a policewoman posing as a fellow prisoner). This being a Japanese movie from the 70s, however, the result is far more pleasing aesthetically, catering not only for drooling sleaze-hounds, but also for those with an eye for a well framed image. The film's cinematography is superb, with several moments being quite beautiful to behold—in particular, a post-riot sunset which turns the whole screen blood red (quite apt, seeing as the scene immediately prior to this features the film's bloodiest moment: a guard gets his head split open with a spade resulting in a geyser of blood spraying into the air).

Towards the end, when an escaped Matsushima eventually hunts down the men who raped her and once again tries to kill Sugimi, the film does tend to drag a little (I wanted revenge to come a little swifter than it actually did), but this is a minor quibble with what is a very well crafted piece of exploitation.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.