Female Prisoner Scorpion

This boxed set presents four films starring Meiko Kaji as Nami Matsushima, aka Scorpion, a woman framed for a crime she didn't commit and tossed into a brutal prison where she faces sadistic guards, a warden determined to break her spirit, and inmates vying for control. Kaji was already famous for her girl gang movies when she made Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), but her character here is an innocent who refuses to break under torture (and there is plenty, as she is systematically abused and humiliated), and she plots to escape to take her revenge on the lover who betrayed her. Kaji gives a near silent performance as the smoldering heroine who defies the warden and scheming inmates with her glowering stares and sudden strikes, and she exhibits an almost superhuman ability to endure abuse and patiently wait for vengeance. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) pushes the exploitation to outrageous extremes in a prison escape thriller directed like an avant-garde drive-in movie with bright, bold, and striking imagery and an atmosphere of existential doom. Our heroine escapes once more in Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973), going into hiding only to battle a brutal gang preying upon the women who have hidden her. In the final film, Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song (1973), Nami teams up with a political radical who is suffering from the emotional and mental scars of police abuse. These are grindhouse films with gratuitous nudity, sadistic torture, extreme violence, and a perverse irony to the vengeance, but they are also cult movie exploitation classics. Extras include a visual essay on the series by critic Tom Mes, new and archival interviews, and a booklet. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)