Sex & Fury

Attacked as she was bathing, Ochô was forced to defend herself against a group intent on her death - outside in the snow! Her magnificent swordplay was enhanced by her nakedness, and soon her creamy white breasts were stained in blood. Creamy white breasts appear in this film more often than swords.

There are familiar faces for viewers of pinky violence films like Girl Boss Guerilla and the nunsploitation film School of the Holy Beast (Yuki - Rie Saotome). The director of this film wrote and directed both.

Christina gets more action than anyone; even girl-on-girl with Jun Midorikawa.

Yuki manages to get herself into a situation where she is raped by Iwakura and made into a nympho by some magic cream. He is soon to get his in a most clever way, when Ochô finds out he was one of the three men responsible for her father's murder.

There is even some nunsploitation in this film as Ochô goes after the second murderer. Ochô is captured by the nun bodyguards, taken to a convent and severely whipped. It is here that she learns the identity of the third murderer - a shocking surprise.

Toshiro Mifune never looked so dashing as Ochô in her final battle. Weakened by the torture and with two bullets in her, she managed to spill buckets of blood in pursuit of her objective.

Brilliant cinematography in this pinky violence classic.

Ocho (Reiko Ike), decades after witnessing her father's merciless death, sets out on a quest to find the three responsible for the travesty and exact revenge. In her travels she befriends a handsome your anarchist who's involved with a European spy (the beautiful Christina Lindberg, perhaps best known for her "Thriller" film). This sexy spy along with co-horts wants to dismantle the country from within. All this comes together in a cinematic experience that has to be seen to be believed. Probably very controversial when it was released in Japan of the early '70's, the films more 'outragious' scenes (the battle in which Ocho is completely nude amongst others) seem almost quaint now, yet the film retains it's beautiful, almost poetic feel and is definitely one to actively search out. Followed by a sequel that couldn't really reach the same level as this had.

My Grade: B+

A masterpiece of Japanese 70s sexploitation and a pinnacle film of the Japanese Pink Violence era and no doubt influential on a host of films which came after it. This film is unique in so many ways. Reiko Ike is just gorgeous as Ocho, the Female Yakuza who not only kicks ass.. but kicks it while she's totally nude as we see in the highlight fight scene of the film shot in and outside of a Haiku House in the snow. Sound familiar? Think Kill Bill. The characters are all slick and seedy, some seem to be taken right out of a comic book. The photography is well mastered. The fighting choreography is great, the scenes are ultra violent with blood spraying action and a bevy of erotic sex. Recommended for any fan of Asian sexploitation and martial arts violence. The follow up film to this is Female Yakuza Tale.. which I also recommend for even more over the top sex and sword sport.

SEX AND FURY is a classic of the Toei "pinky-violence" (Japanese films typically of the 70's containing heavy violence and lots of nudity and simulated sex...)genre. A strong plot, beautiful cinematography, and a decent amount of swordplay and tits-and-ass make this one a winner.

The story surrounds Ocho - a female gambler, thief, master swordswoman...basically an all-around badass. When a fellow gambler is killed, his dying wish is for Ocho to retrieve his sister from the brothel that she's been sold to. Ocho agrees and begins a journey that will ultimately lead her to her own father's murderers - and revenge is sweet...

SEX AND FURY is so well made that it is hard to view this one strictly as a pinky-violence or exploit film. The cinematography is amazing, the fight choreography is well done, the acting is very good, the sets are elaborate, and the plot is tight and well thought out. A MAJOR high point for this film is that it also co-stars the GORGEOUS Christina Lindberg, of THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE fame, as a sexy British (?) spy - and of course she's showing plenty of skin in this one, too.

My only real gripe with SEX AND FURY is that there could have been a lot more violence. I would have been happier if the violence was more on par with films like the LONE WOLF AND CUB series, for example. Even so, I would definitely recommend this to fans of the aforementioned LONE WOLF AND CUB films, the ZATOICHI series, LADY SNOWBLOOD, etc...and for fans of Lindberg - seeing her naked is always a treat...Recommended 8/10

As a little girl, Ochô Inoshika witnesses the bloody murder of her father, who dies clutching three gambling cards, clues to the identities of those responsible for his death. Two decades later, Ochô (Reiko Ike) is now a skilled card player and deadly swords-woman and uses her talents to try and track down her father's killers. Her search leads her into a world of political intrigue, her path crossing with an idealistic revolutionary Shunosuke (Tadashi Naruse) and his British ex-lover, undercover spy and gambler Christina (Swedish sex star Christina Lindberg).

Approximately twelve minutes into Sex and Fury and viewers are treated to an exquisitely exploitative scene in which beautiful star Reiko Ike is attacked by numerous sword wielding baddies while taking a relaxing soak in a tub. Leaping from the water to grab her sword, she proceeds to hack and slash her way through the enemy, her naked body becoming drenched with blood in the process. The action moves into a snowy courtyard, where the carnage continues in slow motion, until all the men are dead.

Director Noribumi Suzuki (Beautiful Girl Hunter, School of the Holy Beast) closes his film in a similar fashion, with Ike going topless to slice up countless henchmen in her pursuit of justice. Excessive arterial spray ensures that, once again, Ike winds up drenched in bright red gore. This time, she uses the snow outside to clean her bloody chest.

Sadly, these gloriously bloody bookends to the film's intricate revenge plot are easily the film's highlights, with not an awful lot of note going on between them. The rather dull political plot-line offers very little opportunity for more action, and although there is copious nudity and sex along the way, the soft-core shagging and light bondage soon becomes tiresome (even Lindberg's lesbian session with a Japanese woman outstays its welcome).

Sex and Fury is, as these kind of movies so often are, extremely stylish, with classy cinematography and a cool jazzy score, but the acting from some of the cast is decidedly ropey (Lindberg speaks both English and Japanese, mangling both languages). If you're new to Japanese cinema and are looking for a classic female swords-woman revenge tale, I suggest either of the Lady Snowblood movies over this film; and if you're after something really sleazy, then the aforementioned other films from Suzuki offer more in the way of general perversion. Sex and Fury is passable pinky violence, but there are better examples out there.