Miyazono
Junko’s masterful femme fatale from Female
Demon Ohyaku returns, sort of. A new director, style, and tone took over
the Legends of Poisonous Seductress series.
On the surface, it appears as if Nakagawa Nobuo’s entry has strayed away from
the ugly grit of the first. However, the spirit of Ohyaku is alive and well in…
Legends of the Poisonous Seductress:
Quick-Draw Okatsu aka Yoen Dokufu-Den: Hitokiri Okatsu - Okatsu’s
(Miyazono Junko) family runs the local dojo. The master and her adoptive
father, Makabe (Nishimura Ko - Yojimbo,
Sword of Doom, Red Beard) gets inadvertently mixed up with a former student turned
corrupt politician, Shiozaki (Imai Kenji - Resurrection
of Golden Wolf, Terrifying Girls’
High School: Lynch Law Classroom). He’s getting a promotion in the big city
and seizes the chance to get revenge. Lines get crossed when her brother
Rintaro gets caught up in a rigged dice game and events turn considerably worse.
She goes on a bloody path of vengeance.
The
standard approach (at least from what I’ve seen) in these B movie pictures from this era was to keep the title and never bother with a proper through line. Sometimes
not even the same characters appear over the course of the series but the
spirit and certain themes are always there. Legend of the
Poisonous Seductress is clearly not the first to do this but it’s a prime example of
both this trend and acts as a bridge between 2 different eras of film.
Quick-Draw Okatsu on paper has absolutely nothing to do with the
“original.” Ohyaku goes from a tough as nails ex-con revenge that orgasmically
delights in torturing abusive men to a quiet female samurai from an upper-ish class that’s only as brutal as necessary. However, she’s not alone in returning
special guest star. Wakayama Tomisaburo returns as a bounty hunter who has no
more fucks give (the opposite of his role of his helpful support role in Female Demon Ohyaku). A new director
took over but the writer remained, Takada Koji. Along with some other various
cast and crew carrying over.
There
are some huge changes but the Post-War anger is firmly in place. The Jidaigeki
elements are amped up. It has a classier veneer but that rebellious spirit
possesses every single inch of film. The abusive government pillages its own
people. The opening sequence is a ‘tax raid’ where armed men torture, beat, and
assault citizens. A woman is caught but saved by Rui (Reiko Oshida - Delinquent Girl Boss series not the Stray Cat Rock film). She is the key to
unlocking the badass qualities out of Okatsu, the adopted daughter of a
sword master whose never fought anyone. She’s traditionally demure and
subservient to a fault. There’s a sense of trying to channel Hara Setsuko’s
aura but can’t quite reach that level (to be fair that’s a Herculean task).
Rui’s there to witness all the political corruption firsthand, all the while
throwing a wrench in the engine with delightful glee. When the brother’s debt
with Shiozaki skyrockets in a fixed game, Rui saves the day. She absolutely refuses to let
the politician's gang continue their dirty dealings at all costs.
Encapsulating
the political angle of that Post-War anger, Rui is the furious listless youth
fighting back. In a not so subtle but brilliant move, her first kill seen on screen (certainly not her kill)
is a stab into a white sheet covering a table. A death groan, followed by a
bloodstain in the shape of the Japanese flag with a blade stuck in it
surrounded by Cho-han pieces. If this isn’t an indictment of that current era,
then I’m not sure what it is. The powers that be are fully capable and willing
to fuck over commoners. The youth is not happy. They will fight back and find.
This moment sends shockwaves leading to the bloody conclusion when the oppressed gets to revel in the violence subjected to them. Political messaging
hidden in films is not a recent inventon, as some vocal groups would like you to believe.
Rui
and Okatsu are the lynchpin keeping everything together. The initial
transgression is witnessed by Rui, who brings the situation to Okatsu. Without
Rui’s intervention, there would be no growth for Okatsu. She’d stay a clueless
bystander who doesn’t care too much about politics. That is, until her brother
gets wrapped in it. Rui subtly guides Okatsu deeper down the path of rebellion.
It’s the perfect role for Oshida, her youthful energy and passion burst off the
screen. Neutrality is put to the ultimate test in the worst possible way, that
for some is the only way to fully realize that staying active and on top of
things is more important than getting bummed out over the popular news. Her journey from meek flower into an outlaw resistance
fighter lifts a generic revenge tale into a higher tier with a broad message
but still something to say.
The
transformation of Okatsu is abundantly clear in 2 sequences - her first kill
and the brothel sequence. Her first kill occurs after breaking out of
Shiozaki’s clutches. In a frenzy, she rushes through the manor while getting
chased by many guards. It concludes in a stand off with some help from Rui.
Prior to this, she had only trained and never experienced real combat. She’d
just endured days, if not, weeks of various tortures. The start of her cathartic
campaign against corruption starts when death truly presents itself. It’s not
easy. The internal struggle is palpable. Kill or be killed? Continue being
passive or actively fight back? She slashes a man across the gut but the rest
of them swarm on the women. Who promptly cut the guards down. Not so long after this,
Okatsu gets sold into prostitution by family ‘friends.’ The shot is an extended
long-shot showing the entire front of the brothel a la Jacques Tati’s Playtime. We get to see the layout,
relationships (human and spacial), and story proceed. There is dialog but it’s
immaterial until it switches inside. It plays purely on visuals. Once again, she’s powerless and passive
after her first taste of true freedom. The owner realizes she’s Quick-Draw
Okatsu and has a high price, bloody hijinks ensue. Even though she’s drugged
and weakened, she outsmarts her captors, saves her brother’s pregnant fiance
from an unwanted abortion, and still manages to slash away her enemies into the afterlife.
Nakagawa’s
first entry in the series while embracing what made the first so special, tones
down the Imamura grim tone into something more accessible and subversive. With
the rise of TV, movies suffered. You could see samurais on TV all day long, so
what’s the point of going to the theatre. The easiest way to get traffic (or should I say Trafic) to the
theatres is always sex and violence. Legends
delivered these but did not go overboard (the Terrifying Girls’ High School series was a few years off), the
sleaze threshold had not yet fully broken (but was nearly there). Toei saw a
chance and led the charge for Pinky Violence. We were about to see more Okatsus
and Ruis onscreen slicing and dicing with stylish flair and the rage of
oppressed youth.
The
entire series is available on DVD via Synapse Films
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