User reviews

"Quick Draw Okatsu" while listed by some as the sequel to "Female Demon Ohyaku" from a year before, it's really a reworking of the concept (hence a different name) and has little to do with the earlier film. Shot in color and with a moderately bigger budget, this one still manages to hit the exploitation buttons.

The film opens with the oppression and murder of poor farmers by the minions of the city commissioner. An old woman is saved by Rui, a young plucky swordswoman who wears a miniskirt of sorts. Rui hides the old woman in a dojo where we meet Okatsu. Okatsu is the adopted daughter of a well respected sword instructor. Okatsu is an excellent swordswoman and overshadows the clumsy real son of her adopted father. The son leaves in anger with his pregnant wife. Unfortunately the son, Rintaro, is a gambling addict and he loses all his money during a crooked dice game. Okatsu trades herself to the gambling den boss for her brother but the boss is in league with the local city commissioner who hates Okatsu's father for getting in the way of his evil ambition in the past. Okatsu's father exchanges himself so Okatsu can go free but the commissioner reneges and rapes Okatsu while her father is being beaten and stabbed to death. Later she escapes and slaughters the gambling house thugs aided by Rui, whose intentions are not very clear. Outside, Okatsu plans her revenge while the commissioner plans to have her caught by a bounty hunter played by Tomisaburo Wakayama.

While probably as cynical as the earlier film, almost nobody is trustworthy, the color photography and the inclusion of the plucky Rui make this an easier film to watch. The torture scene where Okatsu's father is eventually killed goes on for a while and the staging of her rape while we see the torture thru a window is rather perverse. Later we are treated to a lengthy preparation to a forced abortion, yeesh. Once again the revenging woman likes to torment her victims before finally killing them. The actors are all great, the dialog is better than the previous film and this time Wakayama uses a sword! This is one of the best single take sword fights I've ever seen! It's only about 2 minutes long but it makes the film. Unfortunately, while she obviously tries her best, Junko Miyazono is no match for the great Wakayama and her sword scenes seem tepid by comparison. They don't fight each other in this film. Mostly entertaining with a few wince inducing scenes.

Quick Draw Okatsu is touted as being a sequel to Female Demon Ohyaku which was released a year earlier. Both films feature a lead character played by Junko Miyazono, and a central revenge theme; but other than that, they don't really have a lot in common as not only do the films not follow on from one another; but the lead characters don't have the same name and the two films have a storyline that exists separately. This is an early 'Pinky' film and is often consider a precursor to the genre; and has had an obvious influence on some of the better known series such as Lady Snowblood and Female Convict Scorpion. This film focuses on Okatsu; the adopted daughter of a master swordsman. She is a master with a sword herself and her talents far overshadow that of her brother, and real child of the man who adopted her. Her brother unfortunately has a gambling habit, and it plunges the family into trouble when he loses a lot of money in a crooked dice game. After releasing he is unable to pay the debt he owes; the blame is shouldered by the father, who is killed, leading Okatsu on a path of revenge.

The major difference between this film and Female Demon Ohyaku is the fact that this one is in full colour. The colour scheme is often one of the main things I like about Pinky Violence movies; but the original managed to make black and white beautiful. Whether or not this film is better or worse for being in colour is debatable; but the colour scheme is well used (particularly where blood is concerned). The plot flows very well and the film does a good job of explaining everything and ensuring that the audience is able to get behind the lead character in her quest for revenge. There's plenty of action in the movie too; and director Nobuo Nakagawa packs the film full of fight scenes, most of which are really well filmed. The first film in the trilogy featured one of my favourite death scenes of all time (executed by the lead character with a chain) and while this one doesn't reach that high; the final murder is suitably vicious. Overall, this is an excellent little film and while eclipsed somewhat by later Pinky Violence movies; stands up well today. High recommended...if you can find a copy.

According to IMDb and the DVD descriptions from Netflix, "Quick-Draw Okatsu" is the first sequel to "Yôen Dokufuden Hannya No Ohyaku". While the same lady star as Okatsu in both, however, it is NOT a sequel--as way too much of the story has nothing to do with the original tale. Why they did this, I have no idea. In the first film, Okatsu is the daughter of a prostitute and she has no family, as her mother killed herself. She spends most of the movie trying to punish those who killed her lover. However, here in "Quick-Draw", she has a brother and father and is a respectable member of society. It's as if NOTHING in the first film even occurred. So, this means you can see the second film without seeing the first but it also means you may well be disappointed.

