Sister Street Fighter (1974) - 7.5
A large omission in my watching Japanese action films are the Street Fighter films. Both the Sonny Chiba and the Etsuko Shihomi Sister Street Fighter trilogy. Not sure why since I am a fan of both actors and bought these films on DVD when physical ownership was still a thing. Well, I decided it was time to dig in and rather than the Chiba films, decided to go with Etsuko. She had studied under Chiba in his Japan Action Club and had mastered Kenjitsu and Shorinji Kempo forms of Karate. That she was also very attractive made her a natural for film and Chiba brought her into her debut in Bodyguard Kiba 2 and then The Street Fighter. The success of the Street Fighter film which made it to America with an X rating for violence led to this spinoff.
It is a remarkable film in retrospect. An extremely violent martial arts film with a female lead. Certainly, Hong Kong and Taiwan were producing female martial arts films but nothing that compares to the extreme violence in this one. Etsuko doesn't just beat up guys, she destroys them; a hatchet to the head, a broken neck, a dagger in the eye. Of course, it is up to Chiba who pops in from time to time to tear out a man's intestines with his hands. But Etsuko is out to kill everyone in multiple ways. The film pits her against all sorts of weapon experts - blow pipe, Nunchakus, Thai female muy thai fighters, a strong man, chained sickle, a pistol, Tonfa neray, cudgel and other basic minions. What they all have in common is her killing them.
The plot is pretty basic. This was knocked off quickly to cash in on The Street Fighter and the sets are minimal, logic is iffy and the only rule that director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi seemed to go by is to have an action set piece every few minutes. And to toss in a little gratuitous nudity. Kazuhiko was to direct all three of the Sister Street Fighter films as well as other action films such as Wandering Ginza Butterfly and the Karate films with Chiba.
Koryu (Etsuko) is asked by the Hong Kong police to investigate her brother's disappearance in Japan. He was an undercover cop trying to bring down drug king pin Kazuzaki (Bin Amatsu). Within a few minutes, she is breaking necks. No mercy. Chiba shows up to help out, but most of it is her doing. Kazuzaki has hired all those martial artists to protect him - though he brags that he has killed fifty bulls with his bare hands. They all hang out by his pool practicing and preening. She kills them all. The only one to defeat her is a dojo master played by Masashi Ishibashi, who had once instructed Chiba in karate. They have a nice fight. Trashy low budget fun and Etsuko is fabulous.
Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread (1974) - 7.0
Etsuko Shihomi returns as Koryu in this sequel to Sister Streert Fighter made earlier in the same year. In the first film, she was living in Hong Kong but sent to Japan to rescue her brother who was being held by a vicious sadistic drug king pin. By the time she left, Japan was minus a drug dealer and lots of kung fu minions. It was a remarkably violent film for a female protagonist. She is a sweetie though when not breaking necks with unabashed savagery. The girl next door type. A good friend to have. Especially if you are kidnapped and turned into a prostitute and diamond smuggler. This is to a large degree a repeat of the first film with a similar amount of snap, crackle and pop. More sleaze perhaps. In the first film, she had the help of her real life mentor, Sonny Chiba, but he is nowhere to be seen here - instead she has Yasuaki Kurata which is not a bad trade.
It begins again in Hong Kong where she comes across a man being murdered by a gang. Before he dies, he pulls out his fake eye and hands it to her as a parting gift. With microfilm inside. Of her female school friend who has been kidnapped. Off to Japan she goes and from minute one the gang knows and is trying to kill her. The old fashioned way. With kung fu. No guns allowed. Of many styles. It is a slow build with only a few small fights but well done, but she doesn't quite have her old killer instinct. Yet. They come at her again with multiple martial arts styles and she is outnumbered with only her fists and legs. It is enough. Great stuff. The ending is right out of a Ninkyo Eiga film of the 1960s when Ken Takakura or Fuji Junko would slowly walk towards destiny as the music blared. Some nasty bits like slicing women's buttocks open and hiding diamonds inside or pulling out real eyeballs. Trashy as hell but in a good way. This one has a sequel as well.
The Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975) - 6.0
The great Etsuko (Sue) Shihomi returns as Kōryū for the third and last time in the Sister Street Fighter trilogy. All three were directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. It is clear that very little thought was given to the narrative or the continuity of the film. It is a mess with scenes seemingly cut short and the protagonists ending up in deserted spaces. But people don't come for seamless story telling. They bought tickets to see Shihomi fight off dozens of thugs and that they got. The plot is basically a rehash of the first two. I even think the boss's headquarters was the same as a previous film. But for a 76-minute film it is stuffed with action. One fight after another with a bit of sleaze and melodrama in between.
As with the previous two, it begins in Hong Kong where an old friend asks a small favor; go to Japan and find a mutual friend Shurei who is the mother of a small girl named Rika. Shurei was kidnapped by a Wang, a diabolical gang leader in a wheelchair and with a metal hand. He has ambitions as he tells his gang that capitalism or Communism will dominate but in either case he will be the true ruler in the shadows. Big talk for a guy who can't even beat up a single female. But Kōryū of course has the "death punch".
The fighting begins right away in Hong Kong and as soon as she lands in Yokohama where for some reason she is on this deserted wharf with Rika. Wang becomes desperate as his men keep getting beaten up, so he does that old kung fu match-up. Brings in 8 martial arts experts and says I will hire only four. Fight to the death. Not surprisingly, these four are not much better. But then Yasuaki Kurata offers his services to kill Kōryū. He was in the previous film but as a different character.
In the end as with all these films is the big showdown. Her against a mass of killers. Shihomi was a busy actress at the time. In between the second and third Sister Street Fighter films she was in a bunch of films - two of her classics; The Great Chase and 13 Steps of Maki - and perhaps because of this the film feels rushed and poorly put together - but there is lots of Shihomi kicking and punching the bad guys.
A large omission in my watching Japanese action films are the Street Fighter films. Both the Sonny Chiba and the Etsuko Shihomi Sister Street Fighter trilogy. Not sure why since I am a fan of both actors and bought these films on DVD when physical ownership was still a thing. Well, I decided it was time to dig in and rather than the Chiba films, decided to go with Etsuko. She had studied under Chiba in his Japan Action Club and had mastered Kenjitsu and Shorinji Kempo forms of Karate. That she was also very attractive made her a natural for film and Chiba brought her into her debut in Bodyguard Kiba 2 and then The Street Fighter. The success of the Street Fighter film which made it to America with an X rating for violence led to this spinoff.
It is a remarkable film in retrospect. An extremely violent martial arts film with a female lead. Certainly, Hong Kong and Taiwan were producing female martial arts films but nothing that compares to the extreme violence in this one. Etsuko doesn't just beat up guys, she destroys them; a hatchet to the head, a broken neck, a dagger in the eye. Of course, it is up to Chiba who pops in from time to time to tear out a man's intestines with his hands. But Etsuko is out to kill everyone in multiple ways. The film pits her against all sorts of weapon experts - blow pipe, Nunchakus, Thai female muy thai fighters, a strong man, chained sickle, a pistol, Tonfa neray, cudgel and other basic minions. What they all have in common is her killing them.
The plot is pretty basic. This was knocked off quickly to cash in on The Street Fighter and the sets are minimal, logic is iffy and the only rule that director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi seemed to go by is to have an action set piece every few minutes. And to toss in a little gratuitous nudity. Kazuhiko was to direct all three of the Sister Street Fighter films as well as other action films such as Wandering Ginza Butterfly and the Karate films with Chiba.
