Female Market: Imprisonment (1986)

A lady has some dinner, plays some tennis, gets into her car to go home. She won't make it home though, not until she's been through hell. Female Market has accrued something of a reputation among the later echelons of pink films, and it is somewhat deserved. The aspect that will attract (or repulse) is that the first half has a half hour or so chunk of constant mean spirited sexual violence visited upon multiple luckless ladies, all imprisoned in a warehouse in preparation for being later sold into slavery. Character development is minimal and point even smaller, this is just a sordid stare at humanities nadir, well shot with gloomy atmosphere its actually pretty compelling. There's rape, beating, whipping, a brief but hella grisly moment after an escape attempt, all served cold and as hostile as can be. Unfortunately, the film switches gears in the second half and ditches the nihilism, it wouldn't be a bad thing but since the film has laid no groundwork in terms of plotting or character in the first, the second half just comes across as a substantial slowdown. Sure, the acting is decent, even touching, and it's a handy breather for a while, but the film comes across a little lacking when it loses its despicable fire. Classy final shot though. Not much more to say about this one, its pretty thin stuff when it comes right down to it, but for all its flaws worth a watch for serious filth-hounds, as the sadistic, inhuman edge is pretty chilling. Performances are all sound, the women convincingly and harrowingly distressed, the captors suitably vile in an uncomfortable, matter of fact way. Stylish direction from Yasuaki Uegaki keeps things bleakly interesting, but not terribly dynamic, so as mentioned the final half hour really sags. Only worth watching for the serious fans and not that great a film, I still had an OK time with Female Market. A happy 6/10 then.

I thought that I would have enjoyed FEMALE MARKET more based on the strong subject matter and the copious amount of rape and sexual torture on display - but honestly - this Nikkatsu violent-pink entry is weak on story-line, and unfortunately - the "shock" scenes don't really make up for it...A woman is kidnapped and brought to a warehouse where it is soon made clear that the women residing in the compound are being kept as slaves to be sold on the black-market. From here we witness various acts of soft-core-but-rough "training" - where the girls are put through heavy sex and torture paces in hopes of breaking their will. Eventually one of the more "headstrong" women escapes with the help of a drug-addicted captor who has a change-of-heart - but will justice be brought to the ring-leaders of the slavery-ring??? FEMALE MARKET isn't a bad film by any means - there's just nothing really to it. There is plenty of hard-rape and misogynistic beatings, ho-slappings, bull-whippings, and other abuses on display - but with no real storyline to back it up, the whole thing starts to feel kinda pedestrian after a while. If the film would have been hard-core in terms of the sexual material shown, it would have been far better - but being a Japanese production, I knew that would never happen, so it sorta fails on that level as well. If the storyline would have been better, I could have gotten more "into" it also. Being that this film was written by Gaira (the man behind the GUTS OF A VIRGIN series) I guess I shouldn't have expected too much, as I haven't really thought that any of his other ventures were all that notable. For a better example of Nikkatsu rape-themed sleaze - try STAR OF David (aka BEAUTIFUL GIRL HUNTER) or perhaps ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER. If you want twisted hard-core (and yes - I mean HARD-CORE) Asian rope-bondage/humiliation porn - try TALES OF NAKED HUMILIATION 2. I will say that overall I personally thought FEMALE MARKET was decent (despite it's faults) and would recommend it to the genre completist - but there is "better" material out there...7/10

The Japanese have a way of showing violence in a gritty manner. Not necessarily only because they show the violence in full view, but also because they manage to represent the evil that lurks within the human mind. The slave traders in this movie have no respect for human life. They are aware of it, and they love it. Nihilism has become a trademark in Japanese cinema. This movie has very little blood, but a lot of nudity, sexual violence, rape and torture. We follow some average women as they are going through a world of pain and misery, where twisted evil soul seek the ultimate rush of power and supremacy by the suffering and unhappiness of other individuals. This movies running time is not long, but that's exactly enough to deliver the punch in your face. Not a great movie, but good. It does what it can well, and deliver the message.

An office lady with no relatives is kidnapped by slave traders and locked in a warehouse with four other unfortunates. The traders "test" the ladies out in unspeakable ways before shipping them off to Africa.I didn't find Yasuro Uegaki's FEMALE MARKET to be too much or particularly appalling. It does present some sexual abuse sequences with a Pasolini/SALO-style sense of indifference and it does get cracking with the rape and whipping rather quickly, but it rapidly loses steam and is inevitably undone by a very bland, predictable plot.As Nikkatsu movies go, it's not as well photographed as most and its limited locations leave it looking very stage-bound. There's a minor attempt to essay a "relationship" between the most defiant of the kidnapped women and the most sensitive of the bad guys, but even this is too little too late when you compare it to the character dynamics of such fare as ASSAULT JACK THE RIPPER (my nominee for Best Violent Pink Film Ever Made) or WHITE ROSE CAMPUS: THEN, EVERYBODY GETS RAPED.The film's final scene, where the bad guy turned good is discovered washed up on a beach, is a fitting capper and is consistent with FEMALE MARKET's downbeat tone.I wouldn't recommend this film to those seeking great exploitation because it lacks serious energy and is turgidly paced.For completest only.