AKA: Zeroka no Onna: Akai wappa
Country and Year: Japan (1974)
Director: Yukio Noda
Starring: Miki Sugimoto, Eiji Go, Tetsura Tamba, Yoko Mihara

Review By: David Austin
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars (good)

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs is the latest in a recent series of releases of old Toei Pinky Violence films, long unavailable in the US (see also my reviews of Toei’s Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale). The film at hand is the inspiration for a series of recent direct-to-video sleazefests, all going under the “Zero Woman” name. Don’t confuse the original with its imitators though – Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs is a piece of prime-grade, gritty ‘70s exploitation, more on the same wavelength as Coffy and Female Convict Scorpion. Unfortunately, the film fails to live up to the promise of its fantastic opening.

Zero Woman is definitely exploitation, not artsploitation. Aside from the color scheme and special handcuffs of the main character, openly surreal and arty touches are rare. In this respect, Zero Woman differs from the similarly-themed Female Convict Scorpion or Female Yakuza Tale films, which take their cue from the outrageous visual antics of Seijun Suzuki. Director Yukio Noda instead shot for the vibe of the contemporary, excellent and tremendously influential Battles Without Honor & Humanity series [aka The Yakuza Papers] by director Kinji Fukasaku. Noda employs many of the same techniques as Fukasaku, including freeze frames, flashback montages, and shaky hand-held camera, and succeeds in capturing some of Fukasaku’s energy, (though Zero Woman doesn’t hold a patch on Fukasaku’s outstanding Battles series, or his Street Mobster).

The film opens in the best way possible – go-go dancing. More people should learn from the example of Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Sexy Miki Sugimoto, clad all in red, attracts the attention of a sleazy gaijin, and they adjourn to his place. Foreplay concluded, he decides to make her the latest in a string of rape/murders. However, Sugimoto, an undercover cop, dispatches him by the time-honored method of multiple bullets to the crotch. Her superiors don’t see the necessity of her actions, and they summarily strip her of rank, send her to jail, and throw away the key.

Fortunately for Sugimoto, a situation arises that requires her expertise. The engaged daughter of an important politician, Nangumo Zengo (Tetsuro Tamba), is kidnapped and held for ransom. Nangumo wants her back and no mention of the affair leaked. At Nangumo’s instigation, Sugimoto is released from jail and becomes an unofficial agent of the government with a license to kill. Now calling herself “Zero Woman,” she sets out to infiltrate the gang, a bunch of vicious hoodlums led by the unstable Nakahara, rescue the girl, and leave no-one alive to tell the tale.

The plot is simple, and may have served as an inspiration for Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita. It’s a great premise. The problem is that neither Zero Woman nor the gang are interesting enough to help the film transcend its limitations. The sex and violence can only carry the film so far.

As Zero Woman, Sugimoto is stoic and nearly silent, fixated entirely on her mission. She’s clearly tough, intelligent, and possessed of enough rage to kill the rapist/murderer instead of arresting him. But that’s it. Aside from the fact that she was a cop, we learn nothing about her. When she confronts the rapist/murderer in the first scene, she accuses him of killing another girl, suggesting a history that is never filled out. Was this a friend, a colleague, or just a random victim? Who knows.

The lack of personality would be fine, if she was more active or effective. The earliest scene establishes her as a badass – a superheroic-type with her red handcuffs, and matching cute red gun and badge, and color-coordinated outfit. However she spends most of the rest of the movie being raped or beaten. The punks who hold her are dangerous, but really just dumb, vicious punks, not criminal masterminds. Why does she tolerate the abuse, and the deaths caused by the gang as she travels with them. She seems to be biding her time, but to little effect.
[SPOILER FOR THE REST OF THE PARAGRAPH]
It’s revealed in the final showdown that she was armed with a gun all along. Why didn’t she use it earlier? There seem to be plenty of opportunities for her to have finished off the gang with little danger to her or the hostage – and averted much tragedy and misery thereby.
[END SPOILER]

Meiko Kaji’s Female Convict Scorpion is similarly stoic and mysterious, but much more proactive. And frankly, Sugimoto is no Meiko Kaji. Kaji did all her acting with her eyes and posture. When her Scorpion character took abuse, you practically taste the cold anger and contempt boiling over behind her unblinking eyes. Sugimoto just can’t pull it off. She appears more dull than mysterious or deep.

Nakahara has potential, but despite belated attempts to flesh out his history, he never seems like much more than an vicious beast. The actors playing the rest of the gang also do an effective job, alternating between genuine menace and the kind of intentional, maniacal overacting traditional in Japanese cinema. Only Tetsuro Tamba as the political animal (You Only Live Twice, Happiness of the Katakuris, and countless other films) and Zero Woman’s government handlers really draw attention.

Zero Woman does succeed as a pure example of rough 70s exploitation cinema. The best comparison outside of Japanese films is to the cheapo rough Kung Fu films of the period, or to Blaxploitation like Black Caesar. Certainly it is much more dynamic and competently shot than many of its American equivalents. The direction is cynical and nasty, but with a careful eye towards pleasing the grindhouse crowd. The promised ultra-violence is rampant - murder, torture and physical abuse are constant presences in the film (as is unpleasant sexual abuse). One scene features the simultaneous application of a blowtorch and a vice. More than a little, Zero Woman brings to mind Wes Craven’s gory shocker Last House on the Left.

Anti-foreign sentiment is strong, as was common in exploitation films of this era. Foreigners are ineffective or murderous. Nakahara wears a US Navy jacket, with symbols prominently on display during the rape of Nangumo’s daughter. If that was too subtle, Noda also intercuts the rape with footage of Navy warplanes flying over the scene.

Recommended? Definitely to fans of sex-and-violence filled 70s exploitation cinema, but not really to anyone else. Zero Woman doesn’t really have a great deal of cross-over appeal. It is what it is.

If you like this, you might like: Female Convict Scorpion 1 and 2, La Femme Nikita, Coffy, Sex and Fury, Naked Killer, Female Yakuza Tale , Battles Without Honor & Humanity, Lady Snowblood 1, The Streetfighter,

DVD DETAILS

DVD Production Company: Discotek (www.discotekmedia.com)
Release Date: October 25, 2005
Run Time: 88 Mins
Extras: Trailers for Zero Woman and Lupin III, Booklet by Thomas Weisser

Discotek’s Region 1 DVD of Zero Woman is a solid release. The movie is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and looks quite good. While the picture is a bit grainy, that’s to be expected from a 70s release like this. Honestly, it wouldn’t look right without a bit of grittiness. Sound is also good, and English subtitles are optional. The sleeve case looks great, and nicely captures the lurid subject-matter. The provision of translation for the full opening credits is also appreciated.

Extras are minimal. There are trailers for Zero Woman and the upcoming Discotek release of Lupin III. There is also a booklet featuring promotional images of the film and an essay by the controversial Thomas Weisser of Asian Cult Cinema magazine, with a brief discussion of the film and the Pinky Violence genre.

While more extras would have been appreciated, Discotek should be commended for their good work, and for bringing a long-awaited cult item like this to light. The disc is clearly a labor of love, and very good for a first effort. There are tons of great Japanese films from this era still unreleased and I’m glad that there’s another company on the market (along with Panik House) that wants to do it right.

© David Austin

Click here to buy the Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs DVD from Amazon.com.