Woman In The Dunes (1964)

An amateur entomologist is on a 3 day break from his work as a high school teacher. He arrives on the coast looking for a unique sand beetle that lives amongst the dunes close to the sea. Falling asleep on a boat, he is woken up by a couple of men who tell him that he’s missed the last bus back to Tokyo but he can stay overnight in a shack owned by a young widow. Accepting the kind offer, the man climbs down to the shack by rope ladder into a huge sandpit. After having a meal by her, he finds out that each night she shovels sand which encroaches onto her shack and threatens to engulf it into some crates which are then hoisted up to sell to a construction company. Waking up the next morning, the man prepares to leave but as he ventures outside he finds the rope ladder is gone. He is trapped with no exit. He tries several times to climb up the sand dunes but he fails each time. He turns on the woman hoping she can provide some answers on how he can escape. How will the man manage to escape his imprisonment?

Having watched director Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Pitfall recently, I turned my attention to probably his most famous piece of work which has quite rightly been hailed a masterpiece by critics and Asian movie fans alike. It’s certainly a unique and surreal movie which you won’t forget in a hurry. It’s a fascinating study about human nature, survival and the primitive animal that’s lurking inside all of us. The viewer is witness to the transformation of the man over the course of the movie. At first all he wants to do is escape and he tries several times to do so but every chance ends in failure but as the story comes to it’s climax an opportunity arises for him to finally have freedom and he doesn’t take it even though by now he’s been a prisoner in the shack for several months. It’s like all the trappings of modern society has been stripped away from him and he’s enjoying the simple life in the shack, being confined and living on bare essentials. I found it a very hypnotic story and maybe that’s due to the fantastic cinematography on show which gives the movie at times a very dreamlike quality to it especially the scenes showing us the bleak shifting sand dunes. You’ll come to see the sand itself as a character in the movie – an unstoppable force which is alive and unpredictable. It’s also quite an erotic and sensual movie as the man develops a bond with the young widow and finally succumbs to her charms as they wash each other’s bodies of sand in a very intimate scene before having sex. I’ve read that some people have commented that you could call this movie something akin to an episode of The Twilight Zone and I guess I’d agree with them on that note. There’s an air of mystery to it all and it is quite an eerie and gripping story. The minimalistic soundtrack is so fantastic.

The movie relies on the superb performances of it’s two leading performers to carry the story on their shoulders. Kyoko Koshida is brilliant as the woman that’s resigned to her fate in the shack. It’s not like she’s down in the dumps about this at all as she comes across as a very calm person. It makes you think why doesn’t she want to escape especially since the sand has consumed her husband and daughter and by shovelling it into crates every night she might very well come across their bodies in the future. She obviously doesn’t want to change her life and is content where she is. This is in complete contrast to Eiji Okada’s magnificent portrayal of the man who thinks her attitude to the situation she finds herself in rather ridiculous and his reaction to all of this is to try and escape. But as the days turns to weeks for him in the sandpit he becomes accustomed to it eventually becoming just like the woman. The chemistry between the two characters is excellent.

Woman In The Dunes is a visual feast for the eyes with a story that you’ll be drawn into. It’s long running time demands viewers’ patience but stick with it. It really is well worth watching. Highly recommended.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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A Snake Of June (2002)

Rinko Tatsumi works as a telephone counselor for a Tokyo-area suicide hotline. Her husband is Shigehiko, an older, workaholic businessman, that has a obsessive compulsive order for cleanliness. Their marriage is a sexless relationship, that seems to be more cordial than intimate. Rinko soon receives a packaged in the mail that contains photographs of herself sitting by her window and masturbating in a semi open public view. Another package arrives with a cell phone. The photographer calls and identifies himself as one of Rinko’s past clients that is not interested in money. Instead, the caller wants Rinko to confront her unfulfillled desires and sexual fantasies. From there a relationship between the stalker, Rinko, and Shigehiko occurs in a tense game of hidden desires.

