Film Vs. Digital

I was surprised to learn that the 2004 version of Flower and Snake had been shot using a high definition digital camera, in this case a Sony CineAlta. I thought I had looked this up before and IMDb said it had been shot on 35mm film. Apparently not. There it is: Sony CineAlta HDW-F900R.

I'm assuming the subsequent versions made in 2005 and 2010 were also shot digitally.

I believe a similar camera system was used to shoot one or more of the Star Wars prequels.

The Earliest Fower and Snake Poster So Far?

Oka Naomi (left); Tani Naomi (center); Tyranny Woman Torture (right)

By my calculations, Oka Naomi should be about 59 years old now. Pretty soon she'll be eligible for a pension in Japan. Hard to believe.

I first came across this actress a long time ago. I stumbled upon some VHS tapes of three or four of her films (pre-DVD days) and was smitten. These were put out by Shin-Toho and it seems that she often was paired with actor Shimomoto Shiro who, by the way, also appeared in SM Hunter  with Saotome Hiromi.

I recall that those VHS movies always had the words "Violence Porno!" at the beginning, just to let you know what you were in for. Actually, by today's standards, they were pretty tame. But at least they were shot on film, had actual plots and used real actors.

Who Was That Tattooed Lady?

I wrote a review a while ago at the old blog of the 1983 Nikkatsu/Dan Oniroku film Snake Pit (Hebi no Ana, aka Snake Hole) starring Shima Izumi. In the review I mentioned that an opening scene of that film had been used by the producers of a movie called Shocking Asia II.

Hebi no Ana

Theatrical poster

I had actually seen Shocking Asia II before seeing Hebi no Ana so it came as quite a surprise, you might say even a shock, to actually see where this remarkably erotic scene had come from.

21st Century Flower and Snake

I didn't include the last three Flower and Snake films in the chronology of Hana to Hebi in the previous post so let me just say a few words about the 2000s' versions here. Nothing really new. Most of this will probably be old hat to fans of the franchise.

The first two Flower and Snake movies of the 2000s came out in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and starred the lovely Sugimoto Aya. The first of these just seems to be known as Flower and Snake (once again) while the second one is titled Flower and Snake, Paris Shizuko.

Then, in 2010, Komukai Minako starred in Flower and Snake 3.

Flower and Snake Timeline and Seijin Eiga

There was a magazine published in Japan a long time ago called Seijin Eiga (Adult Movies). A colleague has a few issues but says they are quite hard to come by. The magazine came out monthly from 1965 to 1973 and was edited by one Kawashima Nobuko.

Most of the information here concerning this magazine has been gleaned from Eigapedia and SMpedia (Japanese). Here is a quote from Eigapedia:

"During its existence Seijin Eiga was the major publication covering the genre, and it is now a significant source of information on early Pink films, most of which have been lost."

Here is another cover for the magazine which I found on SMpedia. It is issue number 15 and appeared in 1967. The cover girl is Yabuki Yukari. Just look at this sweet thing! She looks great even in black and white. Forty-five years ago! Oh my.

Apparently, Ms. Yabuki was both an actress and on the staff of Yamabe Pro, an independent pink film production company in the 1960s.

To-Do List: See This Film

Slightly censored from the poster version

I've seen a couple of different English titles for this 1977 Toei film, including Decapitation of an Evil Woman and, from the MPPA of Japan, Vampire Oden and Asaemon, a Beheader.

Shogun's Sadism

This one doesn't seem to get a lot of attention even though it was directed by Makiguchi Yuji, the same fellow who directed the 1976 film known in the West as Shogun's Sadism.

Update: Looks like the reason for that is it hasn't come out on DVD yet and might never have been released on VHS. According to the Amazon Japan page, it will be released on February 21, 2012. You heard it here first.

Uncensored poster

I picked up the poster for Decapitation a few years ago and am much too fond of it to let it go. If I ever find another one, I just might offer it for sale. This really is a tremendous poster. Not so sure about the flick, haven't seen it -- yet.

DVD available at Amazon Japan (Feb. 21, 2012)