Pulp International

May 31 2023

Just because she's high class doesn't mean she can't get down.

This lovely poster was made for the roman porno movie Yamanote fujin: Seiai no hibi, known in English as Uptown Lady: Days of Eros, and the star is the incomparable Izumi Shima, centerpiece of at least three dozen films for Nikkatsu Studios in a mere four years from 1977 to 1981. Here she plays the young wife of an old, blind classical dance teacher, and becomes the focus of romantic feelings from her husband's son from an earlier marriage. The two are around the same age, which is probably one reason Shima begins to have feelings too, though it's oh so very wrong. Would it be incest to boink your son-in-law? We don't know the legal ramifications, but it would certainly be a case of bad judgment. This exact type of bad judgment is of course standard territory for Nikkatsu, but under the direction of Masaru Konuma Seiai no hibi is gentler and more poetic than the usual fare. After seeing Shima receive forced enemas in other roman pornos this was a nice change.

Shima eventually gives in to her son-in-law in a hot and sweaty/oily sequence. The encounter features a sixty-nine and some pretty concentrated nipple licking by Shima that sent a ripple through our innards. Some guys don't like their nipples licked, but we think they're crazy. In our view, the nipples are a required pitstop on any excursion along the body, whatever the ultimate destination. Shima and her son-in-law have a second encounter, also of the wet and shiny variety, this time in a red-lit room, and once more it's a well shot and stimulating scene. But it's here that we must issue our standard warning to novices that roman porno is not porno—the appellation stands for “romantic porno,” and the movies are softcore, with no genitalia displayed. In order to find them stimulating, you have to use your imagination. That might be a problem for anyone under age thirty.

Anyway, for Shima's husband to not know something's going on he'd have to be blind—doh! rimshot! Read the premise again. He's a blind dance teacher. You know that cliché about the blind compensating with their other senses to the extent that they don't miss their vision at all? This movie hews to that concept. However, Shima's hubby is circumspect in marriage, if domineering as a teacher, so he doesn't let on that he knows—at first. Since Shima is not just his wife but also his star student, she has her career as a future natori to consider, and he knows that. How it eventually concludes we'll leave for you to discover on your own. We can tell you that serious roman porno enthusiasts tend to find this movie too sedate, but the less bizarre approach worked great for us. Of course, anything with Shima works great for us. Yamanote fujin: Seiai no hibi premiered in Japan today in 1980.

Japan Nikkatsu Uptown Lady: Days of Eros Yamanote fujin: Seiai no hibi Izumi Shima Megumi Ogawa poster art cinema pinku roman porno sexploitation nudity movie review

Femmes Fatales

May 25 2023

All the rules are in her favor.

Kyôko Enami poses here in a promo image made for her crime thriller Onna koroshiya: Mesu inu, known in English as Hitwoman Bitch and The Art of Assassination. Enami was a go-to actress during the 1960s and made about eighty films over the course of that decade alone, eventually ending up with more than one-hundred and sixty film and television credits. With output like that we'll probably circle back to her at some point. This shot was made in 1969.

Japan Onna koroshiya: Mesu inu Hitwoman Bitch The Art of Assassination Kyôko Enami

Vintage Pulp

May 24 2023

She's someone you really don't want to cross.

Above: two excellent posters for Onna shikaku manji, aka Mankiller, aka Eternal Killer Woman, which premiered today in 1969 starring Junko Miyazuno. You notice the swastika-looking graphic and the simlar tattoo on Junko's thigh? It's actually a symbol that predates Adolf and the Hitlerians, as we explained a while back at this post. We've had these posters for several years but had no luck finding the movie, so we finally gave up and decided to just upload the art. We think it's worth sharing even without info about the film, and hopefully you think so too.

Japan Toei Company Onna shikaku manji Mankiller Eternal Killer Woman Junko Miyazono Masumi Tachibana pinku poster art cinema

Vintage Pulp

May 21 2023

What does an athlete do when she becomes the sport?

This poster was made for the Japanese movie Hishū monogatari, known in English as A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness, and strangely, though it gives absolutely no indication, it's a sports movie. Well, in the same way Jerry Maguire is a sports movie. It's a drama wrapped in sports. It deals with a golfer and model played by Yoko Shiraki who's picked by the editor of a sport/fashion magazine to be transformed into a star. She can golf fine. That's not a problem at all. She wins her first tournament—despite fainting twice—and is an overnight sensation. The problems come in the form of pressure, rivalries, crowds, modeling sessions (including in a bikini), television appearances (in a bikini), beauty treatments, elocution lessons, and more, all decided upon by roomfuls of men who see her merely as a profit center (in a bikini).