From the twisted mind of Shinya Tsukamoto comes this tale of a repressed woman’s sexual awakening. The first half of the movie is straight forward and easy to follow but in the second half when the story switches to focus on Rinko’s husband it goes a little bit weird with all kinds of strange and surreal sequences. It’s not something I enjoyed watching to be honest. Actually I thought I was beginning to understand this story in that I believed Tsukamoto was telling the viewer to live their life to the full and they should free themselves from their inhibitions. As the movie goes into full-on bizarre territory I gave up trying to make sense of what Tsukamoto’s intent was and just let everything fly over my head. I also began to lose interest in the movie. It’s one of those movies which you’ll either love or hate depending on whether you like some of Tsukamoto’s other movies. There’s no doubt of the man’s creative talent as a director but some of his work I’m not really keen on. Take for example Tetsuo which nearly everybody harps on about being brilliant but I can’t say I was a fan of that movie at all.

I do like how the movie has been shot in blue-tinted monochrome which gives it a unique look and it compliments the many scenes with rain in the background. Rain features a lot in this movie which fits in with the title of the movie as June is when the rainy season hits Japan. There’s a lack of warmth in the movie due to the way the director has chosen to film the story the way he has. I’m quite impressed with Tsukamoto’s visual style in the movie, it’s got his stamp all over it. It’s just a shame that the story about desire and voyeurism which I was beginning to really get into just turned into what I would call a mind-bender during the second half. Despite what you’ve read about the plot above it’s not as exploitative as you think it is.

The performances by the 3 lead characters especially by Asuka Kurosawa is fantastic. Kurosawa made a brave decision to take on such a daring role and she excels as Rinko oozing sexiness as she parades in a micro-skirt around the streets of Tokyo prompting looks by everybody that passes her. You can see how she has become so repressed as her much older husband Shigehiko prefers to spend his time scrubbing the bath rather than pleasing his wife sexually. Is it any wonder that Rinko resolves to buy herself a vibrator! A lot of male fans will like the scene when she decides to strip off naked outside in the pouring rain. Iguchi, the blackmailer who is dying from cancer that is telephoning Rinko to follow his instructions is played by none other than the director himself. We don’t know what his intentions are at first other than trying to make Rinko fulfil her innermost desires.

A Snake Of June will probably be enjoyed more by surreal art-house lovers and those that like to be intellectually challenged rather than casual Asian movie fans who will most likely be left baffled.

Sadako’s Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

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A Chinese Torture Chamber Story (1995)

When Little Cabbage and her father fall behind on their rent, the young landlord Yang, who immediately takes a shine to Little Cabbage, offers the father a monthly wage if he’ll allow her to live in his household and work off the money owed. He agrees and she quickly makes new friends in the household as well as an enemy. One night Little Cabbage happens upon the young master’s wife having an affair while he’s away on business. In order to silence the girl the mistress arranges a marriage between for her with a villager with an infamous reputation for having the biggest dick around!! After her new husband dies from an aphrodisiac overdose thanks to his penis exploding, she and Yang are put under arrest and accused of conspiring together to murder Little Cabbage’s husband! Both are tortured within inches of their lives and forced to confess but the truth has yet to be revealed!

This is one of the most famous Cat III horror/sex comedies to emerge from Hong Kong which was a big hit there when it was released in 1994. It’s a bizarre mix of sex, comedy, and OTT scenes which unless you’re in the right frame of mind to enjoy will most likely guarantee to offend a lot of people!! When I first heard about this movie I imagined it would be all about torture but how wrong I was going to be. As I’ve seen a lot of violent and odd movies I didn’t feel shocked at all by what I saw. The plot without spoiling too much involves 2 people who are the victims of being framed and ending up in court trying to protest their innocence with a lot of the story being told in flashback of how they came about to being imprisoned. The torture scenes make you wince but aren’t too graphic. Even the penis exploding scene isn’t that bad. The opening scenes does show a naked man tied up in prison having his penis cut off though it never shows the deed being done close-up. It’s the sex scenes though that stand out in the movie because some of them are incredibly funny. Take this scene for example which is basically a parody of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It starts out quite innocently as we witness a martial arts couple flying about and fighting amongst the treetops with swords. Then the woman challenges the man to see if he can satisfy her and if he can’t he will leave her. They proceed to have hyper gravity-defying sex in mid-air with the man using such moves as “Oral Attack”, “Invincible Wheel” and “Wonder Screw”. It is made all the more funnier with the addition of some video-game sound effects as he is banging her (sorry to be so coarse here!). It had me laughing a lot and it’s something that has to be seen to be believed. There’s also a parody from the Patrick Swayze movie ‘Ghost’ specifically the potters wheel scene which includes a Chinese instrument rendition of Unchained Melody. I won’t reveal what the woman does to the man and what eventually happens at the end of the scene but you’ll never be able to see that scene again in the original movie without laughing! The two scenes described above sums up how crazy this movie is. OK, so the humour is a little low brow but you’ll never be bored watching this movie. It is so entertaining, funny and whilst it is a Cat III movie it doesn’t contain the extreme nastiness associated with a lot of them. Be aware that there is a lot of female nudity in this movie which will no doubt please some male viewers!

