Female Convict Scorpion — Jailhouse 41
aka Joshuu Sasori — Dai 41 Zakkyobo
1972
Meiko Kaji — Matsu/Scorpion/Sasori
Fumio Watanabe — Warden Goda
Kayoko Shiraishi — Oba
Yukie Kagawa — Haru
Directed by Shunya Ito
Victor Jory as Kip Reissner |
Marie Windsor as Helen Salinger |
Sonny Tufts as Laird Grainger |
Carol Brewster as Alpha |
From the 1950s comes this harrowing vision of the future. Well, maybe not harrowing. More like terribly inaccurate, misogynist, and low budget.
From the opening with standard 50’s Narrator/Philosopher droning on about man reaching the stars: “Why must we wait…why not now?” we are in for a rocket ride of sci-fi “fun” (shame). The intrepid crew of Moon Rocket 4 wake up on their hammocks as the first people in space. They are all white, but there is an actual woman on board!
Captain Laird Grainger — Jerk. |
Kip Reissner — Co-Pilot. In love with… |
Helen Salinger — Navigator, and an actual woman, loves Kip but is with Laird. |
Walt Walters — Engineer, mustachioed and wants to make a buck on everything, especially moon souvenirs |
Doug Smith — Radio Operator, young. |
Starring |
Olinka Berova as Carol/Ayesha |
Edward Judd as Dr. Philip Smith |
John Richardson as King Killikrates |
Noel Willman as Za-Tor (yes, Za-Tor!) |
Directed by Cliff Owen |
Barbarian fantasy movie fever was sweeping the country. Okay, maybe not, but enough of a fan bases existed that someone green lighted this. Meant as a sequel to the Ursula Andress movie She, this film instead bores you for 100 minutes then fills you with a sense of regret for how some of your fleeting life frittered away stolen by a cinematic waste of celluloid. Opens with Our Heroine, She, aka Carol, and eventually aka Ayesha, wandering around a deserted highway somewhere that looks like Greece or Turkey. After a few second of weirdly eerie noises, the “Ballad of She” starts harping out it’s tune of yeech. Finally the credits end and Carol gets picked up by a dirty looking Truck Driver, who decides that it’s rapin’ time! and tries to do the deed with Our Heroine, who runs, and eventually the dirty guy gets ran over by his own truck. A very upbeat beginning.
Starring |
Meiko Kaji as Matsu/Sasori (Scorpion) |
Directed by Shunya Ito |
1970’s exploitation cinema reached new heights with the Scorpion series of movies from Japan. The Scorpion series of movies are classic example of revenge movies, of women wronged and chained, who fight back and kill those that used and discarded them. Anyway, those types of movies are right up my alley, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing some obnoxious character get killed horribly by someone he abused earlier. And this film is full of it!