Black Cat's Revenge
Japanese Title: Kaidan nobori ryu
AKA: Blind Woman's Curse
Director: Teruo Ishii
Actors: Meiko Kaji, Hoki Tokuda, Toru Abe
Year Released: 1970
Genre: Yakuza, Horror, Samurai
See Also: Jigoku, Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, Screwed
I have to say I have yet to see a Teruo Ishii movie that I've totally loved. My main issue with him is that his films never seem to coalesce. It's an anarchic approach to narrative that just doesn't fully resonate with me. He reminds me of Norifumi Suzuki (Sex & Fury) in that way, yet Suzuki always manages to keep the story together while Ishii just doesn't seem as concerned with that.
Maybe that isn't always his fault. I've read that the genre anarchy of Black Cat's Revenge was due to the studio insisting that it be not only a Taisho-period yakuza film but also a kaidan (ghost story). Ishii did the best with what he had. And, while it's no Jigoku, Black Cat's Revenge is still lots of creepy good fun. And it's got Meiko Kaji in the lead, which is more than enough reason to buy any movie, in my opinion.
After an attack on a rival gang's boss blinds that boss' sister, Kaji is tormented by a crazy—and possibly undead—black cat. Even while she's cooling her geta in jail, the cat finds the time to hurl itself against the window bars (almost as if someone threw it at the window bars). Soon she's out of jail and back with the gang, now being helped by her former prison inmates, who've all gotten sections of a dragon tattooed on their backs, just like Kaji and her gang (the Japanese title of the movie, Kaidan nobori ryu, translates to "Rising Dragon Ghost Story"). Lots more stuff happens: another gang tries to take over their territory, a guy runs around looking like a zombie and dribbling gelatin, the blind sister attempts to kill Kaji, and the gang is forced to flee when they're falsely accused of selling opium. Like I said, it's all over the place.
If there's a reason to see Black Cat's Revenge (and there certainly is, despite my issues with the plot), it's Meiko Kaji. Not only is she the lead but she actually talks, a rarity for anyone who's gotten used to seeing her in the Scorpion films. She rules every moment she's on screen (which is sorrowfully little during the middle third when the gang leaves town) and it's easy to see why she became such a phenomenon in Japan at the time. In the parlance of our day: hella hot.
The Scorpion and Stray Cat Rock films are still the best ways to see Meiko Kaji, but Black Cat's Revenge is a funky good time if you can look past the aerated plot. And you can actually find a copy of the movie.
Otaku Alert: Director Teruo Ishii was responsible for Horror of Malformed Men, one of the most notorious of all Japanese exploitation films.
Availability Note: Import only. Region-free copies available on the Internet and through specialist shops. The film apparently will be available domestically under the name Blind Woman's Curse by the end of the year 2006.
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