The acting is surprisingly very good with several great performances from some of the cast. Yvonne Yung Hung is so beautiful and innocent as Little Cabbage and viewers will sympathise with her situation though I failed to have the same feelings for Lawrence Ng’s character who plays the young master Yang that falls for her. Although he is innocent in the murder of Little Cabbage’s husband, I disliked how he tried to rape Little Cabbage by becoming invisible thanks to piece of paper blessed by a holy man which he pins to his chest. Just because he likes Little Cabbage doesn’t give him the right to attack a woman in her home. It is only thanks to her husband that he fails to achieve what he wanted to do. The fact that Little Cabbage never finds out who attacked her because Yang escapes after knocking the husband out and she finally ends up with this despicable man at the end of the movie made me feel uneasy. I’m sure some viewers will find the rape scene perhaps humorous but I thought it was done in bad taste. Maybe that’s just my opinion mind you. The only other actor who I thought was fantastic was Elvis Tsui who provides the movie’s most memorable moment as one half of the martial arts superhero sex couple!

A Chinese Torture Chamber Story is one of the best Cat III movies I’ve seen as it pretty much doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s twisted, weird and is very much tongue-in-cheek which makes the raunchy stuff easier to watch. It certainly won’t be to everybody’s taste so those easily offended should stay away from this movie.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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Warm Water Under A Red Bridge (2001)

Yosuke Sasono is a man in his forties who loses his job when his company goes bankrupt. Unsuccessful in job interviews and with his wife and child having left him and constantly nagging for money on the phone, he travels to a small village near the sea in search of a gold Buddha statue that was stolen 40 years ago by a vagrant friend that has just died. His instructions say the statue is under a flower pot in a house next to a red bridge. When he finds the house, he meets the woman Saeko that lives there and follows her to a supermarket. There he spots her shoplifting and leaking fluids from her body. As the woman in question has dropped an earring in the supermarket, he goes back to her place where he discovers that the woman has an unusual secret that requires him to have sex with her! Beginning to fall for the woman, he decides to hang around the village and gets a job as a fisherman. Some of the villagers warn him that the woman will sap all of his vitality away if he continues to see her but will he take on board their advice or carry on with his strange relationship with her……

