Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei (1976)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Yuuji Makiguchi

Writers:

Seikô Shimura (screenplay)
Ichirô Ôtsu (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 September 1976 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. 1. During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently...

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Extreme Violence | Extreme Sadism | Bloody Violence | Disturbing

Cast

Yûsuke Kazato		(as Yuusuke Kazato)
Rena Uchimura
Akira Shioji
Masataka Iwao
Ryuichi Nagashima		(as Ryuuji Nagashima)
Yusuke Tsukasa		(as Yuusuke Tsukasa)
Tetsuo Fujisawa
Yasumori Hikita
Mineko Maruhira
Miki Masuda
Kyônosuke Murai
Yoshiaki Yamashita
Satoru Nabe
Miho Manabe
Akemi Ogikubo

Also Known As:

Shogun's Sadism (International: English title)
The Joy of Torture 2: Oxen Split Torturing (International: English title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (2000)

Company:

Toei Company

Movie Connections:

Follows Tokugawa onna keibatsu-shi (1968)

Nasty, weird, yet watchable

I found this to be more entertaining than I expected, which is probably due to the unexpectedly high production values. Very strange that an extreme film like this should have a decent budget. I should add that the first sequence is superior, since it is far more dramatically effective. The second segment is almost played for laughs, at times, which would almost seem unbelievable if you were unfamiliar with the extreme end of Japanese cinema. There is no end of gurning and pratfalling from the main protagonist (and others) in the latter part, as well as a few relatively comedic incidents - one involving a pit of human waste. You would almost expect this to be intended as light relief, to send the punters home somewhat less disturbed after the unremittingly bleak first story, and that is how this tale begins. The main man is punished for being unable to pay for his night of debauchery by being lightly humiliated and forced to work in the brothel. The previously mentioned dog-licking is up next, lulling the unprepared viewer into a false sense of security, as an extremely horrible abortion follows, involving a double whammy of stamping and kicking to the gut, followed by the archetypal old-crone-abortionist going in up to the elbow. This latter is accompanied by what sounds like the electronic equivalent of a swanee whistle on the soundtrack, but I don't think the similarity was intentional. Later on, this prostitute dies slowly, as a result, in a brilliantly effective sequence. She really does look pale and deathly, and the barbaric treatment and it's outcome are portrayed unflinchingly. This early death denies our cruel buddies some torture fun. This is not the case at all in the first half. The baddie of the piece is a nasty magistrate, played with OTT eye-bulging lunacy that veers wonderfully close to the edge of over acting. He gets to do all sorts of unspeakable acts to a succession of hapless christians, and the effect is bleak and cruel throughout. It is also quite tragic; well acted; and well filmed. Kudos also, to the soundtrack composer - there is some decent stuff on here, from the moog-out over the opening credits, to some very nice, more traditional soundtrack material later on. Not as gory as I expected, this is still fairly gruesome. The curious shouldn't be put off by the idea that there is unrelenting blood and guts churning away: it's the nastiness and cruelty that make this film exceptional, not the red stuff.