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Angel Guts - 5 DVD boxset. Japan 1978 - 1988. Directed by Chusei Sone, Noboru Tanaka , Toshiharu Ikeda and Takashi Ishii

ANGEL GUTS: HIGH SCHOOL CO-ED
The first one of this controversial series of pink cinema (pinku eiga) isn't really nothing but a moderate, though most into action of these five entries. High School Co-Ed (Jokôsei: tenshi no harawata) tells a story of biker gang member Kawashima Tetsuro, who saves a high school girl called Nami being raped, although his gang has this "hobby" of raping violently young girls. Saving Nami and crushing on her eventually means tough problems for Kawashima.

High School Co-ed does not have any of the original feel to it, like the rest four films do. The story and its characters are quite uninteresting. If this means anything to anyone, I must say that it has so sleazy look and content, that it makes you want to go to shower. Nevertheless; it was the first of the series, so it naturally has a place in the boxset.

ANGEL GUTS: RED CLASSROOM
Murkai, the photographer for porn magazines, has an obsession to the high school girl he saw on "blue film", which contained a gang rape. Finally he finds and goes into affair with her, now grown-up woman called Nami. Murkai falls in love with her and finds that she has very uncommon but strong views towards sex, love, men and the way of the world. After an misfortunate incident, he is taken into prison. And when Murkai is released after three years, Nami has changed a lot. And unfortunately in negative way.

Director Chusei Sone uses a lot of dark shots, to emphasize the sleazy and bleak world of characters. There is no fancy camera-angles or any other tricks or effects - Angel Guts : Red Classroom (Tenshi no harawata: Akai kyôshitsu) lefts you with something uneasy to think about. It's relieving to find out that in the middle of this decadence there is a glimpse of hope left for the characters - and the viewers too!

After seeing this second episode in Angel Guts series, it leaves the western viewer highly confused. First impression is that here we have a cheap, misogynist sexploitation flick. Boy, could I have been more wrong. In the end, the film has a strong feminist theme in it. If you have guts to follow it, you'll see that Angel Guts - Red Classroom is unbelievably original film which has also influenced many modern day Japanese and also western movie makers. Author and screenwriter Ishii and director Sone can therefore easily be seen as pioneers of modern Japanese genre cinema.

ANGEL GUTS: NAMI
Nami is female reporter, who is working on an article dealing with rapes and the rape victims. She wants her interviews from the victims and gets involved with subject deeper and deeper. One day Nami meets a male dirty magazine reporter, who works on the same subject. It seems that he has some skeletons in his closet.

Angel Guts: Nami (Tenshi no harawata: Nami) has a quite interesting story, which makes it one of the winner pink films to watch. Although some acting turns into overacting, the strong and gripping storytelling and the solid directing saves a lot. Once again, the content is confusing stuff - some moments seem to be nothing but pure exploitation but then again some other scenes show the depth, like comparing journalists work to raping, when Nami aggressively goes after her interviewees. This film also contains some of the most amazing WTFIGO ("what the f___ is going on") moments, when it comes to this boxset. This sure ain't the film you want to watch with your girlfriend.

My favorite of the Angel Guts series, Angel Guts: Nami stays in your mind and we can thank Noboru Tanaka (Watcher in the Attic) for that. His imaginative work especially on visually great and hallucination scenes give this film nightmarish feel. Because of that, Angel Guts: Nami is also the most different of the series when it comes to content.

ANGEL GUTS: RED PORNO
Nami agrees to be a substitute for her friend, without really asking what kind of work her friend does. She has to perform in bondage photos for porn magazine. A reader of this magazine falls in love with Nami, but the feelings is not mutual.

Like the title suggests, this film shows more skin than the rest. Red Porno (Tenshi no harawata: Akai inga) is often near real hardcore porn flick, although the most private parts stay naturally offscreen. Toshiharu Ikeda (Evil Dead Trap) creates some stylish, tense and erotic scenes, with the use of red light and strong contrast of black color. The story here does lack badly, especially compared to previous entry. Angel Guts: Red Porno is visually great pink film and does drop your jaw off with some refreshingly daring erotica.

ANGEL GUTS: RED VERTIGO
Nami breaks up with his cheating husband and after that she is hit by car. The man who drove the car, takes the unconcious Nami with him and starts to abuse her sexually. Naturally they fall in love with each other...

Red Vertigo (Tenshi no harawata: Akai memai) is directed by the writer Takashi Ishii. Somehow he can make the characters rather realistic, although the plot summary above doesn't really point it out. Ishii gives attention to rapists feelings and the viewer can decide if that's morally right. Strong ending gives a glimpse of Ishii's talent - otherwise Red Vertigo (aka Red Dizziness) shows the average moments of the series.

Takashi Ishii, the writer of Angel Guts manga series, made these stories as a tribute for his wife. In the beginning - and every now and then - it is difficult to realize what these films are essentially all about, but in most of the cases it all comes clear in the end. Besides some bleak and violent scenes of humiliation there is a high amount of purely erotic imagery - and these two views combined together in one movie is something unfamiliar to deal with.

Also, a rape has always been somewhat peculiar aspect when it comes to exploitation cinema of Japan and other Asian countries. The warning in the cover ("contains scenes of extreme sexual violence which will offend many viewers") tells the truth - don't take it as a marketing trick.

Artsmagic's 5-disc boxset is a must for collectors and Japanese film enthusiasists. The picture quality is thoroughly good with sometimes beatifully vivid colors. As usual, Artsmagic has collected interesting extra material with interviews of Toshiharu Ikeda, Takashi Ishii and Noboru Tanaka. Commentary tracks are provided by Midnight Eye's Jasper Sharp. Also featured are the original sleeve art and trailers.