This was the last full movie from director Shohei Imamura before he passed away in 2006. Imamura has never been one to shy away from sex in his movies especially those in the lower rungs of society and he continues with that theme in this movie. Here he tackles the subject of loneliness and acceptance in an unusual way in that the character of Saeko’s body fills up with water and the only way of releasing it properly is by having sex. At the height of climax the water inside her gushes out like a water hydrant spraying all over the windows, ceiling and floor of her house! The amount of water released result in a steady stream flowing from her house into the nearby river hence the movie’s title. The water seems to do something to the fish in the river which jump about excitedly! The story might sound like it’s some kind of sex comedy but it’s not. Whilst it does have a couple of raunchy scenes of the couple having sex, they are rather tongue-in-cheek, filmed tastefully and they do make you laugh thanks to a background soundtrack that reminds me of a Carry On movie. These scenes are something which won’t be forgotten in a hurry!! The movie is like a kind of fairy tale and it has a gentle pace about it. It takes it’s time to get going but once you’re fully immersed in the plot you just get carried along with the flow of the movie. The explanation for Saeko’s condition is sort of explained halfway through the movie. The cinematography is excellent with breathtaking views of a mountain range and that of the sea from Saeko’s house. A very idyllic peaceful place to live with beautiful surroundings. Imamura populates the movie with quirky characters such as an African marathon runner training for a race with aspirations to become Prime Minister in his home country in the future, Saeko’s senile grandmother and a couple of old fishermen who are amazed by the large fish they manage to catch in the river after Saeko has released her water. Excellent acting from all the cast but especially from the two leads (Koji Yakusho and Misa Shimizu). The story starts to veer a little bit from the humourous side to the dramatic towards the end as tensions begin to appear between the couple as a face from Saeko’s past suddenly turns up and she seems to think that Sasano only wants to be with her to satisfy his kinkiness with her condition. Is that the case? Is Sasano only with Saeko for her odd ability or does he look past this strangeness and love her for the person that she really is? Imamura also casts his eye on the mid-life crisis faced by Sasano. Drained by what’s happened to him with losing his job, it’s like with his move from the big city and having to adapt to a new way of living in the seaside village, Sasano’s shackles have been casted off and he’s enjoying life with renewed vigour again.

Warm Water Under A Red Bridge is a fun, memorable and imaginative movie with a slightly surreal look on life and love. The quirky characters and the strange plot makes it instantly enjoyable and unique. I found it be quite a charming tale and well worth checking out. Recommended.

I can’t find a trailer for this movie I’m afraid.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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Empire Of Passion (1978)

Lowly rickshaw driver Gisaburo is away from his young wife Seki for many hours during the day whilst she stays at home looking after the home and his young children. A young soldier Toyoji starts to visit her home regularly and brings some treats to soften her up. Gisaburo suspects something is up between the two but on asking his wife she says he’s silly for thinking such things. But one day, Tojoyi brings more than treats to Seki and pounces on her sexually. Whilst struggling at first, she submits to his will and soon the two are lovers. Toyoji is eaten alive at the fact that he cannot be with Seki whilst Gisaburo is still alive so the two plan on murdering him. Seki plies him with saki to get him drunk one night and Toyoji comes into the house, grabs a strong rope and together with Seki they strangle poor Gisaburo before taking his body into the woods and throwing it down an abandoned well. Seki explains to her neighbours that her husband has gone to Tokyo to look for work. Three years pass and the neighbours are suspicious that Gisaburo has not returned to see his wife. His children are soon having bad dreams about their father being dead and his ghost starts to appear. The police are notified and start to investigate the reports of Gisaburo’s ghost. Will Tojoyi and Seki’s terrible secret reveal itself to the police or can they get away with it?

Director Nagisa Oshima is probably best known for his erotic movie ‘In The Realm Of The Senses’ which is famous for its unsimulated sex and a scene in which a man’s penis is cut off (in it’s uncensored form the movie is still banned in Japan). This movie which was the 2nd of a projected 3 picture deal Oshima had with French producer Anatole Dauman is a drama ghost story with the hardcore sex absent. Dauman was unhappy with the result of this movie, scrapped the agreement between the two and Oshima never had the chance to make the 3rd movie. Whilst there are some similarities between this movie and ‘In The Realm Of The Senses’ as both deal with lust and sex, the way the story is told is definitely different as it also contains a traditional Japanese ghost story. The spectre of Gisaburo constantly harasses his wife to the point that she starts to become petrified of staying in the house overnight to sleep. Even though I’ve mentioned there’s no hardcore sex in the movie, it does contain a couple of not so explicit scenes between the lovers. The movie is suitably creepy at times and as Gisaburo’s ghost appears more regularly the tension starts to build. There’s an air of dread in the air which preys on Seki’s mind constantly to the point of hysteria. Every time she’s at home she expects to see Gisaburo’s ghost though she gets no sympathy from her lover Toyoji as the ghost doesn’t appear before him at all. There’s quite a shocking scene right at the end involving the police which shows them brutally hanging Seki and Toyoji from a tree and smacking the two extremely hard with some canes to solicit a confession out of them for Gisaburo’s murder. Even if the two weren’t guilty of the crime, I’m sure anybody would confess to the police in order for them to stop the brutal punishment. Some viewers like myself that sees the deep dark well that plays a prominent role in the movie will immediately think of Ringu but there’s no Sadako-like demon crawling out of this well.

