I managed to get my hands on a dvd version of one of my favorites in japanese exploitation cinema, called: Joshuu sasori: Dai-41 zakkyo-bô (1972). The second part out of four from the scorpion series created by Shunya Ito. I consider this movie as a masterpiece, because of its surrealism, color, camera angles, its intensity and its main character, played by Meiko Kaji (also known from Lady Snowblood).

Despite its simple plot, its exaggerated violence and eroticism and everything else related to exploitation cinema, Ito manages to create something poetical, original and captivating. Meiko Kaji's second appearance in the Scorpion series is in my opinion the best one. In the first part (Female prisoner 701), Matsu is a poor woman, betrayed by her lover, looking for revenge. In this episode the scorpion woman is more bitter, way more dangerous, and insanely mysterious…

The plot is simple: the prison director, Inspector Goda, is mad at her (she stabbed out his eye in the first part), and wants to make her suffer and drive her crazy. He locks her up in the deepest, darkest prison cell available, where she lies tied up on the floor. Matsu is lying on the floor holding a spoon firmly clamped between her teeth and scraping it against the stone floor. She is preparing her revenge…

What follows are Goda's desperate attempts trying to break Matsu, which make Matsu's determination even stronger. An escape from prison through dazzling landscapes, meeting the strangest people and experiencing surrealistic and hallucinatory events. A rape, a murder… And a final bloodthirsty, but very satisfying vengeance.

Meiko Kaji (also the singer of the original soundtrack song) is delivering an ecstatic performance playing Matsu's character so intensely with only 2(!) lines of text. (trailer here)