Paula Hammond - Features EditorBig, bold, and bloody, Eureka’s latest release explores the worlds of sex and violence, with a duo of two of Japan’s most infamous exploitation films.
Based on the popular manga by Lone Wolf and Cub creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight is one of the standout films in the career of Teruo Ishii (Shogun’s Joy of Torture), known in Japan as the “King of Cult.” A bloody and erotic samurai tale starring an assassin with a death wish, it paved the way for Takashi Harada’s spiritual successor, Bohachi Bushido: The Villain.
Code of the Forgotten Eight sees a nihilistic ronin, Shino Ashita (Tetsuro Tanba, Three Outlaw Samurai), join the sadistic Bohachi clan — a group of corrupt samurai who operate a prostitution ring. With nothing else to live for, he acts as their assassin in a war with a rival clan that poses a threat to their business. Then, in The Villain, the condemned criminal Kyushi Issho (Goro Ibuki, Hokuriku Proxy War) falls in with the infamous Bohachi samurai – and he too is drawn into a world of wanton violence and sexual sadism.
Prime examples of the ero guro jidaigeki style of film making — this duo of ‘70s flicks won’t be to everyone’s tastes. The focus here — blending eroticism and the grotesque — often makes for uncomfortable viewing. Neither film holds back, with a lots of gratuitous nudity, and blood-fountains. To be fair, there is plenty of plot — and The Forgotten Eight, especially, has some wonderful cinematography, and breath-taking fight choreography. However, Cruel Tales of the Bohachi is a snap-shot of a changing era, when Japanese cinema looked to embrace a more Western approach to depictions of sex and violence. Whether that was good thing, depends on what you want, or expect, from Japanese cinema.
The Masters of Cinema release presents both films for the first time on UK home video, on HD blu-ray.
