Customer Reviews

Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion: Beast Stable

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been looking forward to the release of this DVD (and it's follow-up {Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song}) for some time. I very much enjoyed the first two movies of this series. After just watching this film, I would have to say that this is probably my favorite of the three.

All three of these movies were directed by Shunya Ito. What is great about them, though, is that, even though they all feature the same lead character (wonderfully played by Meiko Kaji), they are each vastly different from the others.

The first movie (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion) is more or less a typical Women In Prison movie. But the character of Scorpion is very intriguing - very reminiscent of the anti-heroes of many spaghetti westerns. And the director often used some very interesting and unusual visual approaches to the material.

The second movie (Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41) is a real tour-de-force. Not so much a WIP movie as the bulk of the film has Scorpion and six other escaped inmates on the lam.

This movie (Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable) is the third in the series and the last one directed by Shunya Ito. This one plays out as much more of a crime drama. Once again, our heroine is on the run. But this time out, she has managed to maintain a certain amount of normalcy in her life (relatively speaking anyway). She gets a job, she finds a place to live, she makes a friend on the outside. But, of course, everything has to unravel eventually. FPS: Beast Stable has a more straight-forward story that is told at a more leisurely pace than its predecessors. But I found it to be engaging from beginning to end. And don't worry: there is still plenty of depravity to go around in this movie! But I think these movies transcend most exploitation films because the more disturbing elements are played in a straighter tone rather than being used exclusively for in-your-face shock value. Yes, there were definitely moments in this movie where I cringed mightily. But I didn't feel that they detracted from the value of the story (well, maybe a time or two).

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in out-of-the-ordinary films. FPS: Beast Stable can be enjoyed as a stand-alone piece (as can the first two movies) but I would also recommend watching the others first if you have not already done so.

The third volume of the Female Prisoner Scorpion Series, Beast Stable, opens up with quite a bang, or maybe it would be better to say a large meaty slice, when our heroine Matsushima Nami, better known as Sasori, or Scorpion, slices open the face of one police officer and then hacks off the arm of another, an arm that she is handcuffed to, so that she can escape a train. The viewer is then treated to a running Scorpion with a severed arm dangling from the handcuffs that bind her to it. If this scene is not twisted enough, we then go to view a young prostitute copulating indifferently with a man on top of her. Now this scene is not really odd until we learn that the girl, Yuki, is having sex with her own mentally handicapped brother. So begins the third volume, some also consider the weakest volume, of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series.

Unlike the other volumes of the series in which the action, of course, centers on Sasori, Beast Stable seems to be more interested in the being of Yuki. Stuck with her familial obligation to take care of her retarded brother, Yuki makes her living as a prostitute. However, because she is an independent worker, she often comes under the attack of Yakuza who want a cut of her money. Because of her situation she begs Sasori to kill her brother, but has a change of heart and eventually this familial bond will lead her to betray Sasori.

Sasori's role is a bit underplayed in this film. She does get revenge on a handful of yakuza and some police officers, but most of her time is spent hiding within the sewers. However, the time in the sewers also offers the audience some scenes of filmic beauty when Yuki drops matches through manholes to attract Sasori. Sasori's, whose being is the embodiment of the betrayed, face is extraordinarily innocent in these scenes and almost glows with naïveté and trust. Because of these images her fate is that much bitterer.

While it might not be as action packed or stylish as the first two films in the series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable is still a decent film and it does raise such issues as body politics and abortion.

Yes, the information about this film is misleading. They're wrong. I ordered this because I saw Tamura Masakazu's name on it. It turned out to be the wrong film. But to my surprise, it's very enjoyable. After I watched the Grudge Song (the actual one with Tamura), I found Beast Stable to be better! The shock elements are there and they're actually visually well-made. (But be ready to see blood and gruesome acts.) One tends to sympathize with Sasori in this film cos she's trying so hard to live a normal, peaceful life, but the evil policemen just wouldn't leave her alone. The small details are also thoughtfully-made and entertaining. Cool stuff!

A nutty 1970s Japanese movie that comes across akin to those 1960s German Edgar Wallace nutty movies, but this movie is faster and better. The Japanese anti-hero of this movie goes through as much abuse as any pam Grier character, though she doesn't have her chest.;)

Lots of action, mood, some sick incest sex scenes, neon signs of sleazy Japanese red light districts, and even a poetic THE THIRD MAN sewer.

There's a forced abortion scene that might offend a lot of viewers. If released today, this movie would be rated nc-17 for its unrelenting luridness.

A lot better, and of course more origonal than any KILL BILL movie, it's short on common sense, but there are some dream-like scenes that make it more than the typical action movie.