May 28, 2006

Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion: Beast Stable Review

(Posted In Asia Cult DVD News Film News )

beaststable.jpgHere’s all you really need to know about this film. Have you ever seen the still shot of a beautiful Japanese woman running through a subway station handcuffed to a severed arm? This is that film. The third entry in the Female Prisoner 701 series Beast Stable is an enormously inconsistent film but the high points legitimately stand as some of the most compelling moments in the history of Japanese exploitation film.

Meiko Kaji, star of the Lady Snowblood films, stars here as Nami, a woman on the run after escaping from prison. Following the brilliant, arm severing opening sequence Nami is befriended by Yuki, a young prostitute involved in an incestuous relationship with her mentally crippled older brother. Though Nami simply wishes to live a quiet, normal life as a seamstress she is eventually framed for the murder of a pimp, then tortured and caged by the rest of his gang. When a fatal mistake allows her escape the film becomes a cat and mouse game with Nami mercilessly killing off the prostitution ring while evading capture by her obsessed – and now one armed – pursuer.

Original series director Shunya Ito takes the helm here for a third and final time – the fourth installment featured a new hand at the helm – and he builds the film around a surreal, minimalist style. His dialogue is sparse at best, the story told as visually as possible, often moving from one key image directly to the next with no progression in between. Ito’s approach to narrative is unique but the results are inconsistent. In the early going – arm severing aside – with Nami trying to live a bland and unnoticeable life and Kaji playing her as an emotionless cipher the approach simply does not work, the film playing cold and lifeless. Also plaguing the early going is the emphasis on Yuki’s relationship with her brother, a relationship that makes no sense on any level and seems to have been inserted purely as an excuse to expose Yuki’s breasts with, apparently, nobody having the heart to inform Ito that incest breasts are creepy at best and not particularly effective when it comes to titilating an audience. But at the half way mark things change, and how. Once Nami escapes the gang and the blood letting begins the pace and energy pick up dramatically and the visuals simply crackle. And I’m not just talking about the violence here, Ito includes several scenes – the strobe edited hostess bar and the cascade of lit matches falling into the sewer prime among them – that are elevated far above any reasonable expectations thanks to some stunning cinematography and editing.

The Media Blasters DVD release is sparse on extras – just some trailers – but it gets it right where it counts, with an excellent anamorphic transfer in the proper cinemascope ratio and clear, easy to read English subtitles. While the inconsistencies keep Beast Stable from reaching the classic status the high points suggest it should merit it is nevertheless a solid entry in Japan’s lengthy canon of exploitation films and Media Blasters have done it right. Well worth a look.

» Posted by Todd at May 28, 2006 12:42 PM
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Reader Comments

the strobing editing (the nightclub, for example)_and the echoing sounds (nami hiding in the sewers, the dropping matches) are amongst the most beautiful things ive ever seen put together in any film - all the more powerful for how cold and apparently simple the film seems to be, because it is so stripped and has a weird atmosphere to it... didnt have to read my comments after watching this film that i posted in the forum to see these moments really stand out in this film - you would be daft to miss them. unfortunately 'grudge song', although very much like a stage show in many aspects at several key moments in the film (which i really like in films), isn't nearly as good as this entry - still, its a very worthwhile view too, you now have access to all four sasori films (well, the original ones) and the MB discs of these final two are absolutely spot-on. highly recommended for fans of exploitation, experimental, moody and odd movies...

» Posted by logboy at May 28, 2006 01:59 PM

Meiko Kaji is God. I'm so happy I was able to get rid of my bootleg copies of these films. Thanks, Media Blasters!

» Posted by Adgy at May 28, 2006 02:06 PM

Anyone knows if Media Blasters are going to release the other two as well...?

» Posted by Dan at May 28, 2006 03:55 PM

Does anyone know if Image-entertainment still owns the rights to Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 ? This dvd is hard to find these days, I hope MediaBlasters will (re)release this one as well.

» Posted by Tommie at May 29, 2006 10:39 AM

I've read that the fifth and sixth entries are not very good, but I'm curious to how Yumi Takigawa (of School of the Holy Beast) played this role (not that she could possibly replace Meiko Kaji).

The Image release of Jailhouse 41 is out of print (along with a few of their other Japanese exploitation films, like Wakamatsu's Ecstacy of the Angels) so I'm not sure if that company still has the license. I'd love to see a remastered version released in region 1, possibly using the same transfer as the region 2 Toei DVD. The Image disc actually isn't too bad, but it does have embedded subtitles and the print has a lot of scratches and other blemishes.

Kudos to Media Blasters for releasing Beast Stable and Grudge Song, and allowing me to throw out my bootlegs. Beast Stable is my personal favorite out of the four Meiko Kaji Sasori films.

» Posted by ZenAmako at May 29, 2006 12:16 PM

media blasters released one of the other two : 'female prisoner 701 : scorpion' in 2004...

» Posted by logboy at May 29, 2006 12:54 PM

There were two more movies made without Meiko Kaji (for a total of six Female Convict Scorpion movies in the '70s). To date, four of the six have been released on DVD.

Female Convict #701: Scorpion (1972) - Media Blasters
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) - Image Entertainment
Female Convict Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973) - Media Blasters
Female Convict Scorpion: Grudge Song (1973) - Media Blasters
New Female Convict Scorpion: #701 (1976) - unreleased
New Female Convict Scorpion Special: Block X (1977) - unreleased

» Posted by ZenAmako at May 29, 2006 03:36 PM

Both Scorpion and Jailhouse 41 are being released in the UK (scorpion might already be out). I believe they're both uncut.

» Posted by londonbob at December 1, 2006 04:36 PM

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