88 Films brings us 1969’s anthology Love & Crime (Meiji · Taishô · Shôwa: Ryôki onna hanzai-shi), which features stories about, and you better sit the hell down for this one, love… and crime!
Coming from iconic Japanese cult director Teruo Ishii (Horrors of Malformed Men, Blind Woman’s Curse) we are treated to interpretations of true life tales of passion and mayhem and we are going to fix our putrid peepers on each one (along with my expert standard substandard analysis)!
Opening with a wrap-around segment that features a forensic doctor performing an autopsy on a female corpse as he reminisces on past murder cases as he tries to solve the latest case currently laid open before him… which just so happens to be his wife This sets the tone for the grimness to come…
First up we get a tale concerning a hotel owner, Chiyu Saito (Mitsuko Aoi), being manipulated by her trusted assistant, Kinue Munakata (Rika Fujie)… and by “manipulated” I mean Kinue is fucking Chiyu’s husband while convincing him that his wife has simply got to go… via murder.
This seems simple enough, but Kinue and her boyfriend have designs on owning the hotel themselves, which of course leads to more chaos.
And what delightfully depraved chaos it is, as Kinue is horny as all fuck for killing… so much so she doesn’t even care that there are corpses in the room as she gets it on!
This is a fast moving entry, and one hell of a way to get our toes wet with what’s to come…
Next comes the story of Sada Abe (Yukie Kagawa), a former prostitute now working as a waitress… a waitress that has an affair with her boss, which due to her past interactions with men ends in those hoary ol’ chestnuts strangulation and genital severing!
This segment includes an interview with the real Abe in which she explains her motivation to scissor a dude’s dickus off!
Filled with kink n’ killing (not to mention the fourth wall breakin’ chat) this segment packs a hell of a (penis) punch!
Moving on we come to a bit of a change of pace with a narrative involving a man putting a murder on women.
The man in question is ex-military man Yoshio Kodaira (Asao Koike) who has decided to become a walking sexual assault with a real fondness for strangling women.
Throughout the story we move unchronologically through Yoshio’s exploits, but rest assured all of them are disgusting as he really loves praying on the most vulnerable females he can find.
This one also bucks the trend by not containing the hot n’ horny overtones of what has come before.
Overall this segment is a grim, nihilistic, gender-swapped entry, that while extremely well-made, breaks the flow and pervasive theme of woman committing the deadly acts.
Last up we learn of the last woman to die of beheading in Japan.
Oden (Teruko Yumi, who is the second actress from Horrors of Malformed Men to appear here along with Mitsuko Aoi) is betrothed to Naminosuke (Shin’ichirô Hayashi, Message From Space), a man she doesn’t dig in the least, but it was an arranged marriage, so what can you do?
It gets “better” though as Naminosuke soon develops an outrageous case of leprosy that leaves him rather hard to look at (great make-up here… which is no surprise as all of the effects are solid throughout the picture). Even though he looks like mashed potatoes, Naminosuke is still DTF ‘round the clock.
Things look up when Oden takes a lover on the side… a lover who eventually murders Naminosuke. You’d think everything is coming up Oden, but alas things go further south for our heroine… so much so that she is soon scheduled for execution.
Given the shortness of this segment we get a “Greatest Hits” version of the life of Oden Takahashi, but the “hits” hit hard indeed, and while things are definitely played for maximum shock value, the tale nevertheless remains a poignant and dour affair.
After all that you may (not) be asking yourself, “What sort of special features could be included to supplement a film such as this?”
Well let me tell ya!
Bonus material present here includes: an audio commentary courtesy of writer/filmmaker Jasper Sharp and Fangoria writer Amber T. (who give an upbeat, scholarly analysis of the film), an appreciation of the film from film critic and journalist Mark Schilling, the film’s trailer, and an image gallery.
The package includes a reversible sleeve featuring stunning artwork provided by Ilan Sheady, and a booklet featuring an essay on the film from Toei Studios (who released Love & Crime… perhaps obviously) expert Nathan Stuart.
Additionally 88 Films have included a DVD version of Love & Crime with the same special features mentioned above.
Both times a somber exploration into the depths some people will go for passion, and straight-up exploitation Grand Guignol greatness, Teruo Ishii’s Love & Crime is a very dark, at times super sleazy, cinematic journey worth taking for those that dig on Ero guro!
