Bloody Territories and
Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter

Last summer, Home Vision Entertainment released two memorable films by Japanese cult director Yasuharu Hasebe, Bloody Territories and Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter. This appears to be part of the post-Kill Bill wave of DVD releases that echo that film's style, subject matter, and genre considerations. And it's a good fit, as Hasebe - with his colorful, rock n' roll action aesthetic -- appears to have influenced Tarantino a great deal. Beginning in the mid-60s, he made crime films that were slightly more coherent and slightly less stylized than his mentor, Japanese action maestro Seijun Suzuki but with his own unique voice.

Released in 1969, Bloody Territories is the story of a yakuza clan that decides to break up in the wake of increased police interference. However, one faction of the clan refuses to disband and all hell breaks loose. Featuring a groovy 60s jazz score, the film is heavy on plot and dialogue (yakuzas like to negotiate) until the outbreak of incessant knife-fights in the third act. Overall, it's an extremely energetic (and downbeat) film.

Significantly more playful is Sex Hunter, the third in a series of five Stray Cat Rock films. This stylish pop-psychedelic gang film has energy comparable to American International's beach and biker movies of the 60s. Sex Hunter is literally all about sex, drugs, and rock n' roll...with a generous side-order of violence. In fact, with live performances by some truly inspired Japanese pop groups, this is almost a musical. Of course, in keeping with the spirit of Bloody Territories, there's also plenty of grim material including gang rape and Molotov cocktails.

While these discs aren't heavy on extras, what's here is good. Bloody Territories includes liner notes by American Cinematheque programmer and Japanese cinema expert Chris D., while Sex Hunter features notes by film critic Richard Kadrey. Chris D. deals with the yakuza genre and notes the increased crime in Japan following World War II. He also offers background on Hasebe and star Akira Kobayashi. Hasebe's earlier film Black Tight Killers was much lighter in tone than the brutal Bloody Territories and Kobayashi (aka Mr. Dynamite) was apparently the James Bond of Nikkatsu Studio.

In his notes, Kadrey contextualizes the Stray Cat Rock films and explains the importance of music in the series. He also covers the history of Nikkatsu Studio, which peaked right around the time these films were made. Best of all, he makes some astute comparisons between Sex Hunter and other female gang films, including Jack Hill's Switchblade Sisters.

The only other features on the discs are trailers for Home Vision's Zatoichi series, Hasebe filmographies, and the original Japanese trailers for both films. For those who aren't familiar with Japanese films of this period, it's important to note that the trailers were often more enjoyable than the films themselves. That's not true in this case -- the films are pretty solid -- but these are good trailers.

The Bloody Territories trailer includes typically humorous, descriptive text ("a man's life span is as short as an insect"), while the incredibly entertaining Sex Hunter trailer suggests fascinating possibilities not delivered on in the film (the film delivers in other ways).

Fans of contemporary Japanese cinema should not forget the influence of filmmakers like Yasuharu Hasebe. While his madness isn't quite comparable to that of Takashi Miike, he has a bizarre, action style all his own, one that's nicely displayed by this pair of Home Vision discs. -- Jonathan Doyle