Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Hayleigh Joseph
This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.
Uriah43
This movie begins with a beautiful woman named "Ran" (Kaori Shimamura) stealthily wading ashore from a small boat onto the beach of Ishigaki Island which is a small island that is located near Taiwan but belongs to Japan. Not long afterward Ran enters a restaurant and shoots the leader of the Taiseikai faction of the Yakuza, along with a couple of his bodyguards, and then departs the establishment in great haste. Although only slightly wounded, in order to avoid being caught by members of the police or the Yakuza she takes shelter in a bar owned by a man named "Yoichi Fujinami" (Takeshi Yamato) who just happens to be closing for the night. He notices that Ran is injured and after treating her wounds allows her to stay for the night. It soon becomes known that Ran is an assassin from Hong Kong who is known as "the Black Orchid" and that she isn't quite finished with her mission. Yoichi, on the other hand, is a former member of the Yakuza who has broken off his relationship with them but still retains a close friendship with the man named "Yaguichi" (Takanori Kikuchi) who was the second-in-command of the Taiseikai group and needs to capture or kill Ran as a matter of principle. To further complicate matters, Ran's next assignment is to assassinate the leader of the island's Taiwan mafia who goes by the name of "Ho" (Hakuryu). But with the police, the Taiwan mafia and the Yakuza looking for her this won't be easy by any means. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good movie in the "xx Beautiful series". One particular difference is that, although it has a couple of scenes of a sexual nature, the film itself isn't quite as brutal or graphic as some of the others and that actually works to its advantage. Likewise, having an attractive actress like Kaori Shimamura certainly didn't hurt either. In any case, I found the movie to be quite entertaining and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
EVOL666
BEAUTIFUL BEAST is a pretty typical 90s era pinku-style film, relying more on action and gun-play than the sleazy story lines of this genre's predecessors. This film follows much the same template as Masaru Konuma's BEAUTIFUL HUNTER, though the story lines are different...Ran is a hit-woman who goes after a yakuza boss for the death of her sister. Along the way she befriends a bar-owner who turns out to be an ex-yakuza member. Things get hairy when the bar-owner has to choose between his loyalty to his old crew, or the hottie hit-woman...A few good gunfights, a relatively steamy (but over-long) bar-top sex-scene, a little bit of torture - pretty much the same ol' thing for this type of film - but I dig these films a lot, so that's not a bad thing. Nothing extra-noteworthy about this entry, though it's relatively entertaining. Not quite as good in my opinion as the aforementioned BEAUTIFUL HUNTER - but worth a look anyway...7/10
Bishonen
Perverse! Maniac who takes to slicing up nubile young women is pursued by a forensics cop who has a morbid streak of her own; her involvement with the prime suspect recalls but doesn't quite follow the tired Eszterhazian formula which hobbles most similar films this side of the Pacific Rim. Breaks many western thriller conventions (i.e. dispatching a major, sympathetic character at a crucial moment), a creepy and methodical unraveling of plot elements and a ruthlessly economical narrative reflect an approach decidely offbeat to viewers more conditioned to Western formulas of thriller exposition...A gory, somewhat unpleasant ice-fingers-on-the-neck treat. If this your cuppa tea, have a slice, but don't expect "Scream"-style conventions---the take-no-prisoners level of violence and the leading lady's chilly presense keep things disturbingly out-of-kilter despite a silly and moralistic epilogue.Pic more or less works without subtitles, if you're wondering.
pefo1921
This is a great movie!!! It deals with a serial killer; The suspense is quite good and does not follow the Hollywood convention so you don't know what to expect. Plenty of graphic well done sex scenes. Beware that there is also a graphic rape scene. Still a 9 out of 10.
