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The PackageBLIND
WOMAN’S CURSE is remembered today as one of the earliest entries in Japan’s
roman porno (romantic porn) cycle, having been made by Nikkatsu Studios, who,
in a desperate effort at combating the declining box office revenues of
Japanese cinema at the time, devoted themselves exclusively to roman porno.
The present work was actually conceived and marketed as the final entry
in Nikkatsu’s RISING DRAGON trilogy (the Japanese title KAIDAN NOBORI RYU
translates literally as RISING DRAGON GHOST STORY), with Teruo Ishii, on loan
from Toei studios, doing the directorial honors. Another
change in the formula was the addition of Meiko Kaji in her first-ever lead
role. Kaji, a petite, wide-eyed
gal with one of the fiercest stares you’ll ever see, is best known for
headlining the FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION, LADY SNOWBLOOD and STRAY CAT ROCK
series (great flicks all). BLIND
WOMAN’S CURSE introduced her unforgettable screen persona, and furthermore
afforded Kaji an opportunity to sing the theme song, which she’d do in quite
a few of her subsequent films (her voice can be heard over the end credits of
KILL BILL VOL. 1, in a song taken from the first FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION). |
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The StoryThe
late 1930’s: Akemi, a tough female yakuza boss, is imprisoned with several
equally tough chicks. They collectively harass her one night and Akemi, at the end
of her rope, reveals that she’s been cursed by a blind cat woman!
A flashback fills us in on the details of that curse: years earlier she
blinded a young woman, the sister of a rival gang leader who Akemi murdered in
revenge for killing her father. Now
Akemi’s beset by nightmares involving the blind woman and a mysterious cat
licking the blood from her gouged eye sockets. Said
blind woman has entered the town where Akemi resides, seeking vengeance.
She leads a macabre carnival featuring a number of deformed personages,
as well as a creepy hunchback assistant. She
also offers her services as a swordswoman to Abe, a conniving godfather out to
do Akemi in. Abe keeps a harem of
drugged captive women on hand to attend to his every need, being an all-around
sleaze. Akemi
is released from prison and rejoins her gang molls, who all have tattooed
dragons on their backs. But those
molls begin to get picked off by an unseen assailant, who cuts the flesh from
their backs in an effort to obtain the dragon tattoos.
Is the vengeful blind woman responsible (or her hunchbacked assistant),
or is it the vile mob boss Abe? The
truth eventually makes itself apparent, but not before many people are
possessed by the cat-spirit and many more get sliced up in ultra-bloody
swordfights! |
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The DirectionTeruo
Ishii was never an especially talented filmmaker, but his willingness go clear
over the top with excessive gore and/or sexuality often made for
attention-grabbing (if not always good) films.
BLIND WOMAN’S CURSE is probably one of his best all-around works, with
a real sense of style and visual beauty combined with the leering violence for
which Ishii was known. The bloodletting is mighty copious, even by modern standards,
with enough deadly swordplay to fill several Toshiro Mifune movies.
The horror imagery, often bolstered by impressionistic blue-green
lighting of a type prevalent in Japanese genre films of the time, is extremely
well pulled-off, and seamlessly integrated with the yakuza business.
The mix is accomplished, thankfully, without the type of campy humor one
might expect--yes, there are moments of dumb-ass comedy, but they’re kept to
a minimum. Underlying
all this is the unforgettable performance of Meiko Kaji in the lead role,
essaying a tough-as-nails yet fundamentally decent and likeable character.
Kaji effortlessly carries the film and leaves a lasting impression; my
only real complaint (aside from the oft-jumbled storytelling) is that I wish
she had more screen time. |
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Vital StatisticsBLIND
WOMAN’S CURSE (KAIDAN NOBORI RYU)
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