Girls kick ass. I mean, girls really do kick ass. It has taken Hollywood a while to understand this, but they are starting to catch on. In the 1980s, we had Ellen Ripley, in the 1990s we had Sarah Connor, and today they are pretty plentiful. Predating all of that, the only real ass-kicking women were found in the exploitation and sexploitation films of the 1970s. Unbeknownst to many, even die-hard genre fans, the Japanese had their own genre of film called “Sukeban,” or Girl Boss. This genre is a sort of pastiche of many others. A little bit of Women in Prison, a little bit of Women’s Revenge, and a little bit of Yakuza. The genre was a success throughout much of the 1970s, paralleling the success of the American exploitation films. Ironically though, even the most average Sukeban film is better than most American exploitation. To prove this (and entertain us in the process), a new DVD company called Panik House has released The Pinky Violence Collection – four examples of certified awesome sure to whet your appetite for more.

Here is what you get:

Criminal Woman: Killing Melody (1973) - This is a fairly straightforward story. It starts out in a women’s prison where several recently arrested victims of society discuss the crazy manners in which they were caught. Through it all, one woman remains silent, our starlet, Reiko Ike. Silence in genre movies only means one thing – preparation. Silence is the strengthening tool. It keeps one attentive, observant, and contemplative. Silence means that you are going to kick some major ass. It also means you aren’t going to make too many friends, and ultimately one prisoner grows tired of Reiko’s silence and challenges her. A mutual respect is gathered as a result to the point where, after the girls are released from prison, they decide to join Reiko on her quest of vengeance against the Yakuza that killed her father.

There is a strange genre shift since the movie changes from a very by-the-numbers WIP film into a very by-the-numbers revenge film with nothing to ease the transition. But that doesn’t make it boring. The film moves at a brisk pace with a generous amount of nudity to fill in the slower parts. There is a fantastic set-up in the second half where the girls convince two rival Yakuza gangs to fight each other. All in all though, it is probably the least fun of the four movies, since there is little to set it apart from the rest. But at under an hour and a half it makes for a great filler film.

Terrifying Girls’ High School: Lynch Law Classroom (1973) - This story has more of a manga/comic book feel to it. Girls get sent to a reform school (and a super strict one at that). The corrupt school officials allow a select council of students free reign to administer discipline as needed. A forward thinking school? Not quite. There is quite a bit of debauchery going on in the hierarchy of the official staff, and the student council has a tendency to “expel” students they consider problematic. You might think that the police would get involved, but it appears that your tax dollars are going to the school’s “shush-money” fund. The students strike back though, using their womanly charms and penchant for physical violence. Even grudges between rival girls are put aside for the greater goal of vengeance against the corrupt institution.

Like all of these films I didn’t want it to finish. But this one, more than the others, is so unrelenting in its perversion, violence, and style it comes across as both cool and wicked. In a way, it is also the most horrific. The opening sequence is gleefully demented and is reminiscent of Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik. Reiko Ike doesn’t even show up in the film until the second half, but her absence is hardly noticed because the supporting cast is such a joy to watch. There should be a law against films this awesome. By far it’s my favorite film in this set and the most amazingly entertaining in its gratuitous sex and violence. Don’t watch this film first. It is the dessert that will surely spoil your dinner.

Girl Boss Guerilla (1972) - This is the first of all the Reiko Ike films, and it certainly is fun. The story revolves around a girl motorcycle gang who do what motorcycle gangs do – they break the law. Sometimes they use their womanly charms, but sometimes they use violent force. When the Red Helmet Gang strays too far from their turf, they end up stepping on the feet of a rival gang. After a catfight, the Red Helmets are the victors and the rival gang is absorbed into their ranks. Together, this new ‘supergang’ runs the streets of Kyoto – a fact that doesn’t bode well with a Yakuza gang leader who just happens to be the brother of the rival gang's boss. Although saying they were off to a rocky start would be an understatement, the two girl gang leaders become good friends. When the Red Helmet leader falls in love with a common boxer in training, they do their best to hide it. Naturally, though, something quite awful is going to happen to her new beau, and you can bet that all sorts of asses are going to get kicked in bloody vengeance.

Like all the films, I enjoyed Girl Boss Guerilla quite a bit. Much of it is standard, but it had that great girl-gang, tough-bitch material like Switchblade Sisters or Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. Criminal nuns, full-breast tattoos, thievery, extortion, and overall delinquency make for an insane amount of fun. The action is fairly steady throughout, so it never gets boring. There is even a ridiculous music segment. While not as cartoonish as Terrifying Girls’ High School, it certainly has unreal silly moments balanced very well with the standard vengeance atmosphere. It isn’t the strongest in the set, but it is certainly worth a look.

Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess (1971) - This is the only film in the set that doesn’t star Reiko Ike, but instead stars another Reiko altogether – Reiko Oshida. This is no deterrent, however. In fact, when it comes to production and story, this may be the best film included in the set. Rika (Reiko Oshida) is released from prison early in the film and gets a job as a grease monkey at a mechanic shop. The shop is run by another inmate’s father. She quickly fits into her role as his apprentice and starts settling into a normal life. Things aren’t so simple for the shop owner, however. His biological daughter gets released from prison, but for reasons undefined at first, is uncommunicative with him. But the more urgent issue is how his shop owes a great deal of money to the local Yakuza.

This film has all the typical ingredients of the other Pinky Violence movies, but it is definitely more reserved in technique. The first thing you are likely to notice is that the action is practically non-existent until the finale. But that absence allows for a more dramatic story which really helps move the film along. The sex is much tamer than in the other films and the acting is considerably better. More than any of the others, this is real cinema – real awesome cinema at that. It perfectly balances the genre with bits of wit, comedy and emotion. Of all four, this is the easiest to recommend.

Presentation
Panik House might be new to the DVD industry, but they are certainly no slouches. All four movies look and sound great. In fact, I can’t complain about the sound a single bit. The video has some dirt here and there, but considering the age of the material and the source of the film stock, I doubt they even looked this good when they ran theatrically. In other words, there isn’t a damn thing to say to berate the quality of the release. The transfers are on par with the best of the Blue Underground, No Shame and Criterion releases.

Extras
Lots of extras are on this set, even a few that are guaranteed to be exclusive to the box set. (The CD, the liner notes, and the sticker)

Audio Commentaries – All four films have a feature length audio commentary, but with different participants. Criminal Woman’s commentary is hosted by Andy Klein, film editor of Los Angeles City Heat and Wade Major, film critic of Box Office magazine. There is great chemistry between the two, and although they do fall into the trap of not talking and watching the film, it isn’t at all boring and they both have quite a bit of genre knowledge to share. It’s a superb track. Chris Desjardins (who also wrote this set’s liner notes) does the commentary on Terrifying Girls’ High School and Delinquent Girl Boss. Desjardins is an amazing wealth of information, but is rather droll to listen to. Fairly monotone and, without a partner to work off of, there isn’t a lot of stuff that isn’t trivial or a duplication of what is being shown. Desjardins should stick to writing.

Poster and Still Galleries – All four films also have extensive poster and still galleries - usually with at least 10 images between the two, per film. Galleries like these are always fun to go through, but ultimately, they don’t offer much to come back to.

Director and Star Bios – This text feature is also on all four films. Very informative, but too concise for my liking. I really wanted to know more than the one-paragraph synopsis that the director bios offered. But considering how I knew absolutely nothing of the cast and crew of these films before watching this box set, I certainly know a considerable amount more after reading the bios so I can’t complain too much.

Theatrical Trailers – There is a trailer for each film, and all of them are awesome. Every single trailer does a great job of capturing the film and the plot, but they are still exploitation trailers that don’t hold back the nudity. All of them are definitely worth checking out and, like the features, they have each been remastered as well.

Toei’s Bad Girl Cinema (Liner Notes) – The liner notes that are included with this set are awesome. In fact, outside of Criterion I have never seen liner notes quite so extensive. Written by Chris Desjardins (the same person who did the commentary on Terrifying Girls’ High School and Delinquent Girl Boss), this has to be the most complete, interesting read about Sukeban films ever written in English. You will learn damn near everything that you want to know about the movies, and it is presented with awesome graphics. Desjardins (also the author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film) is a much better writer than he is commentator. Well worth your time, and well worth reading again when you are done. My only complaint is how the book is glued to the disc packaging. I ended up literally cutting the book out of the packaging with an Exacto knife just to read it comfortably.

Reiko Ike Sings! – audio CD - Sadly, this was not included with the screener. It will be available on all retail copies though. The faux orgasmic sounds of Reiko Ike will be more than welcome on your iPod.

Sticker – Ummm… you get a sticker. Cool!

Fin
This is the fifth release from Panik House, and while I haven’t reviewed any of the others, they have all been well beyond excellent. This is great for people interested in Asian cinema. With these new releases, there isn’t anything to be concerned about when jumping in blind. Great transfers, great sound, and nothing to distract you from the experience. With this package specifically, you get a great cross-section of what the genre has to offer and more background information than even the most wishful thinking would expect. I applaud the publisher for this package, and easily rank it in my top 10 releases of 2005. I can’t wait to see what 2006 has in store. I can only hope it will be filled with more Pinky Violence.