Legends of the Poisonous Seductress: Okatsu the Fugitive (1969)

The trail of blood-soaked vengeance on corrupt men in a corrupt government comes to an end, in this series at least. Miyazono Junko’s tenue as Ohyaku/Okatsu only lasted 3 films but the impact it had on the next decade of subversive female led action B movie fare known as Pinky Violence can't be ignored. Nakagawa returned to close out the trilogy (though probably intended to have a few chapters of this saga) with…

Legends of the Poisonous Seductrusses: Okatsu the Fugitive - Once again the cycle starts anew for Okatsu (Miyazono). This time she’s a bride to be with the unfortunate problem of having an honorable father, Makabe. He uncovers a heinous slavery/tobacco struggling ring and confronts the man in charge, Tashiro Judayu (Abe Toru). Instead of being civil he tortures Makabe for hiding the official document detailing the crimes. Once again, leaving Okatsu (whose a master with a sword this time) to fend for herself. There’s a new twist this time. Her new husband is working for Judayu. He recruits a team to hunt Okatsu…the Fugitive. Even with a corrupt political wannabe’s cronies and a shitheel spouse on her tail, she survives and gets the revenge she craves.

My love and affection of the series up to this point has been made abundantly clear. It’s a little trashy, in a great way. It’s smarter than it appears. It’s surprisingly violent with a genuine sense of danger. However, it ends here and not because it’s the final part of a trilogy. The spark that fueled the excitement and furious spirit has faded from a powerful surge of energy into an adequate output keeping me interested enough in thegoing on events. That said, it’s not bad just disappointing following up what should be a classic albeit unconventional Post-War film and then a rare female led imbued Jidaigeki with the rebellious spirit of a college campus circa 1969. Nakagawa and Takada’s collaborative relationship seemingly reached ran a rough patch. 

Mihori went on to direct, Criminal Woman: Killing Melody - a previous review.

The previous two entries were not just historical action films. There were elements of family drama, political intrigue, martial arts, prison film, class critique, and the classic revenge story. All these elements blended into an overall organic feel and tone with focused themes, until this entry. Okatsu the Fugitive just doesn’t feel right. The sharp edges of each conflicting genre, subgenre, and story piece are very visible. They overlap like a loose stack of papers of different colors, textures, and sizes. The visible limits of each genre feels forced together. Maybe the production was rushed and obligatory, but maybe things weren't great between the creative side and business side. Either way, the tone and energy isn't as captivating as it could have and should been.

Midway through, Okatsu saves a woman from would-be rapists then the devious husband walks into the frame with his new woman soon after Okatsu walks away off-screen. It isn’t organic. It feels lazy. This type of sequence repeats numerous times. Sure, it moves the plot forward but at what cost. The delicate care and thought through quality is missing. The shift into autopilot is palpable. The script continues to mix up the basic plot salad and the components already established thus far but the direction needs that anger. The momentum starts and stops without a valid reason, except to keep the story going.

Judayu's tobacco/slavery compound where the magic happens.

All the hallmarks from the previous two are there - eye trauma, hangings, head and neck trauma, fire as a weapon, swordplay, dead parents, using the villain’s methods against them, a side character that survives to the end, and prostitution. There’s a formula in place. A newer ingredient added in Quick-Draw Okatsu, the ever delightful Oshida Reiko. In the long list of reasons Okatsu the Fugitive doesn’t work, how Oshida is used here is number one on the list. Her previous character was the Edo period equivalent to a girl in a gang from a Sukeban film. She not only kick started the plot but was brilliantly interwoven into the events affecting the Makabe clan. Her role gets severely cut down to a plucky girl that lives with an old master to mother orphaned children, who also live there. Instead of cutting up bastards whilst clad similar to a ninja, she’s in black hot pants and makes sure to stand in wide poses. 

When I saw her name pop up in the credits, I got excited then had to wait to see her talent get wasted in a nothing role. The roles for women in this series are usually stronger and they get something to do. Now, suddenly it’s eye candy. The Pinky Violence films are complex with their own contradictions, issues, and strengths but the women involved are not just there to ogle. They are the stars, villains, and heroes. They are lower class heroes in a world that doesn’t want them. They exist and thrive because they want to plus it thwarts the status quo oppressing them.

Tokyo Drifter (1966)

Okatsu the Fugitive (1969)

However, there are some good things to experience. The score by Kawabe Koichi sticks out more than it did in Quick-Draw Okatsu, for the better. It lifts up the mediocre stretches into something that feels more important and propulsive than the it actually is. The melodies are hummable and singable. The emotion and tension is carried more by the music than the acting and direction. Just like the previous two, there is a crazy torture/death method. In this case, it’s a gallows with a twist. You hang…or drop into the bottomless swamp aka superpowerful quicksand. It lacks the gnarly violence of the guillotine with a human counterbalance holding back the blade. It lacks the practicality of the simply reenacting the same beating and maiming someone with a wooden sword. That said, the quicksand gallows gets to the abstract artistic highs of Tokyo Drifter’s climatic battle. The color choices, background, and simplistic special effects of the gallows are supreme. It delivers the same delicious revenge everyone watching lusts for.

 Continuing a trend that seems to pop up from time to time, Mr. Tarantino’s habit of borrowing or homaging. This is a ‘controversial’ and never ending debate with Mr. Tarantino, given the Ringo Lam issue with Reservoir Dogs. For me, the difference between stealing and homage are case-by-case. In Kill Bill Vol. 1 during the iconic fight with the Crazy 88, the Bride ascends a set of stairs. The camera follows from above and at an angle away from the screen. The opposite movement of the fight scene when Okatsu fights off Judayu’s men at the brothel. We see her running downstairs from above and at an angle away from the screen. One is notably flashier than the other but the combination of swordswomen, group of men after her, stairs, and the odd angle is striking. The similarity is unavoidable.

        In a brief year and a half, the foundation of one of Japan’s most successful and iconic film genres was set in fertile ground. The Legends of the Poisonous Seductresses trilogy might have been cut short but the mark is there. There’s an argument to be made that films like Sex and Fury (with the immortal Ike Reiko), Female Prisoner Scorpion series (with the also immortal Kaji Meiko), Terrifying Girls High School: Lynch Law Classroom, School of the Holy Beast, Kill Bill, etc, etc wouldn’t have happened if Ohyaku in Female Demon Ohyaku never began her path to revenge. Maybe they would have but the aftershock of these films left an impact that can’t be ignored. The overall quality of the series is uneven but what film series is totally consistant from start to finish? The tone started unrelenting but loosens its grip on the viewer and lets them enjoy it a bit more. Even though the approach changed, the attitude mostly stayed the same. Even though, my feelings toward the third are lesser than the others, this is a fantastic trilogy of films that any fan of Pinky Violence or exploitation cinema would find something to love.

The series is available on DVD via Synapse films and other places.