I liked what Oshima achieved with this riveting tale. It’s got a powerful story, capable acting by the cast, stunning cinematography and I just felt it was an improvement on it’s sister movie ‘In The Realm Of The Senses’.

Overall, Empire of Passion is a solid illicit love/vengeful ghost story. It’s true that it’s not quite as brilliant as Japanese powerhouse ghost stories like Kwaidan or Onibaba but it’s still worth checking out.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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Naked Killer (1992)

Tough no nonsense girl Kitty is on the police wanted list in HK after avenging the murderers of her father. Traumatised cop Tinam who has a problem with handling a gun (he spews his guts out every time) due to accidentally killing his brother is charged with his partner of trying to track Kitty down. Before she can get arrested by the cops, Kitty is recruited by mysterious assassin Sister Cindy who trains her up to becoming a professional killer and gives her a new identity.  They become a formidable duo in offing the bad guys. When Tinam’s investigation leads him into Sister Cindy’s house and he sees Kitty, they begin a relationship although Sister Cindy warns Kitty that falling in love with affect her as an assassin. Danger lurks though when Sister Cindy’s former student – the psychotic Princess sets her sights on taking Kitty as her lesbian lover. Princess has been leaving a trail of blood soaked male corpses in the city by mutilating their private parts. Sister Cindy is fatally poisoned by Princess and it’s up to Kitty and Tinam to settle the score with her in an explosive finale.

This is one of the most famous and notorious Cat III productions to come out of HK and is a huge cult favourite in the West. It’s not hard when you watch it to understand why it’s such a memorable and special movie in the eyes of many HK movie fans. It’s an erotic action packed movie with plenty of OTT violence, stunning and deadly femme fatales, girl-on-girl sex scenes and some sick humour as well. Some have said this is like La Femme Nikita mixed with Basic Instinct. It rifles along at a fast pace leaving you breathless by the time the end credits show up on the screen although I did find the movie ends rather abruptly. It’s a very entertaining and enjoyable movie with a great plot. This was the movie that propelled actress Chingmy Yau to becoming a big star in HK and it’s probably the only movie that director Wong Jing will be remembered for which isn’t a bad thing.  Some people may be offended by what they’ll see in this movie such as Kitty’s training in the basement of Sister Cindy’s house which involves her being locked in a room with a salivating rapist and having to kill him first before he can rape her. There’s also a sick gag involving the police searching for a man’s penis in his house after Princess has killed him and hacked it off and one of the stupid detectives accidentally eating the penis thinking it’s a sausage!! You do get a little bit of gore when Princess kills a man by smashing two barbells on the side of his face resulting in blood being sprayed on the camera.  I suppose some shots of testicular stabbings will have some men wincing! No wonder this movie was cut in the UK for many years but thankfully the version I saw was uncut.

Brilliant acting from the cast with Chingmy Yau at her sexy best as Kitty with Carrie Ng so cool and vicious as her rival Princess. Even though she has a minor role I also liked Japanese actress Madoka Sugawara as Princess’ lesbian lover Baby who gets jealous when Princess turns her amorous attention on Kitty. Kelly Yao is fantastic as Kitty’s mentor Sister Cindy plus there’s the presence of the delightful Simon Yam. The four woman are drop dead gorgeous and that’s what I imagine is part of the appeal of why hot blooded men love the movie so much……..although the insane well-constructed kickass action sequences, dark comedy and hot steamy sex scenes certainly add to the charm of this movie too! It was interesting to note that Anita Mui and Michelle Yeoh turned down the part of Kitty due to the nudity.

