As America, once the world's greatest democracy, becomes the world's greatest hypocrisy -- a morally confused society that sells everything with sex, yet denies its existence beyond commerce -- it is more than comforting to watch Teruo Ishii directing like a demon in "Bohachi Bushido - Code of the Forgotten Eight", a cinematic masterpiece that celebrates the lurid, the violent, and the surreal without an ounce of shame. The comic book this is based on provides director Ishii with one of the most solid screenplays of his uneven career. The subject matter is the perfect marriage for the director's obsessions and bizarre style. A ronin named Shino (Tetsur Tamba) is invited to join the Forgotten Eight, a clan of cold-hearted outcasts who have sworn off shame and society's unwritten "rules" of conduct. The clan is ruled by a smart old nutbag who convinces Shino to help him rid Yoshiwara (the Red Light district) of illegal prostitution. Once Shino has done his job in the bloodiest fashion imaginable, a plot is hatched that will lead to his destruction. This bare-bones synopsis doesn't even hint at the lurid pleasures contained within this film's pink-curtained frames. There is a plethora of naked woman, and anybody who appreciates the female breast is guaranteed of a jolly good time not had since combing the floor of Russ Meyer's cutting room. Dozens of beautiful, lethal women adorn the frames of this beautifully shot and choreographed fantasy. Ishii even throws a syphilitic old hag into the mix and gives us garish, amazing images ripped from the covers of the sleaziest pulp paperbacks. For mine, most movies that attempt to emulate the pulps fall short of expectations. Apart from a few token gestures to emulate the feel and content, the discipline to stick with the program isn't there. No so with this excellent achievement in cinema. A special nod must go to Tetsur Tamba, who plays Shino with absolute conviction. His performance is mesmerizing. This is not "Lone Wolf and Cub" with breasts and it's not "Captured for Sex 2" with swords -- it is its own unique creature, a product of a fertile imagination that was given adequate finance and free rein to create a work of beauty, raw sexuality, and stylish bloodshed.

"Porno Jidaigeki: Bohachi Bushido" aka. "Bohachi: Clan Of The Forgotten Eight" of 1973, should be interesting to all my fellow fans of Japanese Exploitation cinema, as it is a film that combines the work of Teruo Ishii and Kazuo Koike. Teruo Ishii is the brilliant director responsible for films such as "Female Yakuza Tale", "The Black Cat's Revenge", "The Executioner" or "Horrors Of Malformed Men". Kazuo Koike is the genius writer behind such masterpieces as the "Kozure Ôkami" films with Tomisaburo Wakayama, the "Hanzo The Razor" films with Shintaro Katsu, or "Lady Snowblood" with Meiko Kaji (Koike wrote the comic-books these films were based on, and, in most cases, the screenplays). The pairing of Koike and Ishii promises something stylish, brutal and sleazy, and this memorable film truly has all these attributes. While "Porno Jidaigeki" is not one of the most memorable Chambara/Sexploitation crossovers (films like "Hanzo The Razor: Sword Of Justice" and "Sex And Fury" come with my highest possible recommendations) this is definitely a very interesting, blood-soaked and delightfully sleazy film that fans of Japanese Exploitation cinema should not miss.In 17th century Japan, a Ronin named Shiro (Tetsuro Tamba) is recruited by the ruthless Bohachi-Clan, which controls prostitution in the area. The Bohachi-Clan's forces include the 'Bohachi Women', some sort of mixture between prostitutes and beautiful but lethal (and mostly naked) female assassins. Shiro is to wipe out the Clan's competitors in prostitution business... Tetsuro Tamba is stone-cold and bad-ass as always, and he was the perfect choice to play Shiro. The yummy female cast members are naked for about 99% of their screen time, and the film is filled with vast amounts of perverted sleaze as well as lost of stylish bloodshed, so most of my fellow Exploitation-lovers should be satisfied. The score is also pretty cool, and the photography and choreography are great. The story may be a bit messy, but the film's great style, and, especially, the sexy female cast and tons of sleaze and violence make up for this easily. Overall, "Bohachi: Clan Of The Forgotten Eight" is a more than entertaining film that should satisfy all my fellow fans of Japanese Exploitation cinema. Highly Recommended. My rating: 7.5/10

Bohachi Bushido is the story of an ex-samurai named Shiro. Believing life and death to be the same hell, he tries to kill himself by jumping into a river. A very hard man to kill, Shiro is revived by members of the Clan of the Forgotten Eight- an organization of men and women who have discarded god, servitude, loyalty, trust, propriety, justice, conscience, and shame. The Forgotten Eight run Japan's cruel sex industry and they recruit Shiro to rid them of their competition. Shiro agrees to work for them, more out of boredom than any real convictions.So, we have a bad ass samurai running through the sexual underworld of 17th century Edo directed by Teruro Ishii for Toei studios in 1973. That means blood, lots of nudity, perhaps some misogyny, a couple moments of brilliant cinematography, and maybe just a little more nudity. Not a great movie, but definitely a lot of fun!Tetsuro Tamba plays a wonderful "Shiro", both pained and bemused by the hell of life. Gorou Ibuki as "Kesazo Shirakubi", the Bohachi second in command, has a great chemistry with Tamba. Ibuki would pretty much play the "Shiro" role in another Bohachi film a few years later as a similar (but sicker) life loathing ex-samurai in "Bohachi Bushido: Saburai" with the lovely Reiko Ike as a pistol wielding Bohachi woman.

So far, the JOYS OF TORTURE films have been very hit-or-miss with me. I've enjoyed the first film, I loved SHOGUN'S SADISM (the unofficial sequel that's not actually part of the series...), dug YAKUZA LAW: LYNCHING! and thought INFERNO was pretty weak. Seems that Ishii just can't stay predictable in this series.As far as content - I don't really have much clue as far as this film goes, as it's in Japanese language only, and I don't speak Japanese. There's a lot of not very well done samurai-style fight scenes, and some OK nudity. There's nekkid girls and ninjas. The rest was pretty much lost on me...Now normally, the things I mentioned above would be enough to warrant this as a grade-A piece of pinku-style sleaze, but honestly - most of it was too dull for my taste. There are a few good scenes (including a pretty hot lesbo scene with a Jap chick and a white girl who's tied up...) that make this one worth a look...but overall, it just doesn't live up to my sleaze-standards. Also, the story was too hard to follow and didn't seem all that engaging. Definitely worth checking out for pinku completists or serious fans of the JOYS OF TORTURE series...but this one lacks the strength of other, better entries...6.5/10