Some movies are simply ahead of their time. This one hits on an entire spectrum of current conversation, including how the expectations on female athletes are greater in various ways than in men's sports, especially the demand that they be beautiful and charming. But because this is a Japanese film, the plot soon shunts into the realm of the bizarre—a hit-and-run accident and blackmail. The shift in tone is not really a surprise, since the movie was adapted from a manga by Kajihara Kazuki. We liked the sports-focused first half better. Even so, Hishū monogatari is a decent effort, worth a watch, in our opinion. There's some confusion on Western sites about the premiere date, but the Japanese Movie Database has it opening today in 1977. It isn't the first golf-oriented Japanese movie we've run across. See here.

Japan Shochiku Company Hishū monogatari A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness Yoko Shiraki Kyōko Enami Yoshio Harada Seijun Suzuki poster art cinema movie review

Vintage Pulp

May 16 2023

Don't lose hope. If we survive this we'll probably both get a chance to act in better movies.

This poster was made for the horror movie The Terror, and we're showing you the Japanese promo art because—as is often the case—it's nicer than the U.S. promo. Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson star, actors passing in the night, Karloff aged seventy-six and on the downward slope of a legendary film career, Nicholson aged twenty-six on the upslope. The latter plays a French army lieutenant named Andre Duvalier who becomes stranded circa 1806 in ye olde creepy-ass castle on the hill, which is occupied by Karloff's rickety Baron Victor von Leppe. Jack sees a mysterious woman wandering around. Karloff explains that she's the ghost of his wife, the Baronness Ilsa von Leppe, who died twenty years ago. Nosy Nicholson doesn't believe that for a millisecond, but the Baron sticks to his story, even admitting he killed the Baronness with his bare hands for the crime of adultery. Nice confession, but the Baron is lying or being duped, as far as Nicholson is concerned. In either case, the question is why?

Director Roger Corman was working from an Edgar Allen Poe template here, and in fact he shot on castle sets originally used for The Raven, which had wrapped earlier in the year. It's always good to save a buck where you can, but any advantage was lost due to Corman working from an unfinished script, which led to reshoots by Francis Ford Coppola, Dennis Jakob, Monte Hellman, and Jack Hill. All that talent wasn't enough to put together a film befitting Nicholson and Karloff, but the two leads do their damndest, and the result, though not good, isn't an embarrassment. Afterward, Karloff continued coasting into the twilight, Nicholson and Coppola moved on to widespread acclaim, Hill helped launch the blaxploitation cycle and make a star of Pam Grier, and Hellman directed the cult masterpiece Two-Lane Blacktop. It's a miracle they all contributed something lasting to cinema, because you'd never suspect it watching The Terror. It premiered in the U.S. in 1963 and reached Japan today in 1964.

Japan The Terror The Raven Two-Lane Blacktop Roger Corman Roger Corman Francis Ford Coppola Dennis Jakob Monte Hellman Jack Hill Boris Karloff Jack Nicholson Sandra Knight Dick Miller poster art cinema horror movie review

Intl. Notebook

May 13 2023

There was only one, but you could own an assortment of reproductions.

We wanted to circle back to the legendary Raquel Welch, who died a couple of months ago. We've been collecting material on her for years, but Hollywood deaths are usually unexpected, which means whatever we collect isn't ready to share at a moment's notice. Above we have three items for you. These are pin-up posters from the U.S. and Japan. The first is a life-sized door panel poster for the big screen caper The Biggest Bundle of Them All, printed in 1969. The second is for the 1967 adventure Fathom, printed when it was released in Japan in 1971. And the third is for 1970's Myra Breckenridge, which was released in Japan the same year, resulting in a 1970 copyright on that poster. These are extremely rare items. And Raquel Welch was an extremely rare star.

Japan The Biggest Bundle of Them All Fathom Myra Breckenridge Raquel Welch

Femmes Fatales

Apr 28 2023

We deal in human slaughter. But when the killing business is slow we also hire out to open Champagne bottles at parties.

