Black Panther Bitch M (Japan, 1974)

Nathan's review:

 Ninja-trained assassin, M (Reiko Ike), is dispatched to Yokohama with orders to kill Yakuza Boss, Hayami (Mikio Narita). But after missing her mark, Hayami turns the tables and dispatches his men under the leadership of Kawashima (Kenji Imai), to kill both M and his own president with whom he has grown tired.

In 1974 'Toei Porno' had started to lose favour, leaving the two stars of the Pinky violence genre, Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, with less work. Nikkatsu, capitalising on the martial arts boom that was exploding at the time, swept in with offers for both actresses, Sugimoto turned down 'Sukeban Deka: Dirty Mary', but Ike accepted 'Black Panther M' sensing an opportunity to stretch her legs as an actress under the promise that she wouldn't have any sex scenes and instead get a serious action film with which to make her name, distancing herself from her Toei reputation in the process (though fascinatingly Nikkatsu would choose to label her as Reiko Ike-Toei in the opening credits).

'Black Panther M' is a fun, lean (74 mins!) little action film with a hint of martial arts that works almost exclusively because of its cast (who are ironically Toei regulars). The trouble with the film is its rather dull in places, with Koretsugu Kurahara's direction swinging wildly between creative flair in some of the set pieces as Reiko Ike kicks ass and flips around, with some brilliant, brief usage of POV as she surveys her opponents using her finely honed 'ninja' senses. But everything inbetween is rather lifeless and lacklustre, he pays special attention of course to framing Ike with an array of close ups and some inventive use of angles, but then will spend what feels like an age having her and a Yakuza group chase each other through harbour warehouses with long, seemingly unending wide angles of someone running which gets rather frustrating.

In the films defence though, there's some really great moments sprinkled throughout, there's a set piece at a golf course that sees her take on a number of Yakuza in a kinetic, pitched battle that ends with her using one to break her fall as she goes over the side of a bridge and the final 20 minutes is fantastic entertainment. I also really like the culmination of the tiring warehouse scene where she gets revenge on a guy trying to rape her, crushing his nuts and throat in the process on a rooftop. Interestingly this scene apparently was changed by her and was originally meant to take place in a hotel bedroom but she complained after the promise was broken that she wouldn't have to engage in sex/nudity and was switched to the rooftop setting.

Reiko Ike's performance is great, easily being the films strongest aspect and making it more than worth a watch. While she doesn't necessarily get to show much range, she makes use of her magnetic on-screen presence and handles the action scenes well, cutting a striking figure in her iconic black and white suits. Mikio Narita does well as Boss Hayami, there's some unnecessary backstory thrown into his character that does nothing for the film whatsoever in the long run and in all honesty he's not stretching himself at all, but at the same time....... It's Mikio Narita and the man is an absolute legend, so I'll never complain about having him onscreen. His second in command, Kawashima, played by Kenji Imai, is another welcome presence, sneering and posturing his way through all his scenes, though he definitely could of done with being a little nastier overall, he still makes a rather thin and thankless role work for the most part.

This was the second time I've seen this film and I was really hoping to fall in love with it this time, sadly that's not the case but it's still a highly enjoyable film despite some of its shortcomings. For Reiko Ike fans it's essential viewing, but for everyone else it's probably better saved for a lazy afternoon watch when you don't need anything to think about. Fun, but very slight and could of been stellar under a different director.

Paul's review:

This movie is like 70 minutes yet feels like 500 years. It's shite.