BEHIND THE PINK CURTAIN Retrospective: Shuji Kataoka's S&M HUNTER
Shuji Kataoka's S&M Hunter (1986) was one of two films supplied by Pink Eiga for the Behind The Pink Curtain retrospective at Fantastic Fest. The screening of the company's newly subtitled digibeta source proved to be one of the highlights of the festival. S&M Hunter's casual parade of vulgar humor and taboo imagery might be as extreme as pinku eiga gets.
S&M Hunter's kooky narrative is as follows. A misogynist goes to a dungeon where he takes out his frustration on a woman dressed as nun. After a bit of psycho-analysis, the dungeon master tells him that he is not a sadist but a masochist. The dungeon master then presents him with the ultimate sadist: S&M Hunter ((Shiro Shimomoto from Uncle's Paradise). Dressed like Indiana Jones with a designer eye-patch, the S&M Hunter is a master of the art of seduction through use of ropes. The S&M Hunter is so skilled at the art that he can wrap a body in a complex set of knots and patterns, including giant spider-like webs. Eventually, the misogynist reveals that an all-female gang named the Bombers kidnapped his boyfriend. The Bombers, who looked like they stepped out of a stage production of Grease, are lead by a man-hater who has a secret history with the S&M Hunter. Where does this all lead? It leads to a battle of the super sadists with the S&M Hunter employing a crane truck to pull off his ultimate rope trick.
As the above description suggests, S&M Hunter is berserk and lots of fun. Much of the film is obviously being played for laughs but the way the film informally tosses around taboo ideas and imagery is captivating. For example, a scene leading up to the final face-off begins with a character unexpectedly dressing up in a German World War 2 officer's uniform and posing in front of a German flag. This scene is neither logical nor explained; its just there to either excite or offend. This suggests that the style has a cultural context that adds a different shade to the film's delivery. Indeed, as Pink Eiga's Ayuma Oda explained after the screening, there is at least one major cultural reference in the film that will be lost on Western audiences. With this said, one doesn't have to understand Japanese culture to come to a conclusion about the merits of S&M Hunter. The film is so over-the-top that it will either immediately grab the viewer's attention or send the viewer away in a fit of rage (or annoyance). Those who want to dive into the extreme end of the pinku pool will definitely want to investigate S&M Hunter upon its release by Pink Eiga later in the year.
