Jitsuroku onna kanbetsusho: sei-jigoku (1975)

Director:

Kôyû Ohara

Writers:

Kôyû Ohara
Akira Momoi

Release Date:

5 March 1975 (Japan)

Plot Keywords:

Women's Prison | W.i.p

Cast

Hitomi Kozue	...	Mayumi Hojo - Jealous killer
Meika Seri	...	Prison Queen-Bee
Maya Hiromi	...	Harumi Matsunaga - Underage Prostitute
Rie Ozawa	...	Kazue Ishii (as Rie Mizusawa)
Tatsuya Hamaguchi	...	Rie
Machiko Aoki
Akira Takahashi	...	Harumi's Lover
Kôji Yashiro	...	Mayumi's Lover
Chika Kano
Chieko Harada	...	Chieko
Ema Katori	...	Prison Councillor
Yoko Ohta	...	Yoko - Queen-Bee's Aid

Directed by
Kôyû Ohara

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Akira Momoi
Kôyû Ohara

Produced by
Haruo Gomi	....	producer
Yoshiyuki Kaino	....	planner

Original Music by
Downtown Boogie Woogie Band

Cinematography by
Yonezô Maeda

Film Editing by
Masanori Tsujii

Art Direction by
Yoshie Kikukawa

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shunkai Kashima	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Mamoru Tsuchita	....	gaffer

Other crew
Hitomi Kozue	....	vocals by

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu

Distributors

• Nikkatsu (1975) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Impulse Pictures (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Asian Cult Cinema (video)

Also Known As:

"Sex Hell" - USA (short title)
"True Story of Woman Condemned: Sex Hell" - International (English title) (informal English title)
"True Story of a Woman in Jail: Sex Hell" - USA (original subtitled version)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Japan:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Nikkatsu Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Nikkatsu

Movie Connections:

Followed by New True Story of Woman Condemned to Hell (1976)

Mediocre but pretty watchable WIP pinku effort

You know, there really ain't a whole hell of a lot to say about this one. The first review I wrote of it had a bunch of chatter about taste, standards and the value of cinema but it was pretty much all a pile of pseudo-philosophical BS. I dug Sex Hell: True Story of a Women's Jail, it isn't a terribly good film and I wouldn't even especially recommend it, but I liked it well enough. Its a pretty basic item from Koyu Ohara, a decent director capable of near greatness in films like Wet and Rope or Fairy In A Cage, I presume the remit was simply to rip off the Female Prisoner Scorpion series but do so with more sleaze and (a lot) less money. The lovely Hitomi Kozue is the nominal lead, her character imprisoned for a jealous murder. for a while it seems like she might be the stoic main figure in a Female Prisoner Scorpion style affair but it soon becomes clear that the film doesn't really care about characters or any plotting. There's some abuse and some notion of intrigue and general interaction but for the most part the film is a seamy mindless fug, pissing fun, a bonkers scene with a tampon and a good deal of surprisingly tender lesbianism as well as a bit of straight sex, and a funny pro-tip for clay dildo makers. Things do build up a bit toward the end with pregnant woman abuse and a bit of a turn around with cynical climax, but it all amounts to little unless you really have a boner for Japanese chicks behind bars. Fortunately I do, in fact my boner for Japanese chicks behind bars could cave your skull in, so I found this to be a real easy watch even though it never especially impressed me. Lack of impression is the big problem here, watching and knowing Ohara is capable of better, heck that many pink directors are capable of better, put me off somewhat from proceedings. Yet I can't say that I wasn't overall relatively satisfied by the experience, I guess ultimately I'm pretty easily impressed and I dig pretty much anything diverting and not irritating. Ultimately its one to watch if you really have to I guess, its pretty obscure and not especially worth hunting down but if you come across it and you need to see it, it probably won't leave you upset.