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"Red Vertigo" is by far the most erotic film in the series, and the best one to start with.

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Angel Guts

Red Vertigo

Review By: Anime Boy

Cinema: Japanese

Company: ArtsMagic DVD

Running Time: 80 minutes

Region: 1

Rating: NC-17 (Violence, nudity, rape, adult situations)

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW IS ONE OF AN ADULT NATURE. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

EXTERNAL EXAM

For Nami, life is going pretty good. Her job as a nurse is very fulfilling, and her boyfriend Kenji is doing well as a photographer of nude women.

Life for Muraki isn't so hot. Implicated in an embezzlement scandal, he has been fired from his job, and is now on the run from the investors who lost money to him. He decides to leave Tokyo and start a new life.

When Nami is nearly raped by patients at the hospital, she runs off to find solace with Kenji. When she discovers Kenji is doing more than photography with his models, she takes off again, only to be hit by Muraki's car. At first he tries to help her, then he decides to take advantage of the unconscious woman.

For these two people, their accidental meeting will mark the start of a bizarre relationship that will either bring them to the heights of ecstasy, or plunge them deeper into despair.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: "Red Vertigo" is way different from the previous two "Angel Guts" movies. Instead of a tale involving the destructive world of rape, manga creator, writer, and Director Takashi Ishii tells a story about two souls, looking for salvation in a cruel world. While their introduction is anything but heartwarming, Ishii takes these two on an emotional roller coaster ride towards salvation.

ACTING: Most of the movie centers around the characters of Nami and Muraki, played by the lovely Mayako Katsuragi, and the awesome Naoto Takenaka. While Mayako acting abilities won't earn her any awards, she does know how to give enough angst and sadness to make the character believable. She certainly knows how to make sex hot.

Naoto Takenaka once again turns in an excellent performance. The total opposite of his mad dog rapist "Baba" from Ishii's "Freeze Me", his Muraki is a sad, pathetic man, so wrapped up in his own loathing, he doesn't care what he does to others. Using his entire body, Naoto physically shows how sad this man truly is.

SEX SCENES: There are quite a few scenes of consensual sex, two attempted rapes, and implied anal sex.

FINAL EXAM

The third movie in the "Angel Guts" series I have watched has once again surprised me. Very different in tone from the first two, instead of the main focus being the rape of Nami, "Red Vertigo" is about two people who are desperate to find hope in their rather bleak futures.

For those of you who are new to Japanese Cinema, a quick overview of "Roman Porno" or "Pink Films". A genre of adult films that started in the late 70's, these self contained movies, usually 70 minutes in length, provided erotic content just shy of being truly hard core. The "Angel Guts" series is considered one of the definitive examples of this popular format. Thanks to the rise of the adult home video market in the early 90's, "Roman Porno" quickly faded into the distance. Yet, its influence can still be felt, in films like "Weather Woman" and "Visitor Q".

Unlike the first two films, which start off with rape scenes, "Red Vertigo" takes a much more slower approach. Like "Freeze Me", Ishii already knows what your expecting, so he plays with your head. He throws in a couple of red herrings, so your expecting something nasty that never materializes. He continues to toy with you with a fairly erotic liaison between Nami and her boyfriend Kenji, leaving you to wonder if anything nasty is going to happen.

Ishii doesn't stop there. When the rape scenes do come, the end results are nothing like you would expect. Thanks to the outstanding acting of Naoto Takenaka, you actually feel sorry for this guy, even though he is trying to rape this young woman. From there, Ishii takes the movie deeper into the "Roman Porno" realm than the previous "Angel Guts" movies.

He makes the focus of "Red Vertigo" not Nami's rape, but the relationship between this unfortunate girl and Muraki. Two people, drawn together by an unfortunate string of events, and helping each other overcome their own lack of self worth on the road to a happier life is a staple of romantic movies. By going this route, enables Ishii to explore the mixed perceptions between men and women, and in his own way, helps the watcher to better understand their role in the war of the sexes.

By adding more plot and philosophy doesn't' mean that we have a brilliant, quirky independent film. Far from it. Like the other "Angel Guts" movies, all this extra stuff mearly provides the framework for the sex. The more "in-depth" story also makes for some slow moments, but the pay off is worth the wait. I give Ishii some points for trying to make a typical "porno" interesting.

Thanks to the comparatively large amount of consensual sex scenes, "Red Vertigo" makes for a pretty good "adult" film. The sex is very passionate, with the very photogenic Mayako Katsuragi helping amp up the arousal factor. She is also a decent enough actress to get you invested in her righteous anger, and excited by her released passion.

Like the others, the main female leads get naked at some point. Along with the extra eroticism, the sex scenes last a pretty long time. However if you are wanting to see some "pink", you won't see it here. Anything south of the equator has something in the way, usually a blurred out bubble.

"Red Vertigo" is by far the most erotic film in the series, and the best one to start with. With an interesting story, solid acting, and good sex, just about everyone will find something they will like. Thanks to the ever evolving format of the "Angel Guts" series, I can't wait to see what comes up next.

NEXT MOVIE: Red Porno

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