A sleazy bordello/church offering S&M services is visited by a particularly rough, woman-hating client who it turns out is really looking for someone to help him rescue his gay lover from the clutches of a sex-starved sukeban gang. In comes the titular hero, the S&M Hunter, whose snazzy attire--consisting of a duster jacket, bowler hat, and skulls and crossbones eyebatch--makes him look like a bizarre cross between an extra from a spaghetti western set and John Steed.

The S&M Hunter is one part superhero and one part Sherlock Holmes, using his superior powers of deduction and mastery of bondage to solve sticky situations like that of Joe's abducted lover.

Clocking in at the pinku standard of 61 minutes, "S&M Hunter" never gets dull and constantly amazes with its over-the-top bondage-heavy set pieces and proliferation of popular Japanese fetishes. More amazing still is that the sexy stuff never distracts the viewer from the movie itself.

I dare say the sex feels like a perfectly natural part of the narrative, as opposed to a genre-imposed trope. Mind you, seemless integration of softcore sex scenes isn't completely absent from the pinku genre as a whole, but the skill level of the directors too often came in the way.

Or maybe it's just that the sex comes with a good mix of humour, playfulness, and stone-faced seriousness that just works. Obvious care was given to the bondage sequences as the complex knots and rope structures clearly demonstrate.

As stated in the introduction, the outside scenes were shot at the crack of dawn or just before dusk, giving us some of the most gorgeous photography in the genre. Someone out there went through a lot of trouble to make the most out of the imposed limits.

The oddball "S&M Hunter" is likely to please fans of pinky violence and/or bondage fanatics more than the casual pinku boosters.

Certainly, it is nice to see a long tradition of cheaply made erotic films destined for the Japanese equivalent of the porn theatre industry being maintained through the decades, but would it be too much to ask of the directors that they make genuinely compelling movies?

"A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn" suffers from having little to offer beyond a little bare skin and an awesome central concept. After reading the liner notes by director Goto, one gets the idea that this is pretty much what the movie was intended to be: padding around lovely ladies and the deliciously perverse "pitch".

For those who haven't heard yet, this is the infamous pinku where a senile farmer somehow convinces himself that his daughter-in-law is his favorite cow--a situation encouraged by said daughter-in-law's continued portrayal of the cow, including barnyard scenes where one can see the naked girl "mooing" for the old geezer.

Miike fans be forewarned that this is where any and all resemblances to the prolific director's "Gozu" starts and ends.

Shot in the most pedestrian of styles and with the occasional clumsy flourish meant to dupe us into thinking that this might be more than just a mild skin flick, unlike its main female protagonist, "A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn" isn't fooling anyone.

Mind you, I was around 5 or 6 at the time and thoughts such as "wow, that tree ninja really looks fake" and "whoah...they actually filmed this scene in reverse? Man, that's cheap..." or even "Did they really have to pick the worst of the five Venoms?" would still be a few years away.

Yet, in its own clumsy way, this movie does manage to charm the viewer. No, the martial arts on display won't impress anyone and the aforementioned element ninja border are more often than not ridiculous at best, still, it entertains and that's what really counts, right?

The dubbing doesn't do the movie any favors, however, and yet that might be a big selling point for those of us who grew up in the days of god awful dubbing.

In short, "Five Element Ninja" delivers what you would expect a movie with that title to deliver: cheesy ninja, sub-par kung-fu action, imaginative concepts, and bizarre dubbed dialogue.

Big Boobs Buster proudly admits to its perversion, fessing up with a wide grin and ogling eyes as if to say "ZOMG TEH BOOBIEZ!!!". This movie makes no attempts at masking its true purpose and audience. But then again, given its title, I'm not sure what else one is to expect.

Coming across as a cheaper, less inventive version of the live action Kekko Kamen series, Big Boobs Buster will in all likelihood disappoint the resident perverts looking for truly bizarre J-porn and leave others bored. The plot, if stripped of the rather unusual premise and more nudity, is little more than a sweet romantic comedy and the action scenes are probably less physical and kinetic than those found in Sailor Moon's live action variant.

While not offensively bad, there's a certain blandness, which, not unlike the titular hunter, makes it pale in comparison to others in its class. I guess you could say that in a market flooded with films dedicated to various niche audiences, a movie like Big Boobs Buster merely comes across as one of many quick and easy productions aiming to satisfy a genuinely widespread obsession, satisfying itself with the overflow from bigger, better productions.

Despite one's first impressions upon hearing of the movie's titular man eating bed, Death Bed is one for the artsy crowds. For one thing, it is primarily narrated by the man in the picture in long ennui filled soliloquy. And for another, there's a certain mood, a feeling in certain choice scenes that leaves one with the impression that this is no ordinary exploitation flick.

Fortunately, the filmmaker was smart enough to add levity to his work with the victim in the painting acting more as a straight man to the bed's goofy gluttony. The relatively slow pace is much more tolerable thanks in large part to the humour and the tongue in cheek nature of the whole thing should make this a very memorable experience.

This one puts all those zany live action Marvel movies from the 90's to shame.

This film rivals Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam in terms of sheer inspired low rent lunacy and gut busting action scenes - sort of like a bizarre Lucha Libre flick shot in Turkey minus the wrestling match sequences. Come to think of it, at least one murder sequence owes to The Abominable Dr. Phibes in terms of inspired lunacy and over the top cartoon villainy.

Bizarre doesn't even begin to describe this movie and no review could do justice to the on screen madness.

Having the added bonus of subtitles would allow you to better grasp the back-story, at least that's what you'd think. Truth is, even with English subtitles the movie is a... well... there's no nice way of putting it - insane.

But you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.