Entrails of a Beautiful Woman [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I'm a big fan of Japanese horror films--the cognoscenti are starting to refer to it as "J-horror"--so I just knew I had to check out "Entrails of the Virgin" and "Entrails of the Beautiful Woman" when the friendly folks over at Synapse Films released them to DVD. These two films, made all the way back in the 1980s by some chap named Kazuo Komizu, have a reputation most hardcore horror film producers would give their right arms to possess. I heard and read the most enthusiastic comments regarding these two movies, about the insane levels of gory mayhem coupled with sex of the variety not often seen outside an adult film theater. You certainly don't see those two themes put side by side in movies made in the United States, at least not anymore. No one over here would dare make a film like these atrocities. First of all, such a film would never pass the ratings board, let alone secure a spot in the theaters. Too, the watchdog groups would drop on the filmmakers' heads like a ton of bricks. Then there is NOW and the other feminist groups to contend with. Those bonecrushers would grind any filmmaker into powder over a movie that looked like Komizu's movies.

"Entrails of a the Beautiful Woman" follows up Komizu's "Entrails of the Virgin," but only in a general sense. In this outing, we meet an unfortunate lass named Yoshimi (Seira Kitigawa) who falls prey to a ruthless band of yakuza. These Japanese goons run a female slavery ring in which they kidnap young women, brutally abuse them, and then sell them to the highest bidder. Yoshimi is only their latest victim. She manages to escape the clutches of the group, despite the fact that they shoot her full of a powerful narcotic/aphrodisiac called "Angel Rain," and finds refuge with a female psychologist named Hiromi (Megumi Ozawa). Yoshimi, in horrific shape due to her captivity and subsequent torture, manages to fill in the psychologist about the slave ring before taking her own life. Hiromi's outrage knows no bounds. She quickly makes plans to confront the yakuza killers herself and put an end to their reign of terror. It's not going to be easy, not at all, considering these guys are trained killers without an ounce of compassion for anyone outside of their small clique. Hiromi makes her move by hypnotizing one of the members into killing his compatriots (!), but things backfire and the yakuza abduct her for an evening of fun and games.

What follows is tough to watch, as the yakuza goons systematically break down Hiromi the only way they know how, namely through rape and torture. Even a woman associated with the group takes part in the hijinks. To keep their new play toy engaged in the shenanigans, the yakuza break out a few doses of good old Angel Rain. They keep shooting Hiromi up with the stuff, so much so that something sinister happens when she ultimately dies. Her remains meld with the shattered corpse of a gangster to form an unearthly creature bent on revenge. Why does this happen? Who knows? Anyway, the creature, which resembles the one we saw lumbering around that cabin in the first film, is even more oozing and disgusting here. This thing--a hermaphrodite to boot--proceeds to kill all of the yakuza members in extraordinarily gory ways. An exploding head, a nasty scene involving the sole female member of the gang, and various other atrocities bring the film to its ignominious conclusion. What should we make of "Entrails of the Beautiful Woman"? Is Komizu making a statement about the poor relationship between men and women in Japanese society? Maybe. More likely he's just trying to make a few bucks with a hardcore exploitation flick.

And "Entrails of the Beautiful Woman" IS a hardcore flick. Komizu throws in endless scenes of sex and violence, much of the latter reveling in depravity and aimed at shattering taboos. Like the first movie, optical fogging of certain body parts appears, although such censorship is far less prevalent here (Komizu uses the positioning of his actors and actresses to cover up a lot of what's going on). The plot, editing, and special effects achieve heights here sorely lacking in the first film--which isn't saying much. "Entrails of the Virgin" made little sense. In this movie, the director at least gives us a fairly standard revenge plot to wrap our minds around. He also gives us better gore scenes, truly nauseating kill sequences that really turn the stomach. If you're not reaching for a barf bag during the queasy conclusion to the film, you're far more jaded than I. Yet the movie still suffers from tepid sex scenes that run on and on for what feels like forever. Whenever the plot starts to move, we have to pause for yet another sex scene. Sure, some of them disturb in a graphic sort of way, but most feel more like filler to keep a movie with an already short runtime (68 minutes) afloat.

Synapse Films releases "Entrails of a Beautiful Woman" on DVD with extras and a great picture transfer. We get the essay on optical fogging again as well as another interview with the wacky Kazuo Komizu. Again, he rambles on for what feels like an eternity without making a lick of sense, let alone explaining anything tangible about his warped movies. And what is it with his computer? Every few seconds the thing squawks out some electronic tone that makes Komizu giggle uncontrollably. Anyway, Komizu apparently lensed a third entry in this "series," but Synapse hasn't released it to disc yet. I'm not sure I'd watch it if they did. Two of these movies are enough, even for this hardcore horror fanatic.

Guts Of A Beauty

directed by Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu

1986, 68 mins.

Genre: Erotic Horror, says the package. What the eff? Erotic movies, horror movies, I know what they are *cough*, but erotic horror is something new to me. In the first ten minutes it's already obvious that Guts Of A Beauty fails to be either erotic or horrorific, let alone both. However, it's an amusing flick, and that's worth something.

