It’s
that time again…#ChibaCheckUp is already over. Before I close out this
year’s edition, there’s one last movie. This is no ordinary movie. It’s…
Wolf Guy - Inugami Akira (Chiba) is the last surviving member
of a werewolf clan. As a child, hunters swarmed and slaughtered his
family. Many years later, he’s a supercop with super senses to solve super
crimes. One such supercrime is the mysterious tiger-related deaths of the band, the Mobs. All
these deaths occurred after a gangbang turned rape. The victim, Miki (Nami
Etsuko), cursed everyone. This is only the beginning of Akira's latest case.
By
this point, directer Yamaguchi Kazuhiko and Chiba were an established team specializing in crazy,
brutal, and viscerally exciting action films. Toei or Yamaguchi, someone down the line,
decided to that 1973's Horror of the Wolf
aka Okami no Monsho needed a sequel.
Matsumoto Masashi didn’t return to direct and Shigaki Taro was replaced by
Chiba. I, for one, have not seen the original but hopefully it’s at least half as
nonsensically and oddly enticing as the sequel. The Chiba brand of action films was
a more violent and silly take. The bloodshed was
ridiculous, from the near cartoonish nature of it to the simplistic yet evocative
gory aftermaths. Yet this detail adds a whole new dimension to this run of films, that
eventually died out by the 1980s. Sister
Street Fighter is one thing but Wolf Guy
amps the crazy by making Chiba a got-darned wolf man that never transforms
into a wolf but gets the powers of a werewolf plus invincibility with a full
moon is another level all together.
Despite
the absurd and stupid veneer, there is a real story of trauma and grief
underlying every plot pivot. Akira and Miki are not merely victims but survivors.
His choice to become a cop and help out those who need it most is the logical
extension following the trauma of losing everyone and everything at a young
age. No one was there to help him or his werewolf clan. His first action is helping a man on the run. Instead of letting the man
run off, Akira follows. His instinct to help is his greatest asset but leads
him down a demented detective’s tale. The noir-ish elements are strong until
the violence kicks in and the noir tropes creep back in. These don’t flow into
each other smoothly but I appreciate the bloody explosions of violence interspersed
throughout the film. Chiba's other star
qualities are brought out into the forefront. Not just playing the action hero
beats from films past but showing him as a charismatic leading man. To call him
magnetic is an understatement. As an actor, not just a martial artist, he’s
fantastic. I’m not sure how he’s perceived as an actor in general but he has the chops.
This is the skill put him over his contemporaries, whose acting abilities
certainly vary. A brooding loose cannon cop with a troubled past is the perfect role. It promises the
violence that you’d expect from a Yamaguchi/Chiba collaboration and gives them
the chance to expand on what you’d assume a movie called Wolf Guy could be.
Miki’s
arc thrusts the dark pulp vibes into the shadows. She’s a woman wronged. She’s
a woman hungry for revenge. All she wanted was a career, but then The
Mobs and other entities get involved. Being raped wasn’t enough, they gave her syphilis. Shame
dominates every aspect of her existence. As a result, this trauma
awakens psychic abilities. The ability to slash up people with a psychic
sword…or something like that. She can only harm from a distance, following the
tradition of women or feminine coded characters having telekinetic and/or distance based powers (Jean Gray, Scarlet Witch, Antonio Banderas in Matador, Tina Shepard in Friday the 13th: The New Blood).
Syphilis isn’t the only thing making her untouchable. As cold and closed off as
she is, only one man can penetrate that wall…the wolf guy. Their romance, or animalistic
attraction, whatever it is brings them together. They complete each other and
provide a comforting presence for each other.
However
with all the legitimate substance present, this is still a goofy as fuck movie
about a werewolf. Starting out as a pseudo-noir infused detective story about a
femme fatale in her own psychic-superpowered rape revenge story. It should be
said that, the rape seemingly awakened her powers, but that gets brushed over
quickly in the first act without much thought. Rape in the sleazier Japanese
exploitation and B pictures is treated cavalierly or as a fetish (like in
several Nikkatsu Roman Pornos). I’m used to seeing this but it's a complicated and upsetting topic to bring up. This particularly sleazy touch is an odd
choice but not a surprising one.
The
rest of the plot is well…fucking nuts. Penned by Konami Fumio, who is credited
on Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701, FPS: Jailhouse 41, Graveyard of Honor, Zero
Woman: Red Handcuffs and other highlights from this glorious period of
film. Upon learning that fact and that Wolf Guy:
Enraged Lycanthrope was based on a manga, the insanity on-screen makes
sense. Konami has a flavor of the bizarre, serious, but with an air of
commercial approachability given his films made money and he worked a lot. The
shifts in setting and mood are mildly jarring, which I took as purposeful as a
tactic to keep you on your feet and ready for anything they may throw at you.
One
of cinema’s biggest mistakes was this not becoming a full blown film series. The
groundwork was there. The stars and crew were there. Toei and Nikkatsu had
several silly, ridiculous, brutal, and outrageous film series out at this time.
A werewolf series with a werewolf that never actually transforms into a wolf
man mixed with police hijinks and good ole violence would fit right in. You
could incoporate yakuza, samurai, or geisha elements and bring in guest stars
like Sugimoto Miki, Oshida Reiko, and Sugawara Bunta into later potential entries. There
were other insane film series that matched or surpassed this one - Hot Springs Geisha, Battles Without Honor And Humanity, Female Prisoner Scorpion, Terrifying
Girls’ High School, Gojira etc.
Toei messed up big time but at least we got one (or two technically).
With
that, #ChibaCheckUp Vol. 2 has come to a close. The career of this cinematic
legend goes beyond the small handful of films I’ve covered in this series and
other assorted reviews in Jailhouse 701. There is a reason his mythic status as
one of the greatest action stars to grace the screen endures to this day. All
you need to do to see why Chiba is such a phenomenon is sit down and watch the
master at work.
All
the films covered are available streaming and on disc.
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