Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701's Grudge Song

Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song (女囚さそり　７０１号怨み節, Joshū Sasori - 701 Gō Urami Bushi) is a women in prison film made by Toei Company in 1973. The fourth, and last in the first Female Prisoner Scorpion series, Meiko Kaji returned to play the title role, but director Shunya Itō was replaced by Yasuharu Hasebe.

Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Yasuharu Hasebe
Written by	Toru Shinohara (manga)
Starring	Meiko Kaji Masakazu Tamura
Cinematography	Hanjiro Nakazawa
Edited by	Tomio Fukuda
Music by	Hajime Kaburagi
Distributed by	Toei Company
Release date	December 29, 1973 (1973-12-29)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Plot

Nami Matsushima is found in a wedding chapel by police led by detective Hirose. They handcuff her, but she is able to escape. Kudo, a worker in a sex show club, rescues her. He is a radical with a history of problems with the police. One of the women from the sex show, who had unsuccessfully tried to seduce Kudo, finds Nami's handcuffs in Kudo's things, and informs the police. The police arrest and beat Kudo and then release and tail him back to Nami's hiding place.

Nami is captured and sentenced to death. Just before her execution, Nami is allowed to escape by a warden who cooperating with the police to set up Nami. Nami is taken to a gallows outside the prison where Hirose plans to hang her. She beats Hirose and he ends up hanged instead of her. Nami kills Kudo.

Cast

• Meiko Kaji as Nami Matsushima, the Scorpion
• Masakazu Tamura as Teruo Kudo
• Yumi Kanei as Kodama
• Hiroshi Tsukata as Hirose
• Yayoi Watanabe as Midori
• Sanae Nakahara as Akiko
• Akemi Negishi as Minamura

Release

Home video

#701's Grudge Song was first released on DVD for Region 1 by Tokyo Shock on April 25, 2005. UK home video company Arrow Films will release the film on Blu-ray on July 26, 2016 within a box-set containing the first four films of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series. Limited to 3000 copies, the box set will contain new 2K restorations of all four films included in the set as well as numerous special features, with #701's Grudge Song including a new filmed appreciation by director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Kichiku: Battle of the Beasts), a new interview with film critic Jasper Sharp, an archival interview with director Yasuharu Hasebe, a new video essay about the film series by critic Tom Mes, and the theatrical trailer of the film.

Sequels

Director Yutaka Kohira revived the series for two more episodes in 1976 and 1977. Evil Dead Trap (1988) director, Toshiharu Ikeda filmed the original story again for V-Cinema in 1991.

References

Bibliography

• Itō, Shunya (2006). Female prisoner #701 Scorpion Collection (in Japanese and English). Tokyo Shock. ISBN 1-59883-090-2.
• "女囚さそり ７０１号怨み節 (Joshū Sasori - 701 Go Urami Bushi)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
• Thompson, Nathaniel (2006). DVD Delirium: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD; Volume 3. Godalming, England: FAB Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 1-903254-40-X.

External links

• Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701's Grudge Song at IMDb
• Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701's Grudge Song at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Female Prisoner Scorpion: 701's Grudge Song at AllMovie
• Joshuu sasori: 701-gô urami-bushi at Rotten Tomatoes