OHYAKU: THE FEMALE DEMON (1968)

(妖艶毒婦伝　般若のお百)

dir: Yoshihiro Ishikawa

Toei

October 12, 1968

90 minutes Black & White - Toei (Kyoto Studio) 

One hundred ......... Junzo Miyazono
Shinkuro Onda ................ Kunio Murai
Iori Sengoku ................ Koji Minamihara
Sakakihei Ei ............. Shinji Takano
Gonjuro ................................ Masaru Komatsu

Ohyaku: The Female Demon (1968)
A mother jumps off a bridge and commits suicide, with her young daughter in her arms, but the child survives with a large scar on her back. Now grown up, Ohyaku (Junko Miyazono), still with that scar (as well as emotional ones), is leading a similar life, when she decides to strike out on her own after meeting a mysterious stranger she falls for (Kunio Murai). He’s a thief, and shares a hatred for the rich and powerful - they make love and become a couple, and he includes her in a robbery, that is successful, but unfortunately, they’re betrayed by the local crime boss. Things go downhill fast for Ohyaku from there - losing her man, getting raped, thrown in prison, beaten up, tattooed… but she slowly starts to turn things to her advantage, and even has lesbian sex to slowly manipulate her enemies against each other. 
This is a revenge movie - a female revenge movie - and one that apparently was influential upon the pinky violence genre, and if I called it a semi-classic in a previous writing, then I’ll correct it now and say, it IS a classic. Ohyaku’s revenge is sweet - maybe not as bloody or as over the top stylish - but very, very sweet, and certainly stylish enough to be included in some of my favorite’s from that genre.