Many of today’s premier Japanese directors (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takeshi Miike, Takeshi Shimuzu) had their start in this arena and the low budgets of these films (often less than $100,000) allowed them to not only hone their craft but also to develop a unique style and viewpoint. At the other end of the spectrum, older directors such as Masaru Konuma (“Wife to be Sacrificed”), Kazuo Komizu ("Entrails of a Virgin") or Toshiharu Ikeda ("Evil Dead Trap") found some work and a paycheck waiting for them at the end of the day.
From 1994 through 1996 the video arm of Toei produced six films drawn
from the short stories of novelist Arimasa Osawa. All the titles were prefaced
with “XX” and are low-budget entries that typically have doses of violence,
action, sex and often torture. They all feature strong female protagonists
in non-traditional roles – assassin, bodyguard, pathologist and cop – but
one would not claim these as primers for women’s empowerment because the
real purpose here is clearly as spectator sport. Though these films fall
squarely into the video exploitation genre that one expects, they generally
do it with some style, professional workmanship and a good feel for genre
filmmaking – i.e. they give the targeted audience what they want. Most of
the directors have a respected lineage in the areas of horror and "pinku"
films.
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