Rintaro is Okatsu's brother. He has been raised to be a samurai but has no interest--he just wants to become a farmer and marry his sweetheart of very humble origins. The father is naturally incensed with this, but Okatsu gives him some money so he can make his way in life. However, some evil gamblers cheat Rintaro and are exposed by an odd lady Ronin (a masterless samurai warrior). In spite of this, they are determined to catch and kill Rintaro to hide their infamy. When Rintaro runs off, Okatsu offers to be punished in his place and the father offers to take the punishment instead of Okatsu. But, being evil, they punish BOTH--brutally killing the father and raping Okatsu and attempting to force her to become the mistress of the Boss, Shiozaki. Nice guys, huh?! More terrible things will happen and it will look very, very dark for our heroine--and a whole bunch of other scum will be added to her list for revenge.

Junko Miyazono plays the title role. While she's a nice actress, her swordsmanship is not all that great. Now I don't expect perfection (after all this is a fantasy), her skills aren't nearly as good as, say, Shintaro Katsu's (from the Zatoichi films) or his brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama (from the Lone Wolf films--and who appears in the Okatsu films and whose swordsmanship in this movie is amazing). Part of it might be her costumes--which allow little movement compared to most of the men's outfits. As for Reiko Ohshida, who played the ronin (Rui), she was more convincing in these fight scenes and I wished I'd seen more of her in the film. Plus, she was awfully adorable.

The bottom line is that if you like female revenge stories that predate Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films, then you'll like this film. For example, if you like the Japanese "Lady Snowblood" films, you are bound to enjoy this as well. I appreciated that although it had a lot of adult content, "Quick-Draw" did not come off as gratuitous--and despite another reviewer saying it was a predecessor of 'Pink' cinema, isn't exactly a Japanese Pink film (which feature soft-core pornography and are cheaply made--this film is neither). I also loved the two-story brothel set--it was pretty amazing to watch and quite effective (and, yes, I have seen this in a few other films before). And the acting was quite good--as was the story.

This film begins with several peasants in a small village being killed for withholding a certain percentage of their crops from their samurai masters. It's during this time that a mysterious woman named "Rui" (Reiko Oshida) appears and helps one particular female peasant escape into a nearby dwelling. Although the samurai continue to pursue her, they immediately cease their activities when they are confronted by a beautiful woman by the name of "Okatsu" (Junko Miyazono). It is then revealed that Okatsu has captured the lustful attention of their superior "Shiozaki" (Kenji Imai) and realizing this they respectfully back down so as not to incur his anger. Things change, however, after Okatsu's brother, "Rintaro" (Masaomi Kondo) loses a substantial sum of money at a nearby gambling den owned by Shiozaki who then threatens to kill Okatsu's father "Makabe" (Ko Nishimura) unless Okatsu agrees to become his concubine. When she hesitates, Shiozaki has Makabe killed and then rapes Okatsu during the process. He then imprisons Okatsu and after a couple of days gives her until sundown to accept his ultimatum or be killed. Meanwhile, a wounded Rintaro manages to escape with his wife "Saki" (Yukie Kagawa) to the house of an old family friend named "Jinkuro" (Harumi Sone) where he thinks they will be safe. What he doesn't realize is that Jinkuro's wife "Okiwa" (Junko Toda) is an extremely evil person and-thinking that Okatsu has already been killed by Shiozaki-- easily convinces Jinkuro to kill Rintaro and sell Saki to a house of prostitution. Needless to say, it comes as quite a surprise to Okiwa when a visibly tired Okatsu appears on her doorstep looking for her brother. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, other than the main character (Junko Miyazono), this film bears very little relationship to its predecessor. They're totally different. To further elaborate, the first movie, "Ohyaku-the Female Demon" was filmed in black-and-white and focused more heavily on drama while the second was filmed in color and is much more action-oriented. Likewise, the overall plot from the first film doesn't correspond in any way to the second movie either. Interestingly enough, however, they both manage to entertain fairly well in spite of their differences and I have rated this particular movie accordingly. Slightly above average.