This time Miki Sugimoto is the star and Reiko Ike takes the secondary lead female role. Sugimoto stars as Massayo, the daughter of a murdered alcholic/addict by powerful Yakuza boss, Obi(ôji Hayama), sent to prison when she attempts to kill him in a club. Ike is Maki, Obi's squeeze, in prison she meets Massayo and they become respected "adversaries." Massayo befriends other inmates and they partner up after serving their time, vowing to take down Obi's organization by causing a Yakuza war between him and another inferior gang, the Hamayasu clan who operate the docking port of the city. Massayo prostitutes herself to Americans exchanging sexual favors for artillery, concocting a weapons trade with old man boss Hamayasu's volatile son, Tetsu(Takeo Chii). Maki is back around Obi's arm and warns Massayo of clearing out of town, or else. The rest of the film shows how Massayo and her clever female clan rip apart the two Yakuza gangs by pitting them against each other, while also shedding some blood themselves in the process. And, you can better believe Maki and Massayo will have one more confrontational showdown when so much money and dope are at stake.Fans of pinku revenge crime flicks get their moneys's worth with CRIMINAL WOMAN:KILLING MELODY. As expected nudity and ultra-violence are in abundance with lots of gunfire and Yakuza gangsters blown to smithereens. It's always entertaining seeing a motley group of gorgeous females waging war with the Yakuza, using their brains and looks to gain an advantage. You get a rather mild torture sequence this time around as Massayo is rescued from a rather grim fate by Maki. Chii's bonkers Tetsu(..always with a large bottle of liquor, downing it before shooting at somebody or raising hell against Obi)is hilarious as are the instances where animated Yakuza gangsters are either lifted in the air by dynamite/grenades or shot to pieces by bullet-fire. We get not one but TWO hand-to-hand combats between Sugimoto and Ike(..the first in prison, testing each other's endurance, is a dandy)which it in itself is added incentive for pinku fans to check this flick out. Plenty of bare flesh between Ike and Sugimoto as well. It was nice seeing Sugimoto this time getting to star as the lady of vengeance and when she stares you down with death in her eyes..LOOK OUT! Nothing more dangerous than Sugimoto scorned! Ike may not have the lucrative role here, but she's still looking mighty fine. As expected, the pace is excellent(..the editing and camera work are first-rate)and action set pieces thrilling. And, as you'd expect, nearly everyone is dead by the end of the film.

In 1972 and 1973, Japanese Exploitation cinema brought us the four greatest "Women In Prison" themed films in the history of motion pictures with the "Joshuu Sasori" flicks starring the great Meiko Kaji (Especially the first three films, directed by Shunya Ito, rank high on my personal all-time favorite list). It is amazing that the follow-up on the list of the greatest WIP-flicks is also a Japanese film, that belongs in the great Pinky Violence sub-genre and was released in 1973. Well, technically it's not really a traditional WIP flick, but an absolutely awesome female gangster/revenge flick that starts out in a women's prison. "Zenka onna: koroshi-bushi" aka "Criminal Woman: Killing Melody" of 1973 is a fantastic entry to the Pinky Violence sub-genre that no fellow exploitation buff should consider missing. Even though he never directed anything else, director Atsushi Mihori created an awesome gem of Japanese Exploitation cinema with this flick, brought to you by the great Toei Company. Starring the ravishing genre-goddesses Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, "Criminal Woman" once again delivers style, a vast amount of sleaze and violence, and also, more than most other examples for the genre, a fantastic plot.The ravishing Reiko Ike stars as Maki, a girl who has to go to prison after trying to avenge her father, who was murdered by a local Yakuza clan. She befriends some other bad-girls in prison, the toughest being the heavily tattooed, and equally hot Massayo (played by the ravishing Miki Sugimoto), who is involved with the Yakuza. Throughout her prison term, Maki just has the sole goal to finish her revenge once she gets out...Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto are both ravishing and super-cool, and it is hard to say which one of the two deserves her status as a cult-siren more (in terms of pure beauty my personal choice would be Miki, but they're both very hot and very bad-ass). The two starred together in a bunch of films (such as "Girl Boss Guerilla", "Girl Boss Revenge" and "Terrifying Girls' Highshool: Lynch Law Classroom") and each of the ladies starred in a bunch of highlights alone (Miki Sugimoto's most memorably in "Zero Woman Red Handcuffs", Reiko Ike in "Sex And Fury" and "Female Yakuza Tale"). "Criminal Woman: Killing Melody" is one of the highlights of either woman's career, an immensely stylish, supremely bad-ass and absolutely awesome gem that is a must-see for every lover of Exploitation and/or Japanese cinema. Also great are Yumiko Katayama, Chiyoko Kazama and Masami Sôda, who make a beautiful female supporting cast as their fellow inmates in Women's prison. The film is action-packed and stylish from the very beginning, with a funky score and a genre-typical beautiful theme song. All things considered "Criminal Woman: Killing Melody" is an excellent Pinky-gem that no lover of Japanese Exploitation cinema could possibly afford to miss! Awesome!

