Grindhouse Weekly – ‘Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs’

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs by Yukio Noda has marked my first foray into the world of Pinkie Violence, a particularly nasty sub genre of Japanese films that were predominantly made during the 70s.  These films were often overly brutal in their mix of equal parts sex and ultra violence.  Zero Woman is often considered one of the best and most extreme of the bunch, so naturally I had to check it out.

The film stars Miki Sugimoto as Rei, a tough female cop known for her signature red coat, red pistol, and, of course, red handcuffs. After killing a foreign diplomat for murdering a young woman, Rei finds herself stripped of her badge and thrown in prison.  After a gang of ruthless thugs kidnap the daughter of a wealthy politician, the police spring Rei from the slammer in exchange for her help in killing the men and returning the girl safely.

What transpires over the next hour or so could only be described as a tasteless yet stylish bloodbath filled with rape, torture, murder, and mayhem.  While it probably won’t be the most extreme thing you’ve ever seen in a film, this is still some fairly heavy stuff.  Just to give you an idea, there’s a scene involving a man being tortured by crushing his hand in a vice grip, jamming a hose down his throat and blasting water through it, burning his stomach with a blow torch, and mercilessly beating him…all at the same time. There’s also the famous Japanese exploitation staple of geysers of blood shooting out of just about everyone, which is always fun.

The thing that makes this movie worth watching isn’t the violence however, though that certainly plays a part.  The stylistic choices in this film were pretty amazing.  The camera work and cinematography seemed way ahead of their time and the sound design was also well thought out and unique.  It’s these stylish flourishes that almost make you forget what you’re watching is so deplorable.

There were also a slew of titles released in the mid-nineties bearing the Zero Woman moniker, however they appear to have little to nothing to do with the original film and were mostly straight to video releases.  If you’re thinking about checking these out, it’s probably best to just stick with the original 1974 version.

Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs is a surprisingly well-made action flick that’s just cheesy and goofy enough to offset the much more serious and grim tones that run through most of the film. I’ve always been a sucker for films that involve a strong female lead that exacts revenge on the men who brutalize her and this movie delivers on that in spades.