Female Prisoner Scorpion - The Complete Collection
Starring the iconic and beautiful Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Stray Cat Rock) in a role that came to define her career, the four-film Female Prisoner Scorpion series charts the vengeance of Nami Matsushima, who assumes the mantle of “Scorpion,” becoming an avatar of vengeance and survival, and an unlikely symbol of female resistance in a male-dominated world.
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion introduces Nami, a gullible young woman unjustly imprisoned, who must find a way to escape in order to exact revenge upon the man who betrayed her. The visually avant-garde Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 sees director Shunya Ito and star Meiko Kaji re-unite as Nami and six other female convicts escape prison once more. The Gothic horror-inspired Beast Stable finds Nami branded public enemy #1 and on the run. She soon finds refuge with a sympathetic prostitute, but runs afoul of a local gang. The final film in the series, #701’s Grudge Song (from director Yasuharu Hasebe, Retaliation, Massacre Gun), shows a gentler side of Nami as she falls in with Kudo, an ex-radical suffering from physical and psychological trauma caused by police torture.
Spiritual kin to Ms. 45, Coffy and The Bride Wore Black, Female Prisoner Scorpion is the pinnacle of early 1970s exploitation cinema from Japanese grindhouse studio Toei, and one of the greatest female revenge sagas ever told.
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Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
1972 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41
1972 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
After spending a year in solitary confinement, Matsu escapes from prison with six more convicts, followed by the guards who are led by a vengeful warden who wants her dead at all costs.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable
1973 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
Matsu is sheltered by an incestuous prostitute on her run from the police, her ex-prison mate and a cop whose arm she hacked off.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song
1973 • Japan • Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Once again on the lam, Matsu is helped by a strip club worker who holds a grudge against the detective who's trying to find her.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable - Trailer
1973 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
Matsu is sheltered by an incestuous prostitute on her run from the police, her ex-prison mate and a cop whose arm she hacked off.
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Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion - Trailer
1972 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song - Trailer
1973 • Japan • Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Once again on the lam, Matsu is helped by a strip club worker who holds a grudge against the detective who's trying to find her.
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Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 - Trailer
1972 • Japan • Directed by Shun'ya Itô
After spending a year in solitary confinement, Matsu escapes from prison with six more convicts, followed by the guards who are led by a vengeful warden who wants her dead at all costs.