CRIMINAL WOMAN: KILLING MELODY isn't my favorite of the PINKY VIOLENCE box-set...but it's still a great film. I honestly haven't seen a pinky film yet that wasn't entertaining and full of what I like to see, namely - tits-and-ass, violence, and a decent storyline. This entry is a lot more straight-forward than some of the others (which will be a plus to some - I personally dig the more "intricate" story lines...) and will definitely be of interest to any pinky fans out there.Maki's dad was killed by the local Oba yakuza clan. Maki took revenge by trying to kill the leader but only ended up stabbing a henchman. She's sent to jail, and on her release still has plans for vengeance against the Oba leader. Hooking up with some of her old "girl-gang" pals, she hatches a plan to pit Oba's crew with another local yakuza clan for her own ends...KILLING MELODY has all the requisite things that pinky fans crave. Tons of hot nekkid Asian women and a good bit of violence. Again, the storyline was a little to simple for my taste, but the film is still enjoyable as a whole. If you've dug the other entries in the box-set or are a pinky fan in general, you'll wanna peep this one too...7.5/10

OK, I'll admit that I'm not the biggest Japanese gangster movie fan for the same reason that I'm not the biggest mafia movie fan or the biggest skate video fan. There just aren't that many girls in it, and the one's that are tend to be arm candy or victims. Aside from seeing some cool fights and some dudes talking tough there just isn't much for the ladies in it.Then (and this makes me feel super ashamed and stupid girl like, but deal with it) my boyfriend brought home an advance of the Pinky Violence box set, of which this movie is included. I looked at it and thought: "What in the hell is this?"The packaging is like the trapper keeper you had in grade school. All soft and pink and folds out into about a million pieces (the final box set supposedly comes with four films, a booklet and a CD of Reiko Ike singing). It looks cool and has really well designed liner notes.But the movies. Right. The movies.These are supposed to be "exploitation" flicks, meaning a movie as an excuse to see some boobs and some pointless violence. Like what you see late night in the hotel room on Cinemax. But aside from having some boobs and tons of violence these movies didn't seem "exploitive" in the way that I normally think of exploitation. All the main characters are women, they're tough as hell, have cool tattoos and beat the crap (or just murder) most of the men around them. Because they're just as tough as any of the yakuza dudes they're kicking the crap out of.And they're way, way, way smarter.Of the four movies this one and Girl Boss Guerilla were my favorites. Both star Reiko Ike (who's on the cover of the box as well) who seems to have made a name for herself as a tough ass yakuza girl gangster movie star in the 70's.Basically this is a revenge movie. The Yakuza has killed Reiko's father and raped her. So she goes after the Yakuza boss to get some revenge. She fails and ends up in prison where she makes some friends and after her release hooks back up with them to take another shot at the Yakuza boss who ruined her life. This time she's trying to play it smart (as opposed to running into a bar with a knife and trying to stab everyone) and is going to start a gang war that will get everyone bad killed.The girls are super tough and super smart (and the dudes are suitably dumb and full of themselves). I was a little uncomfortable during a really long topless torture scene that has the threat of a chainsaw (but I'm kind of uncomfortable watching women get tied up and beaten in general) but the scene didn't seem forced. I mean, you know, they're the Yakuza. They're supposed to be evil and scary. So sometimes they have to wave chainsaw's around the put out cigarettes on people.