Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa (1974)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Yukio Noda

Writers:

Fumio Konami (writer)
Hirô Matsuda (writer)

Release Date:

21 May 1974 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Plot Keywords:

Gangster Boss | Chase | Corruption | Danger | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship

Cast

Miki Sugimoto	...	Rei, Zero woman
Eiji Go	...	Yoshihide
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Nagumo
Hideo Murota	...	Kusaka
Yôko Mihara	...	Sesum, the Madame
Ichirô Araki
Seiji Endô
Rokko Toura	...	Police

Also Known As:

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (International: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

88 min | Germany:82 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Toei Company

Soundtrack:

Claw Marks of a Woman (Onna no Tsume-ato)

Satisfying Japanese grindhouse cinema

Miki Sugimoto is Rei; undercover cop who dresses in a very cool red overcoat and delivers her own brand of vigilante justice that would be in good company with a certain Inspector Harry Callahan. She's sent after a bunch of crooks who have kidnapped a wealthy and up-and-coming politician's daughter and soon all hell breaks loose. While not as sleazy as something like Terrifying Girls Highschool or as exhilarating fun as Girl Boss Guerilla, fans of the genre will not be disappointed. It's (very) bloody, it has the requisite rape and nudity scenes that make any film of this sort work and just enough of a plot to keep you from glancing at your watch. It kind of drags in the middle but makes up for it with a blistering final act that involves among other things, blood gushing from gunshot wounds, a man burnt to a crisp and handcuff strangling.

One of the problems I had with it is that the first scene establishes Rei as this uber-cool badass cop chick with a style all her own; red handcuffs, gun and overcoat. A comic-book character that you can see kicking all sorts of butts. But then for the next hour she becomes this very passive character that gets tossed around and abused by a bunch of hoodlums. She's obviously trying to be as Meiko Kaji circa Lady Snowblood as possible (cold stare, silent, all that) but I like her better when she goes wild. All in all a decent pinku with a central character that could have been a lot better, but enough gore and sleaze to keep me happy. There's also a cameo by Tetsuro Tamba.