![Women Women](/uploads/1/3/5/1/135125971/679099501.jpg)
Crime, Thriller After being cruelly set up by a crooked detective named Sugimi (Isao Natsuyagi), whom she loved, Nami Matsushima (aka Matsu the Scorpion) (Meiko Kaji) is sentenced to do hard time in a women's prison, which is run by sadistic and horny male guards. The story of film an odyssey s01e01 1. There are 700 other prisoners, making Matsu number 701. Sketchup pro license code.
Directed by: Shunya Ito
- The shadow of Scorpion loomed large, and with the exception of the fantastic Lady Snowblood films which were made at roughly the same time as the Scorpion series, Kaji never really found another role quite as popular as the one she first brought to life in 1972. Based on a comic book, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion was a project long in.
- Female prisoner 701: scorpion (1972) F irst-time director Shunya Ito has something to say about Japan in this Toei Studio manga adaptation, and it isn't nice. The movie opens with the raising of the peacetime red sun-on-white field flag over a prison, and that symbol is later equated with the blood shed in a woman's deflowering.
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Isao Natsuyagi
Women In Prison (WIP) films are usually pretty reliable for a few things, namely a lot of gratuitous nudity, lesbian scenes, catfights, abuse, cruelty, torture, rape and evil prison guards. They are rarely anything special when it comes to story or character development but FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION goes above and beyond what you'd normally expect from a WIP film. While it does exhibit nudity, violence and sadistic guards, SCORPION also has a nice strong lead, a great director, some sweet action scenes and an unusual artful edge to it. It's no ordinary WIP film.Nami Matsushima (Kaji) is roped into helping the love of her life Sugimi (Natsuyagi) with a drug sting he is pulling at work. After being set up by Sugimi and being raped she has only one thing on her mind: revenge. An attempt to slice up Sugimi with a knife on the front steps of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters (not a smart move) goes wrong and she is arrested and thrown in prison. Although strangely Nami refused to testify against Sugimi, he still sees her as a big problem and makes a deal with another prisoner Katagiri (Yokoyama) for Nami to fall victim to an 'accidental' death in prison. But Nami has her heart set on escaping and seeking revenge against her former lover, and nothing will stop her.
The film begins with a jailbreak. Nami and another prisoner have escaped and are on the run and the warden is understandably pissed. The dogs are released and eventually Nami is returned to the prison where all of the inmates are punished for her escape attempt. Soon she not only has the prisoners against her but also another inmate Katagiri who is out to kill her, and the sadistic guards who are set on breaking her. A riot breaks out giving Nami the perfect chance to escape and get her revenge.
![Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion 1972 Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion 1972](/uploads/1/3/5/1/135125971/861639614.jpg)
Female Prisoner Scorpion Movies
The most unusual angle (and one of the highlights) is the way that SCORPION manages to so brilliantly combine the elements of trashy exploitation with a surreal arthouse style. One of the best examples is when Nami is being chased through the showers by a demonic looking Katagiri wielding a shard of glass. The experimental camera angles and lighting used throughout the film are not what you'd expect from such a movie, but they are very welcome indeed. FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION is arguably the best film in the series and is a fantastic example and introduction to the WIP subgenre. For exploitation fans this one is a must see.701 Movie
Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion Movie
Produced by the Toei Company in 1972, Shunya Ito’s directorial debut Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion is a demented twist on the women-in-prison genre that was a significant influence of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies.Betrayed by her bent cop boyfriend Sugumi who set her up to infiltrate a drug cartel that he was collaborating with, Nami Matsushima (Meiko Kaji) finds herself doing a stretch after a failed attempt at revenge on Sugumi on the steps of police headquarters. Her single-minded determination to escape and exact revenge on Sugumi becomes her sole reason for existence. Abortive attempts at escape infuriate the prison authorities as well as Matsu’s fellow prisoners who are punished for her misdemeanours, including food rationing and what is referred to as The Devil’s Punishment (which just seems to be digging holes, filling them up and then having to re-dig them!)
All attempts to break Matsu fail - whether being chained up in solitary, having hot soup poured over her face, being beaten and sexually abused by the guards or seduced by female prison guards posing as prisoners! She stoically and silently keeps her mind focused on the only thing that will bring her satisfaction – the death of Sugumi!
Tiring of their treatment at the hands of the sadistic warden and his guards the inmates revolt, led by Katagirl who has by now been solicited by Sugumi to kill Matsu in exchange for her freedom. One of the prisoners’ demands is for Matsu to be delivered to them and once inside the warehouse Matsu is hogtied, suspended from the ceiling, viciously beaten and burnt by a spotlight that she is also sexually violated with!
Finally escaping from the prison in the confusion caused when the prison guards storm the warehouse to end the siege Matsu makes her way to Tokyo, ready for her showdown with Sugumi!
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion was made at a time when the Japanese film industry was developing a style of cinema that incorporated high levels of sex and violence that would become renowned as pinky violence. Meiko Kaji was no stranger to such cinema having starred in several of Nikkatsu studios Alleycat Rock series before playing Matsu on three further occasions and graduating to the titular role in the Lady Snowblood films. Uttering no more than half a dozen lines of dialogue throughout the movie Kaji’s iconic portrayal as the ice maiden assassin that would kill you just as soon as kiss you is a benchmark of Japanese exploitation cinema.
At less than 90 minutes Ito’s debut effort is a fast moving and brutal movie that speeds through the essential ingredients of a classic women-in-prison flick. But not only will you find copious nudity, gratuitous shower scenes, lesbianism and girl-on-girl violence in Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, you’ll also discover Ito’s flair for directing some mesmerising and almost psychedelic set pieces, including Matsu’s pre-prison flashbacks and Masaki’s pursuit of Matsu in the prison showers culminating in the stabbing of the governor! And if you think this is a crazy film, just wait til you’ve checked out the sequel – Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41!
Rob Bewick