Wednesday, July 31, 2019

STRAY CAT ROCK: SEX HUNTER (1970) **


Mako (Meiko Kaji) and her all-girl gang go around accusing horny old men of sexual harassment and shake them down for money.  Meanwhile, fellow gang member Mari (Mari Koiso) falls for a biracial Coca-Cola salesman, which causes her gangster ex to become furious.  He and his gang jump her new beau, beat him within an inch of his life, and force him to get out of town.  After the gang goes around committing more hate crimes, Mako finally has enough and puts her foot down.

Like the other films in the Stray Cat Rock series, the plot meanders, and the pacing is sluggish.  There are more exploitation elements at work here, although they run contrary to the social messages to movie is trying to convey.  There’s a forced vasectomy via broken Coke bottle, some nudity in an opium den, and a “rape party” for rich businessmen.  This certainly ups the sleaze quotient, but it doesn’t necessarily make it “better”.     

Kaji sports a big hat similar to the one she’d later wear in the Female Prisoner Scorpion films, so at least she looks cool.  Like Wild Jumbo, she isn’t given much to do.  She kinda stands idly by for most of the movie.  Once she finally stands up for her girls and begins chucking Molotov cocktails (in Coca-Cola bottles to make the revenge sweeter) at the bad guys and sleazebags, the movie picks up a bit.   

Overall, this is only marginally more enjoyable than its two predecessors thanks to the gratuitous violence.  The big problem is the misleading title.  No one hunts for sex in this movie, which is a big disappointment, so I have to deduct mucho points for that.  The highlight for me was the musical performances by an all-girl pop group, Golden Half who sing a great song called, “Yellow Cherry”.

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