As some of you may have noticed, the Den of Sin was on hiatus for a few months while my husband and I took care of a few things (like making him my husband). So, when we finally decided to come back, we knew we had to do something big. We knew we wanted to go back to weekly screenings, especially since summer was fast approaching and most people were done with school. But what would our first screening be? Would we try to be classy and program some more RKO horror? Would we go for all out exploitation? Would we focus on North American productions or Asian? And what would the Peanut Gallery be expecting?
After much discussion we finally decided to ease people into it and go for some solid crowd pleasers. That’s right, we decided to go with the Meiko Kaji.
Although I had already watched “Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41” with some friends about a year and a half ago, we had never watched it with the Den of Sin, and being that the Peanut Gallery are such big fans of Meiko it seemed like a nice treat to welcome people back. The second film of the night was another Sinister Sam discovery: “Sukeban Gorilla,” about a vicious gang of Japanese girls on motorbikes fighting the mob.
We had a pretty good turnout of about 8 people to start with and much of the preamble period was spent trying to explain where “Jailhouse 41” fit into the FCS continuity (it’s the second film) and where and when and with whom I had watched it before. Bob helpfully pointed out that it was the third film that featured the golf club f*****g.
“Jailhouse 41” picks up exactly where “Prisoner 701” left off with Matsu, or Scorpion as she is better known, locked in solitary for assaulting and embarrassing the warden. She has been there for months with no light and nothing but the cold concrete and a wet blanket to comfort her, but the warden agrees to let her out for one day so he can impress a visiting dignitary. However, in true Scorpion fashion, Matsu takes a swipe at the warden, prompting as Owen pointed out “the ultimate reaction shot.” After about a minute of standing frozen in fear the dignitary falls back right on his a*s and s***s his pants.
As punishment, the prisoners are given the task of lugging large rocks up and down a hill, while Matsu is given an entire tree to carry on her back in addition to the rock. Corinne helpfully pointed out the not so subtle symbolism in that one. The warden then tells his guards that punishing Matsu like that only makes her a martyr and instead sends four guys to “humiliate” her. “What are they? The rape brigade?“ quipped Owen. Uh, actually, yeah they are. Graeme pointed out that normally they’re just called prison guards, which left the opening for my husband to explain that the prison guard softball team is called “The Rape Brigade,” officially making this one of the least P.C. Den of Sin nights ever.
After getting s**t from the other prisoners for “letting them rape her,” Matsu is beaten and the prisoner transport wagon they are traveling in stops. This gives Scorpion the opening she needs and pretty soon she and a few other prisoners escape. For those who hadn’t seen it before, I pointed out that “this one is really psychedelic,” which was met with a resounding chorus of “no, really?” Graeme noted that the guitar part of the score sounded like it was taken from a recording of Jimi Hendrix tuning his guitar. Then Brendan and Graeme got into a discussion about what was the best part of FCS, the stare of death, or her ability with a knife. A consensus was reached that it was in fact a combo of the two that was the best thing about FCS.
A few more psychedelic things happened and then Bob had to ask what Matsu was in jail for again, despite having been present at our screening of “Prisoner 701,” the first film in the series. My husband wanted to know who the prisoners were going to meet in the abandoned cabin. Would it be a wizard, or a gypsy as Brendan suggested? Then, once the scary old lady appeared he changed his opinion to “Yoda.” When the old lady died and vanished into thin air, we all agreed that his point had been made.
It was around this time that the bus tour was introduced, to further point out why all men are evil and deserving of Scorpion’s rage. My husband was shocked that they were making Nanking jokes. Graeme wanted to know what kind of bus tour it was. “They’re like the Rotarians but evil… the Rape Rotarians?” Then the Peanut Gallery erupted in cheers and chuckles as a waterfall turned to blood right before our eyes.
Scorpion and the other prisoners take the Rape Rotarians hostage, torturing them and walking on their naked backs. And then a weird abstract dance sequence happened, much to Nick’s delight. Graeme then polled the audience on who had seen “Bad Girls” with Andie MacDowell and Madeleine Stowe. My husband had to confess that he had seen it in the theatres, but only because he had gotten kicked out of “The Crow” for being too young.
After this, most of the comments had little to do with the film as most of it was very cool to watch and not in need of heckling. Instead we volleyed various future movie night ideas. Graeme suggested a “Rambo” double bill, or “Torque” & “Biker Boyz.” Owen wanted to know what had happened to our proposed “Alien vs. Predator” / “Catwoman” double bill. I suggested my new favorite T.A. movie: “Blade Trinity.” Then someone started talking about the “Extended Two Towers” and whether Legolas or Gimly was the bottom in their relationship. Graeme pointed out that that discussion was better left to 14 year old girls and their fan-fiction.
The evening continues in part two of ENTER THE DEN OF SIN: GIRL GANG BANG>>>
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