Tokugawa onna keibatsu-emaki: Ushi-zaki no kei (1976) Reviews

• Extremely cruel,vicious and sadistic Japanese torture movie.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2005-06-16

  "Shogun's Sadism" is a truly shocking drama/horror in which a number of bizarre and merciless methods of torture are carried out under the law of the Tokugawa Shogunate in a most realistic way.The story centers on an antagonism between a magistrate who finds sadistic pleasure in using all kinds of ruthless torture to sadistically torment Christians and a guard named Sasaki who despises such means.Yet in between all the the excessive violence,"Oxen Split Torturing" also features a tragic love story between Sasaki and a woman called Toyo,suspected of being a Christian.The second story takes place in a brothel,where works Sutezo as a cleaner/handyman.He decides to flee with a young prostitute named Sato.Unfortunately they are caught by the local magistrate and the nightmarish session of torture begins..."Shogun's Sadism" is an extremely brutal film loaded with shocking torture scenes and lots of sexual violence.We see women thrown into big vats of snakes,raped and,as in the title,ripped apart by oxen who each have a rope attached to one of the woman's limbs,tearing her apart when they run away from her.So if you liked Teruo Ishii's infamous "The Joy of Torture" series you can't go wrong with this sadistic spectacle.8 out of 10.Not for the squeamish or easily offended!

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• Nasty, weird, yet watchable

  clenchedbrain2008-03-05

  I found this to be more entertaining than I expected, which is probably due to the unexpectedly high production values. Very strange that an extreme film like this should have a decent budget. I should add that the first sequence is superior, since it is far more dramatically effective. The second segment is almost played for laughs, at times, which would almost seem unbelievable if you were unfamiliar with the extreme end of Japanese cinema. There is no end of gurning and pratfalling from the main protagonist (and others) in the latter part, as well as a few relatively comedic incidents - one involving a pit of human waste. You would almost expect this to be intended as light relief, to send the punters home somewhat less disturbed after the unremittingly bleak first story, and that is how this tale begins. The main man is punished for being unable to pay for his night of debauchery by being lightly humiliated and forced to work in the brothel. The previously mentioned dog-licking is up next, lulling the unprepared viewer into a false sense of security, as an extremely horrible abortion follows, involving a double whammy of stamping and kicking to the gut, followed by the archetypal old-crone-abortionist going in up to the elbow. This latter is accompanied by what sounds like the electronic equivalent of a swanee whistle on the soundtrack, but I don't think the similarity was intentional. Later on, this prostitute dies slowly, as a result, in a brilliantly effective sequence. She really does look pale and deathly, and the barbaric treatment and it's outcome are portrayed unflinchingly. This early death denies our cruel buddies some torture fun. This is not the case at all in the first half. The baddie of the piece is a nasty magistrate, played with OTT eye-bulging lunacy that veers wonderfully close to the edge of over acting. He gets to do all sorts of unspeakable acts to a succession of hapless christians, and the effect is bleak and cruel throughout. It is also quite tragic; well acted; and well filmed. Kudos also, to the soundtrack composer - there is some decent stuff on here, from the moog-out over the opening credits, to some very nice, more traditional soundtrack material later on. Not as gory as I expected, this is still fairly gruesome. The curious shouldn't be put off by the idea that there is unrelenting blood and guts churning away: it's the nastiness and cruelty that make this film exceptional, not the red stuff.

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• Wow!

