XX: Beautiful Prey (1996) User Reviews

Curious insight into the darker Japanese sexual psyche; just not an overly deep one

[BrianThibodeau · 5/10 · 25 August 2004]

BEAUTIFUL PREY (1996) AKA: XX: Utsukushiki Emono. Butchy-pretty, sexually naive cop Noriko (Makiko Watanabe) falls under the spell of the rape victim Yu (Kei Marimura), a disaffected masochist who slowly knocks down her inhibitions while simultaneously turning her partner into a willing sadist.

Meanwhile, the original rapist is still on the loose, but does Yu really want him brought to justice or is she setting Noriko up as the next victim? Noirish pink movie from director Toshiharu Ikeda, he of the overrated EVIL DEAD TRAP, like so many others, offers a curious insight into the darker side of the Japanese sexual psyche, albeit not an overly deep one. The sex scenes are standard no-pubes nipple/navel/leg expeditions with crops and chains thrown in for good measure, but it all plays rather perfunctorily and, since it's a Japanese movie, you just know everybody's gonna turn out to be firing on deep-seated sexual repression. Decently made, one supposes, and hardly the nastiest such film to come from this arena of Japanese film-making, but probably worth seeing only if you haven't seen others like it, just so you can say you did. I give it a 5.

Lush and rather kinky

[dave13-1 · 6/10 · 15 April 2012]

Cult Japanese director Ikeda's take on the Basic Instinct premise: a cop investigating a seductive woman is drawn into a dark world of sexual role playing.

Most wannabe erotic thrillers fail to be much of either, but Ikeda manages through excellent use of his angular glass and steel sets to create a cinematic landscape of voyeurism and entrapment. Characters are either watching each other through glass like zoo animals or seeing themselves in mirrors wondering how others see them. Mirrors become symbolic of public opinion and especially censure, and the geometric boxes people live in become cages to entrap their individuality without protecting them from dangers without or within themselves. Very watchable.

The job of the sadist is to make the masochist happy.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 2 August 2008]

I will not pretend to understand the world of S&M. I did see a bit of it on a couple of CSI episodes, but this film was fascinating in showing people who get sexual pleasure from being tortured. I cannot imagine hot having hot wax poured upon is sexual pleasure, but apparently it is.

It is a crime drama with sex, much like Zero Woman. A naive young policewoman delves into this world to catch a rapist/murderer.

I must say there are certainly some great fringe benefits for Japanese police.

Sexually charged crime drama.

You Will Be Bored

[jimadam · 1/10 · 11 September 2009]

I don't think you could make this movie any worst if you tried. I figured a policewoman going undercover to bust a S & M pervert would have some interest for me. But nothing much happens, as she lets it happen to her without much resistance. Her vacant expression never changes throughout the movie. Is this acting? Please do something, say something, anything to give us a reason to keep watching. No action, no acting, no suspense, no movie.

I would like to do a better review, but it was difficult pay much attention, when nothing of interest was happening. The girls are lightly whipped but sport these big ugly scars, nothing much else happens. Not only was her back-up missing, but the budget was missing as well. Ultra cheap looking. Thankfully, very few people have seen this time waster and neither should you.

More a warning than a review

[gridoon2024 · 3/10 · 7 June 2008]

"Beautiful Prey" is the first DVD in a LONG time that I immediately threw away right after watching it, feeling that it did not need to (dis)grace my collection. Just to prevent the same thing from happening to any of you, I'll just mention that:

• There is almost no action in the entire movie

• It is slow, dry and cheap in the style of the "Zero Woman" series, but without its redeeming elements

• About an hour in, the heroine, a cop, goes alone, in the middle of the night, WITHOUT HER GUN, to catch a sadist that she suspects is responsible for at least 2 murders. She is captured more easily than a civilian would, and doesn't even try to kick her attacker in the balls or something. For the next 10 minutes, she is raped, abused, and tortured. If this sounds "cool" or "challenging" to you, you'll probably love this film. If it sounds sick or disgusting, you'll probably hate it.

To be fair, in its first half "Beautiful Prey" does raise some interesting points, especially about who is the controlling half in a sadomasochistic relationship. However, the moment it switches from the kinky to the sick, its fate (ie. the trash can) was sealed for me. (*)

Bizarre and Illogical

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 6 March 2016]

This movie begins with a beautiful woman named "Yu Makimura" (Kei Maramura) being brutally raped in her apartment while her husband is out of town on business. While being treated at the hospital the accompanying female police officer by the name of "Noriko Katase" (Makiko Watanabe) notices that Yu has a long welt across her breast which appears to be a couple of days old. Since it wasn't obtained during the rape it is then surmised by her boss "Inspector Tagami" (Ren Osuga) that Yu might have masochistic tendencies which might then shed some light on the perpetrator. However, the deeper Tagami and Noriko delve the more confusing and dangerous it gets for both of them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a film that may have had potential if it hadn't gotten so bizarre and illogical toward the end. Additionally, although there were several scenes of a sexual nature, most of them completely lacked eroticism which certainly didn't help either. Again, this movie could have been better but apparently the director (Toshiharu Ikeda) was more concerned with stretching certain boundaries than producing a worthy product. Because of that I have rated the movie accordingly. Slightly below average.

Decent New-Wave Pinku Film...

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 22 September 2006]

BEAUTIFUL PREY is another satisfying entry in the newer style of pinku cinema. None of these films seem to have quite the "atmosphere" of the 70s/80s era films, but they try hard to keep true to the general "feel" of their sleazy ancestors.

Toshiharu (EVIL DEAD TRAP, ANGEL GUTS: RED PORNO) Ikeda helms this crime story of a shady businessman's wife with a penchant for S&M. What initially appears to be a rape case turns into more for the male and female duo of cops involved in the case when it turns out that the "rapist" is actually the housewife's lover. Things get confused further still as both the male and female cops are entranced by the wife's sexual magnetism, and as the "rapist" taunts both the wife and the police...

A decent storyline is the highlight of BEAUTIFUL PREY. A few mediocre S&M style sex scenes may seem "strong" to some, but will be pretty casual to the average pinku fan. Again, these newer-age pinku films aren't typically as strong as their older counterparts - but they're still worth a look to the die-hard fan. If you dig this one, try XX: BEAUTIFUL BEAST as well - XX: BEAUTIFUL HUNTER ain't half-bad either...8/10

swirling and assured direction from Toshiharu Ikeda

[christopher-underwood · 9/10 · 22 January 2009]

Fantastic S&M orientated thriller with a marvellous central performance from the most sultry, Kei Marimura, apparently a real life jazz singer, who plays a masochist, rape victim, who seems not entirely sure whether she is or isn't. A victim that is, and things get more complicated when she begins killing people close to her to feel the sense of loss and young policewoman, Noriko, played by, Makiko Watanabe, is brought in to really complicate things. Superb cinematography throughout and lovely swirling and assured direction from Toshiharu Ikeda. Probably the best of the series, I have so far only seen this in Japanese without subtitles, so maybe another point when I've watched it with the benefit of titles. Not always the case of course. Some stylish, bravura film-making like this is better without less than perfect dialogue. We shall see.