Sugar: Howling of Angel (1996)

Ishiyama Akinobu

Japan

79 min, color, Japanese (English subtitles)

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When Chie Kogure's (Makiko Kuno) husband and son are murdered on orders from a triad boss, she is kidnapped and turned into a junkie hooker. Yaki Ryuya, the assassin who did the killings, has fallen for her (which is why he didn't do her in) and shows up at the brothel to do her. He does and she becomes his assassin-in-training. After a bloody rampage of murder for hire and fun, she finally stumbles across the bastards who were responsible for the slaughter of her family. Naturally, she slices the throats, shoots the legs, and stabs repeatedly every single individual that seems even remotely involved. Eventually, she finds out about Yaki's involvement and cuts his gizzard just after she climaxes.

This pink film must have cost at least $100, of which $99 went to buy the prosthetic hand, whose fingers Chie slices off in excruciating close-ups. The other $1 went to the kid who did the English subtitles. Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds. The film is mildly entertaining (certainly right up there with the HBO specials minus full-frontal... it's Japanese, after all), and the story isn't too trite either. I don't know why it is necessary to depict sex as if every woman gets raped, but I certainly am not the one to object to Makiko Kuno showing up in various states of undress. There is no doubt the film is an excuse to show more of her delectable features. However, one should not belittle her acting talents. I thought she was great. Sue me.

Tai Seng's DVD is atrocious. The transfer is grainy as hell, and the sound is truly bad. If you missed my sarcastic remark above, let me reiterate that the subtitles were, well, like what you'd expect from a Hong Kong production. Come on, this is for distribution in the US, you'd think they could hire someone with more than grade school English. Cheap release for cheap thrills.

May 20, 2001. BLS