Koryu (Etsuko) is asked by the Hong Kong police to investigate her brother's disappearance in Japan. He was an undercover cop trying to bring down drug king pin Kazuzaki (Bin Amatsu). Within a few minutes, she is breaking necks. No mercy. Chiba shows up to help out, but most of it is her doing. Kazuzaki has hired all those martial artists to protect him - though he brags that he has killed fifty bulls with his bare hands. They all hang out by his pool practicing and preening. She kills them all. The only one to defeat her is a dojo master played by Masashi Ishibashi, who had once instructed Chiba in karate. They have a nice fight. Trashy low budget fun and Etsuko is fabulous.
Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread (1974) - 7.0
Etsuko Shihomi returns as Koryu in this sequel to Sister Streert Fighter made earlier in the same year. In the first film, she was living in Hong Kong but sent to Japan to rescue her brother who was being held by a vicious sadistic drug king pin. By the time she left, Japan was minus a drug dealer and lots of kung fu minions. It was a remarkably violent film for a female protagonist. She is a sweetie though when not breaking necks with unabashed savagery. The girl next door type. A good friend to have. Especially if you are kidnapped and turned into a prostitute and diamond smuggler. This is to a large degree a repeat of the first film with a similar amount of snap, crackle and pop. More sleaze perhaps. In the first film, she had the help of her real life mentor, Sonny Chiba, but he is nowhere to be seen here - instead she has Yasuaki Kurata which is not a bad trade.
It begins again in Hong Kong where she comes across a man being murdered by a gang. Before he dies, he pulls out his fake eye and hands it to her as a parting gift. With microfilm inside. Of her female school friend who has been kidnapped. Off to Japan she goes and from minute one the gang knows and is trying to kill her. The old fashioned way. With kung fu. No guns allowed. Of many styles. It is a slow build with only a few small fights but well done, but she doesn't quite have her old killer instinct. Yet. They come at her again with multiple martial arts styles and she is outnumbered with only her fists and legs. It is enough. Great stuff. The ending is right out of a Ninkyo Eiga film of the 1960s when Ken Takakura or Fuji Junko would slowly walk towards destiny as the music blared. Some nasty bits like slicing women's buttocks open and hiding diamonds inside or pulling out real eyeballs. Trashy as hell but in a good way. This one has a sequel as well.
The Return of Sister Street Fighter (1975) - 6.0
The great Etsuko (Sue) Shihomi returns as Kōryū for the third and last time in the Sister Street Fighter trilogy. All three were directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. It is clear that very little thought was given to the narrative or the continuity of the film. It is a mess with scenes seemingly cut short and the protagonists ending up in deserted spaces. But people don't come for seamless story telling. They bought tickets to see Shihomi fight off dozens of thugs and that they got. The plot is basically a rehash of the first two. I even think the boss's headquarters was the same as a previous film. But for a 76-minute film it is stuffed with action. One fight after another with a bit of sleaze and melodrama in between.
As with the previous two, it begins in Hong Kong where an old friend asks a small favor; go to Japan and find a mutual friend Shurei who is the mother of a small girl named Rika. Shurei was kidnapped by a Wang, a diabolical gang leader in a wheelchair and with a metal hand. He has ambitions as he tells his gang that capitalism or Communism will dominate but in either case he will be the true ruler in the shadows. Big talk for a guy who can't even beat up a single female. But Kōryū of course has the "death punch".
The fighting begins right away in Hong Kong and as soon as she lands in Yokohama where for some reason she is on this deserted wharf with Rika. Wang becomes desperate as his men keep getting beaten up, so he does that old kung fu match-up. Brings in 8 martial arts experts and says I will hire only four. Fight to the death. Not surprisingly, these four are not much better. But then Yasuaki Kurata offers his services to kill Kōryū. He was in the previous film but as a different character.
In the end as with all these films is the big showdown. Her against a mass of killers. Shihomi was a busy actress at the time. In between the second and third Sister Street Fighter films she was in a bunch of films - two of her classics; The Great Chase and 13 Steps of Maki - and perhaps because of this the film feels rushed and poorly put together - but there is lots of Shihomi kicking and punching the bad guys.