Overall, Naked Killer is a fun filled and stylish wild action rollercoaster ride from start to finish with a bevy of beautiful strong women that light up the screen. Highly recommended.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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Grass Labyrinth (1983)

Akira is a teenager who is haunted by a “bouncing ball” song his mother used to sing to him when he was a child. He is desperate to find the origins of the song and in his ‘journey’ he comes across a nymphomaniac who’s lost in her mansion and other odd characters.

This surreal 40 minute avant-garde erotic experimental feature by director Shuji Terayama is a strange but interesting movie about a young man’s dream that turns into a nightmare. The story defies logic but from what I can gather Akira is just about starting to get sexually active in his life and he’s constantly smothered by his mother who doesn’t want to see her son growing up, he is then seduced/raped by a female neighbour seemingly lost in her own house and his mother gets angry at this. She ties him up to a tree and paints kanji characters on his body and clothes so that the woman can’t use her ‘devil’ powers to tempt him. In addition there’s something about a bouncing ball which gets bigger as the story progresses and a fertility stone which makes a woman pregnant if she touches it. As if the tale wasn’t bizarre than it already was, there’s a group of odd people (some of which have been painted all over in white) which start to jeer Akira and chase him around. Perhaps the nightmarish vision that Akira is experiencing is some sort of sign of him wanting to break free from his overbearing mother and it has manifested itself in his dreams? That’s only my interpretation and somebody else could say something completely different. Even though nothing makes any kind of sense, I did like the way the movie has been shot as it’s very colourful with great cinematography. There’s some tasteful nudity on show as well. Terayama had a habit of making movies that only certain people seem to understand. I wasn’t too keen on Throw Away Your Books, Rally In The Streets but thankfully this was better.

Too weird for mainstream viewers, this will only appeal to those that like a taste for bizarre movies.

I can’t find a trailer.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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Sex And Zen (1991)

A cheeky young scholar who brushes off a buddhist monk’s advice that nothing good comes from carnal pleasures gets married to a busty young woman. After introducing her to the joys of sex, he decides that he wants to have fun with other people’s wives. Unfortunately the young man isn’t blessed with a large penis and his staying power in the sack is less than satisfactory to the women he’s with. After making friends with a thief who insults his small pecker, he decides on an operation to replace his own knob with one from a horse!! He finds a mystical doctor who agrees to his request. The operation is a success and the young man continues his journey to satisfy his sexual appetite leaving his poor young wife at home who’s pining for him. One husband takes revenge on him by ravishing his wife and selling her to a brothel. When the young man comes to the brothel a tragic event happens.

This extraordinary CAT III sex comedy with it’s OTT lovemaking scenes has to be seen to be believed. Before you think that this movie is one of those low budget smutty productions, you couldn’t be further from the truth. The director Michael Mak was given a sizeable budget to produce a high quality movie. The cinematography which uses bright vivid colours for the sets and costumes to great effect is very good. Over the years this movie has attained a cult following and it’s easy to see how. What viewers will naturally remember the most is the raunchy and wild sex scenes. They aren’t extremely explicit and due to the ridiculous nature in some of the scenes it’s very hard to be offended by it all due to the humour involved. The sex is done mostly for laughs. An example of one funny scene is after the young man gets his penis cut off by a mini guillotine during his operation. The doctor’s dog steals the penis and starts eating it!! Other sexual stuff including lesbians, S&M, underwater sex and bondage all make an appearance and you’ll certainly look differently at a flute and a paint brush afterwards!

The women we see in this movie are absolutely gorgeous with Amy Yip standing head and shoulders above the rest of the females at her beautiful best. Isabella Chow and Carrie Ng also sizzle up the screen. All 3 women are very attractive and have natural stunning bodies for all hot blooded male viewers to look at with glee!

