TW: This review briefly discusses scripted situations of sex and sexual violence.
The history of V-Cinema and its connection to Nikkatsu’s pink film era with Roman Porno continues to be an educational focal point in this otherwise thrilling boxset. This brings us to the work and legacy of the late Masaru Konuma whose erotic actioner, XX: Beautiful Hunter, now culminates the fifth and final part of this hefty review series.
If there was ever a film that signifies the depth to which the V-Cinema mainstays were willing to push the envelope to keep people renting videos in the nineties, Konuma’s 1994 film would be exemplary. Film expert Patrick Macias talks at great length in his video essay about how V-Cinema brought sleaze back since the pink movie days of Nikkatsu, and that especially goes for XX: Beautiful Hunter, the second installment in V-Cinema’s erotic girls with guns franchise.
Konuma directs XX: Beautiful Hunter from a script by Hiroshi Takahashi, who, in association with Konuma, adapts his screenplay from Mangetsu Hanamura’s hit manga, “Shion”. Actress Makiko Kuno runs point in the titular role in a story of an killer raised in a convent and groomed from childhood to be a cold-blooded assassin by a sadistic blind priest named Kano (Koji Shimizu).
Shion’s latest hit job lands her in the crosshairs of Ito (Johnny Ohkura) a photojournalist who catches her in the act that evening, resulting in the death of his colleague and another witness. What ensues is a harrowing, introspective tale that finds Shion confronting her afflictions and inhibitions, when the manipulative Kano tasks her to kill Ito, only to find herself falling in love for the first time. Having betrayed her covenant, Shion’s new lease on life embodies all that’s at stake, leaving her no choice but to take down Kano and his conclave of sadistic killers once and for all.
Kuno is fantastic in her portrayal of Shion, and it helps a good deal that Ito is written in the story as someone who isn’t too lamen when it comes to the danger that looms. Theirs is a romance worth rooting for, against a backdrop of malevolence and evil heralded by Kano, played brilliant by Shimizu.
The action mostly deals in the gunplay arena, and it’s fun to watch, including with some of the music that plays throughout. The scenes are shot really well with cinematographer Seizo Senmoto, capturing the full breadth of Kuno’s looks amid various contrasts and contours of light and dark. There’s a scene where Ito runs back to his apartment which further evokes how engaged Senmoto is in the lens.
Sex is definitely the selling point as well in XX: Beautiful Hunter, with the action being secondary. Indeed, it does feel a little forced at first, but if you’re keen on suspending disbelief, then be my guest. This turning point of the story is a precursor to Shion discovering all the sorts of things she’s never experienced before, ranging from sexual pleasure to a simple date; Shion is supposed to kill Ito during this moment of the story until she can’t, only to end up rescuing Ito when she notices she’s being followed. They eventually escape and wander into a grassy field where they end up having sex. It’s ridiculous, crazy even, and if you find yourself bewildered at this part of the story as to why Ito’s shoulder wound suddenly disappears, don’t worry, because none of this matters. V-Cinema, baby!
The sexual elememts of the film get plenty rough later on, particularly with a lengthy S&M sequence that also introduces the role of Mitsuko (Maiko Kazama), another one of Kano’s enforcers who uses her own array of torture tools to do Kano’s bidding. This scene involves Shion bound by her hands and hung, wearing tight black leather, whipped, knives used as mere toys to terrorize Shion into obedience, and her clothes ripped and torn at the tip of a blade to expose patches of skin and a breast.
Things only escalate from there with Mitsuko’s use of an electric baton to shock Shion, eventually resorting to sodomizing her with the same baton with both legs hoisted in the air until Ito shoots his way into the makeshift dungeon to rescue her. It’s a scene that’s carefully shot so as to look and feel as graphic as it suggests, something that speaks veracity to Takahashi’s own statements during his interview on the disc where he talks about how seriously Konuma took bondage scenes. Kuno’s performance certainly contributes to the intensity and boldness here, which makes it a worthwhile watch.
XX: Beautiful Hunter isn’t for everyone. Certainly though, it delivers the goods as a “girls with guns” actioner, holding a candle to 90s erotica and action, minus many of the kinds of bigger-scale stunts favorable to Hong Kong cinephiles, but proffering plenty of serviceable action in its own right. Kuno carries the IP well here, and with all the other installments of the XX franchise and spin-offs yet to be tapped by broader audiences today, I kind of wonder if this sort of franchise is possible to reboot even today. Macias says “anything’s possible,” so, we’ll see.
Beyond this, XX: Beautiful Hunter is an enthralling, sexually-charged, in-your-face thriller with ample performances, and a solid story with all the familiar trimmings of a worthy assassin flick. I’m thankful to have been able to write about this boxset, as hard as it was to put this review series together considering that these titles are omitted from a lot of actors’ filmographies. The same goes for trailer footage, and thankfully, the disc also shares a decent trailer for XX: Beautiful Hunter which features Kuno in a medley of shots putting her killer looks to swift use for an equally killer role.
This little journey into V-Cinema is an eye-opener for anyone who loves and follows Asian films. Having seen some of the work tied to these actors and directors, getting to watch these movies, as well as hear from the experts and scholars who are more exposed to these films in their filmgoing makes this boxset worth every penny. Of course, some of it is repetitive at times, but there are tons of jewels here, and if Arrow has another action-packed V-Cinema assembly in the cards somewhere down the line, I’ll be one happy customer.
To be clear, I tried finding some decent promo material to share on this post, but most of the available assets out there are too risqué and just aren’t available anywhere or to even share here without negatively effecting the pennies in ad revenue I make here. I’m sure you can understand.
However, Arrow Video did launch a trailer earlier this month which flew under my radar as I was editing and saving my drafts under this review series. It’s an enticing little medley of all sorts of R-rated visuals that won’t necessarily set off any NSFW alarms here. I dug watching this series almost nightly and writing it up when I could and I really hope Arrow is putting together another.
Check out the trailer below and tap here visit (or revisit) my previous reviews in this series.
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