| Vintage Pulp | Jun 7 2018 |
Once upon a time in Japan there was a badass named Reiko.
Today we're showing something special—a bo-ekibari style poster for Reiko Ike's Yasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchi, also known as Female Yakuza Tale. The poster comes in beautiful blue and maroon tones, and the movie, a classic, comes in tones of blood. We wouldn't describe it as the number one pinku film of all time, but it's right up there. It opened in Japan today in 1973.
JapanFemale Yakuza TaleYasagure anego den: sôkatsu rinchiやさぐれ姐御伝 総括リンチReiko Ikeposter artcinemapinkupinky violence
| Modern Pulp | May 28 2018 |
In retrospect, I probably should have had a lawyer look over the paperwork before I signed it.
Roman porno movies tend to have very descriptive titles that leave little to the imagination. You see a poster above for one called in Japanese Dorei keiyakusho: muchi to highheels, which in English is known as Slave's Contract: Whip and High Heels. So what more do you really need to know? It stars Nami Matsukawa. It's a sequel to Dorei keiyakushu, which we talked about not long ago. It's a similar movie, with the exception that Matsukawa enters into her contract voluntarily. There's also some shoe fetish stuff, as indicated by the title. And of course there's the standard roman porno bondage and discipline. That's pretty much it. And it premiered in Japan today in 1982.
JapanDorei keiyakusho: muchi to highheels奴隷契約書 鞭とハイヒールSlave's Contract: Whip and High HeelsNami Matsukawa松川 ナミpinkuroman pornoposter artcinema
| Vintage Pulp | May 24 2018 |
Seems like she gets tougher to work for every year.
The internet is all about change. When we first wrote about Miki Sugimoto’s 1973 pinku flick Sukeban–Kankain Dasso, aka Girl Boss: Escape from Reform School, we shared a rare tateken sized promo poster and mentioned that it was the first of its kind to appear online, while the standard sized promo could be found anywhere. Six years later it's the tateken poster that's everywhere online, while good scans of the standard promo seem to have disappeared. So here's a good scan of the standard promo. Sukeban–Kankain Dasso premiered in Japan today in 1973.
JapanToie CompanySukeban–Kankain DassoGirl Boss: Escape from Reform SchoolMiki Sugimotopinky violencepinkuposter artcinema
| Vintage Pulp | May 21 2018 |
You have the right to remain dead.
We already showed you a rare hand-painted poster for the pinky violence actioner Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa, aka Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs. Today we're showing you the tateken poster, which is rare too, so much so that this may be the best scan you'll of it see online. The kind of washed out look is part of the design. If you haven't seen the movie, it's about a vigilante cop played by Miki Sugimoto who is released from prison by a government agency in order to take down the kidnappers of a powerful politician's daughter.
Like most pinku movies, there's some sexual violence, and many reviewers excoriate this admittedly overused plot device. We don't claim those reviewers are wrong, but it should be noted that rape in pinku is often symbolic, serving both to advance the immediate plot and implant a deeper message. In this case the main perpetrator in the sexual assault of a young Japanese woman is wearing U.S. Navy coveralls. The depth of negative feeling about the U.S. occupation of Japan is made clear. All that said, the constant use of sexual assault in Japanese film—if it was ever artistically justified at all—definitely jumped the shark with the arrival of Nikkatsu Studios' roman porno offerings. We've talked about that before.
One interesting part of assessing vintage art is that at the time it was created the artists often thought they were making a certain statement, but decades later their art is perceived as sending the exact opposite message. Such is the case with pinky violence movies, in which maverick male filmmakers—in this case Yukio Noda—showed Japanese women taking on and usually destroying an entrenched male power structure, but only after being driven to it through degradation and violence. Which in screen terms meant rape. Were there other ways to show women driven to the point where they would kill? No doubt, but in patriarchal 1970s Japan the shock of these films was not how women were driven to kill men, but that they did—and often got away with it.
Miki Sugimoto deals with with some very bad men in Zero Woman, but her focus never wavers. She's to rescue the kidnapped daughter and dispose of the abductors in such a way that no news coverage or police investigation points back toward the father. Wrapped in a crimson raincoat she dispatches villain after villain, but learns that not even the presumed good guys are redeemable—not the politician, not the cops, nobody. It's grim, cynical, nihilistic stuff—and a classic of the genre. Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa opened in Japan today in 1974.
JapanToie CompanyZeroka no onna: Akai wappaZero Woman: Red Handcuffs０課の女 赤い手錠Miki SugimotoYukio Nodapinky violencepinkusexploitationposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | May 18 2018 |
When she's bad, she's really bad.
