Angel Guts

Red Porno

Review By: Anime Boy

Cinema: Japanese

Company: ArtsMagic DVD

Running Time: 80 minutes 

Region: 1

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

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

EXTERNAL EXAM

Tricked by one of her friends, Nami is photographed for an S&M magazine.  Because of the explicit nature of the photos, not only does she have to worry about being discovered by her bosses, she has to fend off guys who think that she is into that kind of stuff.  She also is having an affair with the manager of her section, adding even more stress on her life.

Murkai is a lonely bachelor who has become one of Nami's "fans".  When not dealing with suspicious neighbors who think he's a pervert, he attempts to track down the woman of his sexual fantasies.

Nami is now caught in the middle of what people perceive her to be, and who she really is.  What she learns about herself will affect her, and everyone she knows, forever.

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WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY:  "Red Porno" has the least amount of plot of all the previous "Angel Guts" movies. Dumping the "Rape of Nami" theme, this story by creator/writer Takashi Ishii is about people confronting their desires, and how they choose to act on them.

ACTING:  Most of the movie centers around Nami, played by the incredibly hot Jun Izumi.  She does a fine job with what little story and characterization she has to work with.  Most of the time she either plays Nami with "embarrassed dignity", or as a hot sex vixen.  Watching her writhe in ecstasy, even when she masturbates, it's easy to overlook the minimal plot.

The rest of the cast is fine, but with so little dialogue to go around, there really isn't much of a chance to stretch those acting muscles.

SEX SCENES: There are quite a few scenes of masturbation with various...er things, a fantasy rape, lots of consensual sex, implied anal sex, and what I think is a case of necrophilia, but I'm not entirely certain.

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FINAL EXAM

"Red Porno" truly lives up to it's namesake; lots of red, lots of erotic content.  Saying that the film was dripping with sex would be an understatement.  It's a veritable flood, with enough baby oil for the entire cast.

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".

This is by far the hottest of all the films, truly living up to the name "Roman Porno".  The movie has barely even started when "BOOM", we see Nami masturbating.  A few minutes later, "BANG", a young girl is using all sorts of things (including eggs) to get herself off.  Wait, there's more! Just a scant few minutes (or are they seconds) later, "WHAP", our male lead is masturbating with his underwear on!  Things start to get really wild when the object of his fantasy magically appears, covered in KY to help him along!

Then things start to really heat up.

From then on it's a cornucopia of sex, sex, and more sex, with a true "climax" of an ending.  The only thing missing is some girl on girl action, which is a shame.  Like the other films, there is no shortage of nudity.  The sex scenes last a pretty long time, and are very erotic (in most cases).  However if you are wanting to see some "pink", you won't see it here.  Anything south of the equator has something or someone in the way.  They also use a lot of red lighting to cover up anything naughty, hence the reason why it's called "Red Porno".

Jun Izumi is by far the sexiest of all the Nami's.  Her body is perfect, her moans really get you in the mood, and she has enough acting ability for you to believe she is exploring her "nasty" sexual side.  It's easy to see why Murkai fell in love with her, which may have been the reason why Jun Izumi was cast in the first place.

In between all the sex, there is an underlying theme that runs throughout "Red Porno"; it's "know thyself".  Nami constantly says that she isn't the girl portrayed in the magazine, yet engages in what some would consider "abnormal" behavior.  Murkai constantly denies that he is not a peeping tom to his busy body landlord, when in fact he is.  Everyone, from Nami's boss, to the masturbating egg girl, is in denial about some aspect of their lives.  It seems what Ishii is trying to say is: be true to who you are, and your life will be better.  Mind you, I missed this Freudian theorem the first couple of times.  I was too busy looking at Jun Izumi to notice.

It never ceases to amaze me how different each of these films turn out to be.  "High School Coed" was all about debauchery among street punks.  "Red Classroom" was about the dark side of rape and the porn industry.  In "Red Dizziness" what started as a typical rape movie, became a tale of two people trying to find happiness.  Now we have "Red Porno", which sheds any real semblance of a plot for a series of explicit sexual encounters, and practically no rape scenes.  Well, there is a fantasy rape scenes, but it's not as rough as the previous movies.

Out of all of the "Angel Guts" movies, "Red Porno" is my personal favorite.  While it's short on story, it's high on eroticism, and that's why I like it.  This is truly the best example of the "Roman Porno" genre, and of the "Angel Guts" series.  Only one more to go.  Let's see if it can hold a candle to "Red Porno"!

NEXT MOVIE: Nami

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