Overall, Sex and Zen is an outrageous erotic comedy which I found very amusing. A unique experience for Asian movie fans looking for something different. A couple of sequels did come out to capitalise on the notoriety of the original and a remade 3D updated version of the story complete with a new cast came out last year.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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Yuriko’s Aroma (2010)

30 year old Yuriko works as an aromatherapist at a salon where she uses oils and her hands to soothe her client’s aches, pains and worries. One day the nephew of the salon owner where Yuriko is working comes by. 17 year old high school pupil Tetsuya is stinking of sweat having been practicing kendo as an after school activity. Yuriko finds herself turned on by his smell and even steals Tetsuya’s kendo glove so that she can smell it at home!! One day she follows Tetsuya from school to a secluded run down shack where he sleeps after his kendo practice. She cannot help herself but start sniffing his sweaty head and even licking it! Tetsuya wakes up and cannot believe what’s going on but decides that he wants more out of it so they come to an arrangement. She can smell and lick his sweat if he can get his own pleasure out of it (I’ll say no more about it!!). And so their rather odd relationship begins. As time goes on, Tetsuya wants more out of their relationship but Yuriko doesn’t. He storms off in a huff. Another person to add to this already bizarre relationship is Ayama, a client of Yuriko who wants to practice aromatherapy skills on her but in reality is more interested in pressing her large breasts against Yuriko! What will become of Yuriko and Tetsuya’s relationship?

In case you’re thinking this is a somewhat kinky and perverted movie you’d be wrong as it isn’t at all. A little bit strange perhaps and slightly erotic. It just tells the story of an unusual relationship between 2 lonely people. An original and unconventional movie that is done extremely well by director Yoshida Kota. One has to congratulate him for taking on such a subject matter that the majority of directors wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. It’s a great movie that explores people’s personal desires which might be different to what we perceive as normal. An exploration of something that most would consider it taboo. However the relationship between Yuriko and Tetsuya is done in such a mature way that no sexual material (apart from one scene that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the movie) is needed to be shown onscreen. It could have been easy for the director to have gone down the soft porn route but he didn’t. As for the 2 leading characters – Noriko Eguchi is really good as Yuriko. Kudos to her for not being afraid of taking on such a difficult and challenging role whilst Shota Sometani as Tetsuya whose performance also shines gives us a display of teenage awkwardness and uncertainty that many men might remember their own experiences with nostalgia!

Yuriko’s Aroma might not be for everyone’s tastes but at least it gives us something that we haven’t seen before. Another reason why I love Japanese movies so much. Recommended.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

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Robotrix (1991)

In the near future, teams from several international countries are competing to create the perfect humanoid android which is being overseen by a wealthy Middle Eastern Sheik and his playboy son as they will invest in the successful venture. When one of the androids goes amok, a robot codenamed Eve R27 built by a female Japanese scientist Dr Sara manages to subdue it. This is only the beginning of a nightmare for the HK police as the Sheik’s son is kidnapped by a mad Japanese scientist Ryuichi Sakamoto. In the ensuing getaway, a female police officer Selina is fatally wounded and in a message sent to the cops, Sakamoto is holding the Prince to ransom until the Sheik bankrolls his quest to build a robot army. He kills himself and transfers his entire memories into the body of a male robot who starts to go on a murdering frenzy by killing some prostitutes during some heavy sex. The policewoman killed on duty has her thoughts transferred to an android body though her colleagues don’t know that, not even her boyfriend at first. The cops turn to Dr Sara and her sexy assistant Anna in trying to capture Sakamoto. They do this by opening a brothel in the hope that it will lure him in. Anna who has no previous memory wants to experience sex so she volunteers as a prostitute. However, the entire male population of the area upon hearing how fantastic she is in screwing line up to have a go!!! As Sakamoto starts torturing the Sheik’s son by using a power drill into his leg, the situation becomes desperate. The cops manage to trap and stop Sakamoto but instead of dismantling him, Dr Sara wants to conduct some tests on his head and the cops wants to know where he is keeping the Sheik son

