D V D C R Y P T

FEMALE PRISONER #701 SCORPION: BEAST STABLE

Directed by Shunya Ito
Written by Hirô Matsuda
Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Yayoi Watanabe, Tomoko Mayama, Toshie Kimura, Takashi Fujiki

1973/92 Mins/Color/Mono
2.35:1 anamorphic/Japanese/Japan/NTSC Region 1

Review from Tokyo Shock/ Media Blasters

Nami (Meiko Kaji) has escaped from prison. She is trying to escape the police, lead by a Detective Kondo (Mikio Narita), who after trying to get her in a subway train, gets his arm lopped off by her. Later, she is found and helped by a beautiful prostitute named Yuki (Yayoi Watanabe). Yuki, meanwhile, has been impregnated by her mentally retarded and sexually deviant brother. Yuki also runs afoul of a dangerous pimp gang led by an evil woman, who it turns out served time with Nami. Nami, in the meantime, also finds trouble with them when she dispatches one of their best customers, who tried to blackmail her into having sex with him. So, said evil bitch, who knows just how deadly Nami is, tortures her and holds her captive. There she sees one of the hookers, who work for said lady, die after a brutal, abortion is performed on her six months into the pregnancy. Nami is now ready for bloody revenge on them all.

The third installment in the FEMALE PRISONER series is not a woman in prison, but it does continue the revenge theme of the character of Nami. While, the original remains the better movie, this installment is a cult-classic in its own right. Sure, the pacing is a little slower this around, but the last third of the film is really exciting and suspenseful and leads to an absolute killer ending. The opening sequence is also fucking amazing.

The incest sub-plot and a scene involving rape via a gulf club bring a new level of perverse power to the series. Throw in a truly horrific abortion scene and the bloody, graphic violence, and you have a film that does not pull its punches. Another big plus is the fact that Watanabe is smoking hot and frequently nude. Yet, much like in the original, there are some great shot compositions and a stylish look to it, thanks to the original’s returning director Shunya Ito. The score is great, and I just simply love the theme song to this series! There is also some excellent acting from everyone in the cast. As always, Kaji is quite simply amazing, pulling in another great performance and looking absolutely stunning through out the duration of the movie.

FEMALE PRISONER #701 SCORPION: BEAST STABLE looks to exact its revenge on our TV set courtesy of this Tokyo Shock DVD release. The anamophic widescreen transfer in 2.35:1 looks a little too soft, at times, and has some minor pops on the screen. But, mostly the quality is pretty decent, with some nice easy to read sub-titles. The mono sound is crisp and clear.

The only extras are a photo gallery with some cool black and white stills and some trailers. Aside from the movie itself, it also has trailers to: DEATH TRANCE, THE NEIGHBOR No. THIRTEEN, KOKKO KAMEN SURPRISE, and FEMALE PRISONER #701 SCORPION. The disc comes in a keep case with a cool cover but no inlet card. The sixteen chapters, that the movie is broken up into, are accessible from the menu screen.

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