  sevdah2007-06-30

  First of all , to all the Japanese people out there , especially those who make weird movies : I am eternally grateful to you for having such an interesting cinematography . It never stops to amaze and entertain me in the strangest and most unexpected ways . I hope your movies will flourish in number , creativity and the ability to appall and shock people . Or at least maintain this level of quality and weirdness . Now about Joy Of Torture : this is not just some gruesome , sickening exploitation flick perfectly suitable for gore addicts . It's not all about being torn to pieces , or repeatedly raped , cooked alive , beaten to death , crucified and then stabbed in the belly or genitals with the spear . It's not just having your feet crushed with a hammer , fetus ripped out straight from the womb of a severely abused prostitute without painkillers or anesthesia ( after which she is forced to get back to work where a customer gets to hump her literally while she's dieing ), it is not just about some little girl blinded with hot iron and then thrown out on the street to become a beggar ... It is also not just about humiliation , tragedy , utter depravity , unimaginable injustices and extreme abuse of power . There is something deeper in this movie , certain things that , in my opinion , sets it apart from mindless celluloid carnages who's sole purpose is to shock people and score some money and attention by making viewers sick . The movie is divided into two stories , first takes place in 17. and the other in 19. century . Both represent cruel side of the Japanese history , and I really don't recommend this movie to anyone unable to stomach the most extreme horror movies . It's painful to watch it . Not just because of sickness and blood - it's also very tragic . There are no happy endings . Each character in this movie that can be labeled as relatively positive is horrifically abused , and in the most cases killed . Their torturers , the most revolting human beings imaginable , seemingly remain unpunished .But just seemingly . And this is where the movie takes an interesting turn into something deeper and more meaningful . This is my interpretation : Two main characters from the first story , the sadistic shogun ( bad guy ) and his rebellious samurai ( good guy ) appear in the second story , 2 centuries later . My assumption is that they are reincarnated . But this time with different roles : ex shogun is now an owner of a brothel ( degradation compared to his past life ) , and the ex samurai who died because shogun tortured and killed him for not obeying him ,is some sort of a detective , which means that he is a wealthy , relatively powerful and respected person ( some kind of improvement compared to his previous status ) . The roles have reversed and ex samurai is now superior to his ex shogun . The ex shogun is still some sort of a sadist , and his brothel is hell on earth where employees get mutilated , tortured and killed for trivial reasons . Ex samurai is now also a torturer because that's his job - to torture anyone who's accused of a crime . Through these two characters we can see the descent and ascent of a man through reincarnation and Carma , as well as the ability of power to corrupt people . I am very pleased with the fact that 2nd part of " Joy of torture " is not so naive , melodramatic and romantic as the first part . Actually , it's a quite depressive movie . And a good one too . 9 out of 10 .

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• Hard-Core Japanese Torture Film...

  EVOL6662006-01-26

  SHOGUN'S SADISM (aka OXEN SPLIT TORTURE) is pretty much what the title suggests - a pretty sadistic film set in Feudal Japan that centers around different graphically displayed methods of torture. There is a storyline (actually two story lines...) in the film, so this isn't just all-out, mindless exploitation and gore - but it's still pretty rough stuff... The first story centers around a peasant girl who saves the life of a local guard by sucking the poison from a snakebite wound. Of course they fall in love, but the woman and her family are suspected of being Christian, and the requisite religious persecution begins at the hands of a brutal and sadistic Official... The second story revolves around a prostitute and her lover (who works as the brothel's handyman/janitor). When they try to escape from the brothel they are caught, and again, more graphic torture ensues... First off - SHOGUN'S SADISM is VERY graphic and therefore is not for the casual viewer. There are strong depictions of beheading, castration, immolation, boiling in water, quartering, branding (and one very confusing "torture" scene of something being poured on a chick and getting it licked off by a bunch of cute puppys?!?) and all other sorts of pleasantness. But the other side of this film is that it is also shot very competently, and the sets and costumes are reminiscent to a lot of the more "mainstream" pinky-violence and samurai films of the era - so I think that those that also enjoy films such as SEX AND FURY, or perhaps the BABYCART or LADY SNOWBLOOD films may appreciate SHOGUN'S SADISM as well. And the addition of the "tragic love stories" raise this film above just being an all-out "shock" or exploit film. Being that this type of graphically violent and sadistic content was being brought out in Japan in the 60's and 70's, it's no surprise that Japan still wears the "crown" of creating shocking, gory, sexually violent, nihilistic films - with directors such as Tamakichi Anaru (PSYCHO: THE SNUFF REELS, SUICIDE DOLLS, WOMENS FLESH...) and Daisuke Yamanouchi (MUZAN E, GIRL HELL, RED ROOM 1&2...) creating some of the most twisted films currently on the market. Japanese horror and exploit films have always been amongst the most graphic and disturbing on earth - and thank god, cuz I can't get enough of 'em... I recommend SHOGUN'S SADISM to anyone who is in to ultra-violent Japanese exploitation films - 9/10

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• Potent, handsomely produced atrocity exhibition

  fertilecelluloid2005-11-13

  All this film's titles -- "Shogun's Sadism", "Joy of Torture 2" and "Oxen Spit Torturing" -- are appropriate and sum up the content. Yuuji Makiguchi directs with a firm hand and delivers graphic visual canvasses of cruelty and punishment. The special effects are convincing -- moreso because they are skilfully cut, so they never linger long enough to be fake -- and one atrocity near the beginning of the film -- a woman cut in two with a sword -- is very impressive. There is an elaborate scene where a woman is ripped apart by two oxen; and it, like the other set pieces, shows great cinematic showmanship. The film is broken into two stories that are contrived in such a way that their protagonists end up being tortured. I preferred the first story in which a kind, Christian woman saves the life of a local official and pays a terrible price for it. No doubt about it, this film possesses potent shock value and makes no concessions to the faint-hearted. But it must also be said that it is a handsome production with great performances, energetic direction and a superb, sad score. It is well worth catching and a fascinating document of its freewheeling era.

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