Reipu 25-ji: Bôkan

Another impactful Japanese thriller from Yasaharu Hasebe, this mean-spirited rape/revenge flick pushed the sexual violence boundaries so far (even for Nikkatsu) that that they voluntarily put the brakes on the genre. However, it was briefly revived ten years later by Ohara's "Zoom Up: Rape Site". In this exercise in grimy nihilism, a rapist named 'Crimson' stalks and rapes a dancer with the help of an "apprentice". A final assault scene in an empty swimming pool (of a male) has to be seen to be believed, and echoes the homosexual biker rape in the same director's incendiary "Raping!". The blood and guts quotient is high and, technically, this is the most straightforward installment (stylistically) of the bunch, but is a confronting, unique pleasure.