Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41
Encyclopedia
is the second in the Female Convict Scorpion series. The star (Meiko Kaji) and director (Shunya Itō
) of the first film in the series, Female Convict 701: Scorpion
(1972), returned for this sequel. It is a film in the Women in prison sub-genre of Pinky violence Pink films made by the Toei Company
in 1972.
The convicts escape to an abandoned village, where Oba reveals her crime: when she found her husband cheating on her, she drowned her 2 year old son and killed her unborn baby by stabbing herself. In the village, the convicts find a mysterious old woman wielding a dagger. The woman describes herself as 'the reason for which women commit sins'. A surreal sequence follows, where the crimes of each of the convicts are explained. The old woman gives Matsu her dagger before dying peacefully. The convicts see a town, where they decide to steal new clothes from and escape. Waiting for nightfall, they hide out in an abandoned hut. One of the convicts, Haru sneaks out of the hut and into her own home, which is nearby. There she is reunited with her son, but also two jail authorities. They offer to set Haru free if she reveals the others' locations. Distraught, Haru goes away. One of the guards follows her while the other returns to Goda. Matsu kills the guard following Haru.
A tourist group is passing through the region for sightseeing. Three boys in the group are especially rowdy and sexually aggressive. One of the convicts is returning from the river when the boys find her and rape her repeatedly. They throw her down a cliff to kill her, but the other convicts find her body and give chase to the boys. They find the tour bus and hijack it. Oba and the convicts are especially sadistic towards the three boys, whom they torture and beat up. They also harass the other passengers, and another surreal sequence shows the convicts being ostracised by society, for which the convicts are taking revenge. As the bus approaches a checkpoint, Oba throws Matsu out of the bus as a decoy. Matsu is captured, but Goda's men arrange a roadblock in front of the bus, consisting of a large truck with Haru's son on it. The bus is stopped and Haru rushes out to meet her son. As the guards try to catch her, Haru is shot by Oba, who orders the convicts to kill the hostages. Oba kills the bus driver and drives the bus, circumventing the roadblock.
At night, the bus is cornered by the police. Goda decides to send Matsu to the convicts to learn the hostages' status. Matsu lies that the hostages have been killed, and the police lead a charge on the bus. The convicts throw the three boys out, who are killed by police bullets. In the ensuing fight, all convicts except Oba die. Oba is injured and set to return to prison with Matsu. Goda however, is convinced that Matsu will attempt to escape midway. He asks his men to discretely kill her on the way. The guards accordingly stop at a junkyard and are about to execute Matsu, when Oba intervenes. Matsu and Oba kill the guards. The next morning, Oba dies in the junkyard. Matsu is finally loose. Goda is promoted and now has a job in the city. Matsu tracks him down and kills him by stabbing him several times (similar to how she tracked down and killed Sugimi). The ending is left ambiguous, as the film ends with a surreal sequence of all the female convicts of the jailhouse running free in the city, passing Matsu's dagger amongst each other.
Shunya Ito
is a Japanese film director famed for starting the Sasori series of 1970s exploitation films based on Toru Shinohara's manga and starring Meiko Kaji. Itō worked for Toei Company for most of his career...
) of the first film in the series, Female Convict 701: Scorpion
Female Convict 701: Scorpion
is a film based on a manga by Tōru Shinohara in the "Women in Prison" sub-genre of Pinky violence Pink films made by Toei Company in 1972. The first in a series, the film starred Meiko Kaji and was Shunya Itō's directorial debut.-Plot:...
(1972), returned for this sequel. It is a film in the Women in prison sub-genre of Pinky violence Pink films made by the Toei Company
Toei Company
is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
in 1972.
Plot
Nami Matsushima (aka Matsu) has earned the nickname "Sasori" (Scorpion) in prison. She is locked up in underground solitary confinement by Inspector Goda, who is to be promoted to a higher post shortly. Since an inspector is to examine the prison, Matsu is brought out of confinement for one day. During the inspection, Matsu makes a surprise attack on Goda and scratches. The attack inspires the other prisoners to start a riot, but guards defuse the situation. For this, all prisoners are sent to an intensive labour camp. Goda believes that Matsu may inspire the other prisoners to revolt, and so assigns four guards to publicly rape her and humiliate her. When returning from the intensive labour camp, Matsu is in a van with 6 other convicts, one of whom is Oba. They beat up Matsu, who falls lifeless and bleeding. The guards are alerted that Matsu is feared dead. While they are inspecting her, Matsu strangles and kills one of the guards. Oba and the other convicts get the other guard as well and blow up the van. When Goda sees the van's ruins, he sends search parties to look for Matsu.The convicts escape to an abandoned village, where Oba reveals her crime: when she found her husband cheating on her, she drowned her 2 year old son and killed her unborn baby by stabbing herself. In the village, the convicts find a mysterious old woman wielding a dagger. The woman describes herself as 'the reason for which women commit sins'. A surreal sequence follows, where the crimes of each of the convicts are explained. The old woman gives Matsu her dagger before dying peacefully. The convicts see a town, where they decide to steal new clothes from and escape. Waiting for nightfall, they hide out in an abandoned hut. One of the convicts, Haru sneaks out of the hut and into her own home, which is nearby. There she is reunited with her son, but also two jail authorities. They offer to set Haru free if she reveals the others' locations. Distraught, Haru goes away. One of the guards follows her while the other returns to Goda. Matsu kills the guard following Haru.
A tourist group is passing through the region for sightseeing. Three boys in the group are especially rowdy and sexually aggressive. One of the convicts is returning from the river when the boys find her and rape her repeatedly. They throw her down a cliff to kill her, but the other convicts find her body and give chase to the boys. They find the tour bus and hijack it. Oba and the convicts are especially sadistic towards the three boys, whom they torture and beat up. They also harass the other passengers, and another surreal sequence shows the convicts being ostracised by society, for which the convicts are taking revenge. As the bus approaches a checkpoint, Oba throws Matsu out of the bus as a decoy. Matsu is captured, but Goda's men arrange a roadblock in front of the bus, consisting of a large truck with Haru's son on it. The bus is stopped and Haru rushes out to meet her son. As the guards try to catch her, Haru is shot by Oba, who orders the convicts to kill the hostages. Oba kills the bus driver and drives the bus, circumventing the roadblock.
At night, the bus is cornered by the police. Goda decides to send Matsu to the convicts to learn the hostages' status. Matsu lies that the hostages have been killed, and the police lead a charge on the bus. The convicts throw the three boys out, who are killed by police bullets. In the ensuing fight, all convicts except Oba die. Oba is injured and set to return to prison with Matsu. Goda however, is convinced that Matsu will attempt to escape midway. He asks his men to discretely kill her on the way. The guards accordingly stop at a junkyard and are about to execute Matsu, when Oba intervenes. Matsu and Oba kill the guards. The next morning, Oba dies in the junkyard. Matsu is finally loose. Goda is promoted and now has a job in the city. Matsu tracks him down and kills him by stabbing him several times (similar to how she tracked down and killed Sugimi). The ending is left ambiguous, as the film ends with a surreal sequence of all the female convicts of the jailhouse running free in the city, passing Matsu's dagger amongst each other.
Cast
- Meiko Kaji as Nami Matsushima, the Scorpion
- Fumio Watanabe as Inspector Goda
- Kayoko Shiraishi as Oba
- Yukie Kagawa as Haru
- Yuki Arasa