Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974)

After a politician's daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang, a brutal policewoman is released from jail and sent after them.

Director:

Yukio Noda

Writers:

Fumio Kônami (screenplay), Hirô Matsuda (screenplay)

Stars:

Miki Sugimoto, Eiji Gô, Tetsurô Tanba

Cast

Credited cast:
Miki Sugimoto	...	Rei, Zero woman
Eiji Gô	...	Yoshihide Nakahara
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Zengo Nagumo
Hideo Murota	...	Masashi Kusaka
Yôko Mihara	...	Katsuko Yano, the Madame
Ichirô Araki	...	Saburô Seki
Seiji Endô	...	Tooru Inaba
Hiromi Kishi	...	Kyôko Nagumo - Zengo's Daughter
Rokkô Toura	...	Tani / Police
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Iwao Dan	...	Yamanaka
Kôji Fujiyama	...	Mishima
Emi Kakizawa	...	Emi
Genji Kawai	...	Katô
Toshie Kokabu	...	Female Prisoner
Akira Kuji	...	Inoue

Storyline

Agent Zero is a cop that uses her own methods for dealing with criminals. After she unlawfully kills a rapist in a violent fashion, she is sent to prison and stripped of her badge. But very soon after, a rich politician's daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang. Agent Zero is let out of prison with the mission of going undercover to find the politician's daughter and return her safely.

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Plot Keywords:

overhead camera shot | drive by shooting | politician | prison | policewoman | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

21 May 1974 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Body count: 19.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! Part 2 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Claw Marks of a Woman (Onna no Tsume-ato)
Music & Arranged by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Lyrics by Masao Ishizaka
Performed by Miki Sugimoto

User Reviews

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.