Above is a poster in tateken size for Nikkatsu Studios' pre-roman porno action flick Furyô shôjô Mako, aka Bad Girl Mako, a film for which we showed you a standard sized promo a while back. We didn't really talk about the movie back then, but we've seen it. There's lots of fighting, lots of music, and lots of guys in suits getting roughed up. Junko Natsu plays Mako, a tough party girl who meets a boy named Hideo, lets him stick his honeydripper in her jar of manuka, and decides she's in love. It's amazing that she reaches this conclusion after one quick throw in the back seat of a convertible, but whatever. Unfortunately, before their relationship progresses much farther loverboy is killed and Mako, like any good pinku revenant, gets stabby on the bad guys. There's nothing unexpected here, but in the end you still have a reasonably entertaining entry in the girl gang genre, and the many club scenes and nice exterior cinematography add extra value. Furyô shôjô Mako premiered in Japan today in 1971.
| Intl. Notebook | May 2 2018 |
She's as cool as the other side of the pillow.
Last year we shared some promo photos from Mari Atsumi's pinku flick Denki kurage: kawaii akuma, aka Play It Cool, but we held this rarity back for a year because we wanted to give it solo billing. So here you go. The film premiered today in 1970, and the other promo photos are here.
JapanDaiei Film Co.Denki kurage: kawaii akumaPlay It CoolElectric Medusa: Lovely Wicked WomanMari Atsumipinku
| Femmes Fatales | May 1 2018 |
I really don't know if I can survive another day of this.
Summer is coming just in the nick of time for Reiko Ike, who tends to wilt during the cold Japanese winter months, as you see her doing in this photo. It comes from an issue of the Japanese magazine Weekly Playboy and was published in January 1978 as part of a pin-up calendar. Reiko got the month of May, which is the commencement of new hope, the efflorescence of the natural world, and a good time to shop for bathing suits. Unless you prefer to go au naturel. Either way summer is the most fantabulous time of the year.
| Vintage Pulp | Apr 26 2018 |
Mine grows faster than yours, but based on length I'd say we've been trapped down here at least three weeks.
We don't know who painted this promo poster but we think it's pretty nice. Looking around the internet we noticed that no good scans of it existed. Until now. Our pleasure. The poster was made for the roman porno flick Dan Oniroku ikenie shimai, aka Sisters To Be Sacrificed, which was based on a book by award winning erotic author Oniroku Dan and starred Minako Ogawa and Miyuki Matsumoto. The two play siblings who inherit their grandfather's inn but are held captive and tortured by the employees. Conveniently, the place has a torture pit underneath with—among other diabolical devices—a seesaw with dildos attached that... Well, just have a gander below. Dan Oniroku ikenie shimai premiered in Japan today in 1987.
JapanNikkatsuDan Oniroku ikenie shimaiSisters To Be SacrificedMinako OgawaMiyuki MatsumotoOniroku Danposter artcinemapinkuroman porno
| Vintage Pulp | Apr 14 2018 |
If you're lucky she'll let you kiss her there.
Above is a poster we first noticed some years back at the blog Sangre Yakuza for the Nikkatsu Studios roman porno flick Inranna kankei, aka Nasty Relationship, which starred pinku icon Hitomi Kozue, and— Wait, what is she holding? Inflatable plastic lips? A novelty sized cherry gummi? Whatever it is, it's supposed to look vaginal. Pinku movies in general are not subtle, and roman pornos are even less so. But this is not a flick we were able to track down, which is sad, because we'd like to know what's going on here. Not finding films has happened a lot this month but it's just one of those random dry spells that occur when you watch nothing but rare classics. The worm will turn, the yin shall yang, and the cloud shall burst. In the meantime we thought we'd share this promo anyway, weird lips and all, because Kozue is a Pulp Intl. favorite. Inranna kankei premiered in Japan today in 1976.
| Modern Pulp | Mar 12 2018 |
Getting into the place isn't the problem.
In Nikkatsu roman porno the question, as always, is exactly how the script will place the female lead under the control of men determined to use her. In Dan Oniroku kurokami nawa fujin, aka Black Hair Velvet Soul, it's alcoholism and debt. A gambling and philandering husband owes a pile to a slimy financier, so he puts up as collateral the restaurant he owns with his wife. Izumi Shima plays the wife. Because the place was founded by her father and succeeded because of his sweat and struggle, as she notes in a monologue, she sees no other choice but to agree to work off the debt in an S&M club run by the financier. She goes through the usual range of indignities, but in what has to be considered a bit of a twist, she at no point likes it, nor has some inner freak unleashed, nor somehow dies by ironic means. She does her bit, the restaurant is saved, and she leaves her shitty husband. Why watch the movie? Well, because Shima is a shimmering goddess and she's always worth watching. Sixty-six minutes including credits and you're done. Dan Oniroku kurokami nawa fujin premiered today in 1982.
JapanNikkatsuDan Oniroku kurokami nawa fujin団鬼六 黒髪縄夫人Black Hair Velvet SoulIzumi ShimaOniroku Danroman pornoposter artpinkucinemamovie review