The story is basically just there. There's not much development, not much of a start, nor really an end, so, to be honest, not much of a story at all. Therefore, a spoiler warning would be too much praise, however, be aware that I will unravel the plot in the next sentence. A female psychiatrist happens upon the filthy business of some girl-abusing and girl-selling (uh) Yakuza, who then rape and (accidentily) kill her, whereafter she returns as a hermaphrodite zombie with monster genitals and kills the Yakuza. The plot. All of it.

However, it's still amusing. No matter how crappy the effects look (a watermelon being thrown onto the ground is supposed to be a woman committing suicide, rrriiight, we're NOT falling for it), no matter how bad the story is, this film WILL entertain you for its full SEVENTY minutes. However, be warned, this movie just might be offending, and it's definitely not for kids (although that oral treatment was digitally pixelated to make it less clear what's happening - and of course, second base is far more offensive than hacking off a man's arm). If you're in for some nice gorn though, as I've heard it being described, Guts Of A Beauty is what you're looking for.

mos says:

Scares? non-existent/10

Gore? 5/10

Hermaphrodite zombies with monster genitals? Just one, and it's enough.

Fun factor? 10.1/10

Juicy watermelons? They're everywhere/10

This is pretty much your by-the-book rape/revenge flick. Man meets woman, man shoots her up with drugs and rapes her, woman turns into a zombie that has a monster shlong with teeth and brutally kills those who wronged her in gory and sexy ways. You know, that same old scenerio. Most of the movies 78 minute run time is dedicated to hard-core sex scenes (some willing, some not) and the rest on gross special effects. There are plenty of sick moments in this one. It has kind of a confusing story (depends on what you call a "story"), but who really cares........not me. Did I mention there is a monster shlong with teeth that kills people? Highly recommended!

Not so long ago I watched "Entrails of a Virgin" so now I was ready - I knew what to expect. I'm not sure why the series are called "Entrails..." because there ain't many of them in the films.

Here we are dealing with some yakuza members who rape and drug women. Pretty explicit sex scenes occupy about an hour on this 68-minute feature just very much like in "Entrails of a Virgin". The movie is simple stupid, but I guess noone has big expectations regarding it, so if you decided to watch it you know what you are doing and you'll definately get you piece of fun. This is not a horror film, looks like it pretends to be horror and not for a moment tries to hide its exploitative nature.

The story line in short is like this: a girl is gang raped by yakuza thugs, she is drugged and then mutates into a slimy monster with a giant toothed(!) penis, who seeks revenge. She's killing them one by one (some of them in rather disgusting ways). That's it.

The plot may look fabulous but it's actually not if you watch it. Nevertheless it seemed to me that it was a little better than the previous film which was monstrously stupid.

Verdict: buy it if you like exploitative flicks or you're a fan of japanise extreme cinema. If you are not, avoid it at all costs or you will be damning the day you bought it for the rest of your life.

By the way watch an interview with director Kazuo Komizu in bonus features. I was laughing like mad - he's such a funny guy.

Here's what we have: A bloody inside-out monster who can alternately manifest either a giant toothed penis that eats you from the inside out, or a massive vagina which can swallows a man's head whole. Good times for all.

This is a semi-sequel to the notorious Entrails of a Virgin. It is only a semi-sequel because while the names are related and the style is similar, the story is not connected at all. In this one, the sex has been toned down and the gore has been ratcheted up, which should please those who didn't like the balance of the first film. The gore is pretty over the top, and the monster is clearly of the "rubber suit" variety, which leaves "Entrails of a Beautiful Woman" coming off as a Japanese Troma flick more than anything else.

The story is basically set-up for the destruction to follow. A pair of sisters is kidnapped by the yakuza, with one sold to slavery in Africa and the other one, Yoshimi, kept behind to entertain the guys (meaning gang rape). They finish her off by shooting her full of a super-drug called "angel rain". Into this scene comes Hiromi (played by Ozawa Megumi in her only film appearance), a pretty psychologist who is looking for her lost patient Yoshimi. Hiromi is capture by the gang and subjected to the same treatment (meaning gang rape), but when she is filled up with angel rain, her body goes crazy and somehow morphs with the corpse of a dead yakuza to become the aforementioned hermaphroditic oozing red monster. And now it is revenge time.

You are either going to have fun with a flick like this or not. No one is going to mistake this for scary or sexy, and a big case of beer will make the over-the-top action go down that much better. Personally I liked it, but I was in the mood for stupid nudity and violence and am a fan of the genre. For example, there is one scene that was clearly inspired by Alien, but the monster bursting from the woman's chest is of the one-eyed variety.

This DVD contains pretty much the same extra features as "Entrails of a Virgin", including the essay on "sex scene fogging" found in Japanese hard core flicks, and a continuation of the interview with director Komizu "Gaira" Kazuo. It is funny how seriously Gaira takes himself during these interviews, considering the boobs-n-blood schlock pictures he makes.