This has to be one of the most ridiculous but hugely entertaining Cat III movies I’ve ever seen with obvious influences from Robocop and The Terminator. There’s enough sex, violence, robot-rape and low brow comedy relief courtesy of the lecherous and perverted cops to keep the avid sleazehound more than happy. This movie is extremely difficult to categorize, mainly due to some parts of it being different. In some parts, action is fast and flowing, with guns blazing and nasty horror such as decapitation (death by wicker briefcase!) being the order of the day. At other times, there are longish sex scenes, and at other times, there are more science fiction elements. However, it all combines well into one complete movie. And having three very nice women as eye candy helps a lot too. The most famous of the three is of course Amy Yip who was a huge sex symbol during the late 80’s and early 90’s in Hong Kong thanks to her ahem! prized assets! She was affectionally known as the ‘Yip Tease’ due to the fact she never went totally naked onscreen – there was something be it an arm or a leg to protect her modesty. There’s a rather unbelievable side-plot about a police informer that unfortunately gets killed by Sakamoto but hang on now as Dr Sara can see the final image he saw through his eyes by cutting them out and putting them through a computer. Well it is the near future after all!!! The plot is all over the place and really doesn’t make a whole lotta sense when you sit and think about it – but who cares!! We have super-hot cyborg women, a rape and violence obsessed nemesis, and enough cheezy/sleazy situations to keep this movie fun all the way through.

I loved Robotrix and it is definitely recommended for all Cat III fans. You’re guaranteed to have a good time watching it.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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Chanbara Striptease (2010)

A young woman called Lilli, who on her 20th birthday is informed by her grandmother that she is to inherit her family’s mystical martial arts technique. During the ceremony, she is unexpectedly sent back in time to 18th Century Japan, where she stumbles upon a small village being menaced by an evil geisha and her unpleasant henchmen. Falling in with one of the local lads, Lilli takes it upon herself to protect the villagers, armed only with her sword and the discovery that by baring her breasts her fighting skills are considerably enhanced!

This movie is basically only an excuse for the main female lead who’s an AV idol to get her breasts out as it somehow manages to power up her energy when she’s fighting with a sword. Atrocious acting, crappy fight choreography coupled with a shitty plot. You’ll be doing yourself a favour by avoiding this dirge.

Sadako’s Rating: 1 star out of 5

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Raw Summer (2006)

After becoming obsessed with a 15-year-old schoolgirl, a perpetual loner named Masuo Ota finds himself aroused by the slightest provocation. Unable to control his swelling passion, he devotes his life to following her – everywhere she goes. Will the object of his affection ever return his feelings, or is Masuo destined to be consumed by his twisted desires?

Disturbing tale of a perverted man that’s obsessed with a schoolgirl he sees on a train each day. His antics reeks of desperation – he follows her around like a stalker and takes photos of her that plaster his room. Seriously this guy is sick! AV actress Aoi Sora as the schoolgirl might be pure eye candy but this movie is lame and the ending is stupid.

Sadako’s Rating: 2 out of 5

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Moonlight Whispers (1999)

Takayu and Satsuki are teenagers going to the same school and have been friendly since they both become members of the kendo club. Takayu has been hiding a deep crush for Satsuki, and when she reveals that she has always liked him, the two begin dating. Although it seemed to be what he always wished for, after the two lose their virginity with each other, Takayu finds he is not interested in her in a normal sexual fashion. Takayu is more comfortable with being subservient. When Satsuki discovers his drawer full of pictures of her, articles of her clothing, and an audio tape of her going to the bathroom, she is initially sickened and shocked. She begins dating a classmate, Uematsu, but Takayu continues to follow her and insist that he wants to be her obedient dog. Satsuki finds that she gets pleasure out of being cruel to him, and soon the two begin an odd relationship, struggling with their strange desires.

A romance movie with a difference as two teenagers embark on a sado masochistic relationship. This is quite interesting in that it delves into the premise that not all relationships are normal. Perverse and twisted it may be but don’t let that put you off from watching. Give it a go.

Can’t find a proper trailer but did find this clip from the movie.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 out of 5

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Sundome (2007)

A strange little comedy movie. Hideo is a typical horny high school boy. When a new sexy girl arrives in his class she sexually teases him and promises all sorts of things if he can control his masturbating urges! As if that wasn’t enough, another female classmate Kyoko has her eye on him too. I can’t say that this is a good movie at all but there’s plenty of fan-service on offer if you like that sort of thing. The two lead female actresses are hot eye-candy!

Sadako’s Rating: 2 out of 5

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