We ran across this menacing promo image online showing the titular quintet of delinquent girl bosses from Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess, originally titled Zubekô banchô: zange no neuchi mo nai, and which premiered in Japan today in 1971. Reiko Oshida is front and center, flanked by Yukie Kagawa, Mieko Tsudoi, Masumi Tachibana, and Yumiko Katayama. We've shared plenty of promo art from the film, and discussed what it's about. You can see all that by clicking its keywords below. And if you get the urge to be trendy and open a Champagne bottle with a sword, try to do better than these people.

Japan Toei Company Zubekô banchô: zange no neuchi mo nai Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess Reiko Oshida Yukie Kagawa Mieko Tsudoi Masumi Tachibana Yumiko Katayama pinku pinku violence

Intl. Notebook

Apr 24 2023

Good for one ride on Sharky's Machine.

Above is something a little different for you, a ticket made for the Japanese premiere of the 1981 neo-noir thriller Sharky's Machine, which starred Burt Reynolds, Rachel Ward, and uber-cool Bernie Casey. It's a special advance ticket that cost ¥1,500 on the day of the premiere—which was today in 1982, several months after its December U.S. premiere—but ¥1,200 if bought in advance. Those were pretty high prices—about $11.00 and $9.00, if our handy historical yen converter is correct. The movie played as half of an unlikely double bill with the Dudley Moore comedy Arthur. Interestingly, most sources say Sharky's Machine premiered in Japan on April 17, but at this cinema, at least, it showed up a week later. It's a pretty cool little memento.

Japan Sharky's Machine Burt Reynolds Rachel Ward Bernie Casey Dudley Moore cinema

Femmes Fatales

Mar 17 2023

Petroleum reserves discovered deep in the jungle.

No wonder the world can't get off petroleum. Photos of slippery actresses keep the addiction going. Above you see Maria Mari, who has starred in some of the most interestingly titled films you can imagine. Nympho Diver: G-String Festival may be her crowning achievement, but she also appeared in Lusty Transparent Man, Apartment Wife: Lust for Orgasm, and Do It Again: Like an Animal. All of those sound like much-watch flicks, and we did indeed watch and write about a couple, here and here. Mari appeared in five other films in a busy three-year career before moving onward to parts unknown. You can see another shot of her here, and more shiny actresses here, here, here, here, and here. Try not to become hopelessly depedent on oil.

Japan Nympho Diver: G-String Festival Shikijô ama: Fundoshi matsuri Lusty Transparent Man Tômei-ningen: okase!Widow's Boarding House: Scent of Orgasm Mibôjin geshuku: Hatsunaki Do It Again: Like an Animal Moa sekushi kemono no yoni mo ichido Maria Mari roman porno pinku nudity

Modern Pulp

Mar 14 2023

Classic horror feature still shocks and thrills.

It was inevitable that we'd get around to this movie. It was only a question of which poster we'd choose. Above you see a bizarre Japanese promo for Stuart Gordon's cult horror epic Re-Animator. In Japan it was titled Zombio – 死霊のしたたり, and the Japanese means “dripping of the dead,” which is pretty weird. But then so is the movie. It's an at times darkly comic splatterfest about a medical student obsessed with life after death, and it starts gory and quickly goes places you can't possibly expect. The source material is H.P. Lovecraft's tale, “Herbert West—Re-Animator,” first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1922.

The plot is only loosely based on what Lovecraft wrote. The movie follows a medical student played by Jeffrey Combs as he tries to defeat death by using a phosphorescent green re-animating agent of his own creation, and in so doing manages to drag promising fellow student Bruce Abbott and his girlfriend Barbara Crampton into a downward spiral of lies, illicit research, corpse abuse, and worse. It's even more catastrophic than it sounds. Meanwhile, a pompous and established physician-instructor played by David Gale becomes simultaneously jealous of Combs and lustful for Crampton, with results that are—in a word—totally insane. Well, two words.

We suspect that Re-Animator is one of those movies many have heard of, but not many have seen. There's more than just gore and that infamous sequence where Crampton is molested by a decapitated head. There are also cross-currents of blind ambition, skewed medical ethics, middle-aged lust for the young, and parental love, as well as overarching questions about human consciousness. It's a movie about obsession, but on multiple levels. Of course, it's also a movie done on the cheap, which leads to a few amusing efx, but overall it transcends its limitations, and for horror fans it's an absolute must. Re-Animator premiered in the U.S. in 1985 and crept into Japan today in 1987.

Japan Re-Animator Weird Tales H.P. Lovecraft Stuart Gordon Jeffrey Combs Bruce Abbott Barbara Crampton David Gale poster art cinema horror movie review