Cathardincu
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Inadvands
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Falconeer
'Criminal Woman: Killing Melody' is a strong entry in the 'Pinky Violence' box set, mostly due to the presence of both Reiko Ike, and the amazing Miki Sugimoto, as rivals/comrades. This film is a more straight forward revenge tale, and it moves at a good pace. Reiko Ike stars as Maki, a woman out for revenge against a Yakuza gang responsible for her fathers death. The original Zero Woman, Miki Sugimoto exudes a strange elegant quality in this one, as the wife of the Yakuza boss. The two wildcats meet for the first time in prison, and than again on the outside, when Maki's revenge plan begins to to take form. Reiko Ike is tough & uncompromising in this one, bent on wiping out the gangsters, while Massayo (Sugimoto) must retain a cool exterior; she doesn't really want any harm to come to her former cell mate, as she can respect the other woman's strength. At the same time, she feels some loyalty to her husband, or so we think. Miki Sugimoto remains my favorite 'Pink Heroine'. There is such strength in her voice, and in this one, much of her body is tattooed! Before i watched this I was afraid that it would be marred with silly comedic overtones, something which in my opinion ruined 'Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess'. But there is none of that silliness here, just a straight forward approach, with fine melodramatic overtones, as well as some great sleaze. Not nearly as sadistic as 'Terrifying Girls Highschool', which is my personal favorite in the collection. But there are those moments that are expected from this genre, in particular a scene where Miki Sugimoto burns Reiko Ike's breasts with a lit cigarette. 'Criminal Woman: Killing Melody' is a classic 'pink' film.
Chung Mo
They don't make them like this anymore. Shot in 1970's Japanese pulp action style but very well photographed for this type of, ahem, "trash". Could be a TV show from the era if it wasn't for the nudity and gore.The "heroine" is on a quest to revenge her "good-for-nothing" father, killed by a local yakuza. After a failed attempt she ends up in prison and meets her future gang of tough women. After she is released, the gang meets and starts their process of destroying the yakuza with strategy and tricks.Very much in the 1970's exploitation style, the film would feel at home on a double bill with a Pam Grier flick, a spaghetti western, a kung fu film or a Roger Corman women in prison movie. Unfortunately the story is just a little thread-bare with the yakuza too stupid and the coincidences too convenient. The film is quite enjoyable until the notorious chainsaw and nipple burning scene. That scene is actually not so bad since it was filmed in the 70's and psychopaths like Miike weren't making films yet. I shudder at what he would have done. The film just sort of looses it's moorings and gets silly. Fortunately the pacing stays brisk so it's still mostly fun to watch. One warning, there are some eye-searing 70's fashions. Yikes.
EVOL666
CRIMINAL WOMAN: KILLING MELODY isn't my favorite of the PINKY VIOLENCE box-set...but it's still a great film. I honestly haven't seen a pinky film yet that wasn't entertaining and full of what I like to see, namely - tits-and-ass, violence, and a decent storyline. This entry is a lot more straight-forward than some of the others (which will be a plus to some - I personally dig the more "intricate" story lines...) and will definitely be of interest to any pinky fans out there.Maki's dad was killed by the local Oba yakuza clan. Maki took revenge by trying to kill the leader but only ended up stabbing a henchman. She's sent to jail, and on her release still has plans for vengeance against the Oba leader. Hooking up with some of her old "girl-gang" pals, she hatches a plan to pit Oba's crew with another local yakuza clan for her own ends...KILLING MELODY has all the requisite things that pinky fans crave. Tons of hot nekkid Asian women and a good bit of violence. Again, the storyline was a little to simple for my taste, but the film is still enjoyable as a whole. If you've dug the other entries in the box-set or are a pinky fan in general, you'll wanna peep this one too...7.5/10
division1656-1
I managed to see an advance of this film, as a part of Panik Houses' "Pinky Violence" box set, and of the four films included this is by far the best. Watching Reiko Ike and her crew ruthlessly pit Yakuza gangs against each other and the gangs' blindness to the idea that a crew of women could be behind their destruction is amazing.The basic setup is that Reiko Ike is a vengeance seeking ex-con, who originally was sent up for trying to murder the Yakuza boss who drove her father to ruin and death, and had her gang-raped. While in prison she befriends a crew of three other women, put away for crimes ranging from prostitution to motorcycle theft, and upon her release gets back to the serious business of vendetta. This involves her whoring out to American soldiers and using her new "business" connections and money to buy a lot of guns and grenades. She and her crew then begin to align the two local Yakuza clans (Oba and the formerly dominate Hamayasu) against one another, trying to instigate a full-scale gang war in which the gangs kill each other off. Serving as arms dealers and instigators to both sides Reiko and her crew ratchet up the violence, preying on the gangs' arrogance and paranoia. There's a great turn from Takeo Chii as Tetsu "Mad Dog" Hamayasu, the son of the aging Hamayasu boss, who swigs from a full bottle of saki while playing pool, shooting people, and setting fire to carloads of gangsters.Eventually a snag arises when the Oba boss's girlfriend (Miki Sugimoto) recognizes Reiko and her gang from back in prison and realizes what they're up to. She's torn between her loyalty to the gang and, inexplicably, a desire to help her former prison-mates. She tries to warn them off of their vendetta, but ultimately helps set up her lover and his crew. The gang war itself is amazing, particularly the set piece at Hamayasu's offices, where Oba and his mob storm the building with machine guns, while old Boss Hamayasu himself, dressed in traditional robes, fights them with nothing but a Samurai sword. It's one of those old school Yakuza scenes that hearkens back to, well, pretty much every Samurai movie ever made. Boss Hamayasu is killed, naturally, but goes out with a lot of the Oba clan's foot soldiers cut to ribbons.Naturally the whole film ends with a massive shootout where everyone that's not female dies.One unexpected aspect to the film is it's circular path. It opens with a knife fight between Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto in jail and ends with a recreation of the same fight after the death of Miki's lover, Boss Oba. The circular nature of the tale is fairly subtle, but it's easy to see how it can be a meditation on the way that vengeance simple begets more vengeance.Oh, and there's this bit where Reiko almost gets her breasts cut off with a chainsaw, but gets a cigarette put out on her nipple instead. That's gnarly. Which is probably what you want from a Sukeban exploitation film. You won't be disappointed.
