| Terrifying
Girls' Highschool - Lynch Law Classroom DVD released: October 31, 2006. Approximate running time: 88 minutes Aspect ratio: Anamorphic 2.35:1 Widescreen Rating: NR Sound: Dolby Digital Mono DVD Release: Panik House Region Coding: NTSC Region 1 Retail Price:
$19.95 |
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| Quick links: [video] [audio] [extras] [overall] |
| The Film |
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Norifumi Suzuki directed Terrifying Girls' Highscool - Lynch Law Classroom in 1973 and it proved to be a strange blend of horror, action, and exploitation that can't quite make up it's mind what it wants to be but manages to entertain none the less. This film is the second of the four films in the Terrifying Girls' High School series and it was previously included in the Pinky Violence Collection set from Panik House that was released in 2005. Set in an all girls high-school, the film starts off with a pretty intense scene where some of the students are draining the blood out of one of their unfortunate classmates. These horrible neo-Nazi sadists have just shown up at the school, much to the dismay of Miki Sugimoto and her pal, Reiko Ike. It turns out that the principal of the school has paid these nasty punks to show up with the express purpose of keeping the girls in line, and that draining blood isn't all that they do to the poor girls who are dumb enough to get in their way. Some of the girls who get taken down by these new additions to the school are so shaken by what happens to them that they end up taking their own lives, unable to deal with the humiliation that has been dealt to them. Luckily for everyone, Reiko Ike is here and she's also very well connected. She gets in touch with a buddy of hers who happens to work for the local Yakuza and spills the beans about what is going down behind the walls of of this supposed institute of higher learning. Once the Yakuza are involved, they set up some rather precocious situations to trap the staff into sexual situations that they shouldn't ever find themselves in, to blackmail them into laying off the thug tactics. It seems that those in charge of keeping the place running are themselves guilty of breaking more than a few social taboos in terms of interacting on a less than professional level with some of the pretty (and young!) girls enrolled and entrusted to their care. Of course it all builds up to an ugly climax, with the cops being called in and the girls taking matters into their own hands. While Reiko Ike is in this one a fair bit, it really is Miki Sugimoto's show this time out with the lovely Ms. Ike relegated to supporting cast status. Sugimoto proves to be more than capable of taking the ball and running with it, however, and at times her screen presence rivals (maybe even tops) the kind of poise and self assurance that Ike showed in the films where she played the lead. Plenty of skin, copious amounts of blood and more naughty schoolgirls than you can shake a stick at make Terrifying Girls' High School - Lynch Law Classroom a pretty unique viewing experience. It's quite different in tone than the other three films in the set and while it shares some of the same themes of young women busting out against the society that they're supposed to be assimilated into, it manages to be a more original and certainly more unusual film than the other three entries presented here. |
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| Video | 4.5/5 | |
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| Audio | 4/5 | |
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| The film comes to DVD in its original Japanese language tracks with optional English subtitles in pretty solid Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound mixes. Dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to follow and the soundtrack comes through with a little more punch than you’ll probably expect them to. |
| Extras | 3/5 | |
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As far as extras go, we get a trailer, a poster gallery (two images), a color production stills gallery (six images) and a black and white production stills gallery (fourteen images) as well as biographies for Norifumi Suzuki, Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, Yukie Kagawa, Yuko Kano, and rounding things out are some more production notes. Once again, Chris D. does the commentary duties and as he did on the other disc he spoke on, he covers the background of the movie and those who made it. If you've ever wondered where some of the ideas came from for this film or wanted to learn more about Norifumi Suzkuki and the strange body of work that the man assembled, this is a good way to learn as Chris D. proves that he knows his stuff as he not only covers Suzuki's style but also details the history of the performers used in the film and gives us a well rounded history of the making of the movie. The only extras that appear on this single disc release that are not in the boxed set release are an insert and a sticker, both of which reproduce the disc's cover art. |
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| Overall | 4/5 | |
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The strangest of the four films in last years The Pinky Violence collection gets an individual release of the finest quality. If you haven't picked up the boxed set and have any interest in Japanese exploitation, then Terrifying Girls' Highschool - Lynch Law Classroom is a great example of just how completely fucked up and beautiful some of these movies can be. For more details, check out the Panik House home page by clicking here! |
| Film Rating | DVD Rating | |||
| Director: | Norifumi Suzuki |
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| Writers: | Tatsuhiko Kamoi |
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| Released: | 1973 |
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| Cast: | Reiko Ike, Miki Sugimoto, Tsunehiko Watase, Misuza Ota, Rie Saotome, Ryoko Ema |
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