Plot: What’s it about?
Nami Matsushima (Yokho Saito) used to live a brisk, happy lifestyle, with a loving fiance and a marriage around the corner. Her fiance isn’t as innocent as she is however, as he deals in rather underhanded trades and has made plenty of enemies. His shady past comes back to haunt him though, as when he enters his car one night, an enemy has placed a bomb inside. So when he gets in and starts up the engine, the bomb detonates and he is killed in the explosion. This crushes Nami to no end, as the love of her life is now dead and there is no solace for her. The culprits behind the explosions are unknown, as clues and evidence are thin at best. In truth, he had so many enemies and people after him, it would be impossible to deduce who was involved. A substantial insurance policy was held on him however, which draws attention to the grieving widow, Nami herself. Of course, she is innocent of the charges, but as she stood to gain a lot from her fiance’s death, she was convicted on circumstantial evidence alone. She is placed in a Los Angeles prison for women, which proves to be just as harsh as the male prisons. In the prison, she discovers a fanatical and corrupt warden, sadistic guards, and sexually deviant inmates. Can Nami survive long enough to clear her name and regain her freedom?
I am always pleased to see more women in prison flicks released on DVD, so I was anxious to check out Central Park Media’s disc of Scorpion’s Revenge. This was an Asian production, but it seems the women in prison international cinematic guidelines were observed in total, as Scorpion’s Revenge has all the usual elements. Almost all of these films involve the same premise, a woman who is unjustly imprisoned finds herself surrounded by madness, which leads to her total determination to escape. In Scorpion’s Revenge, we follow a young woman through the prison system from Hades, as she encounters all the expected lot of events and people. The warden is a lunatic with violent tendencies, the guards are twisted and sick, and of course, the fellow inmates crave blood or sex, sometimes even a little of both. The film has girl vs. girl violence, ample naked flesh, and even some decent lesbian love sceness, so the exploitation side is well covered. The story is basic, but works for this kind of movie, while the performances are better than expected. So if you love the usual women in prison formula, you should be entertained here. Of course, that also means there isn’t much new ground broken and we’ve seen it all before, but I was never bored with this movie. I recommend this release to genre fans, who should be able to overlook the cookie cutter formula, given the wild antics present.
Video: How does it look?
Scorpion’s Revenge is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. The movie looks quite good here, but keep in mind, this was probably shot on video and with a less than substantial bankroll. So the image is a tad on the soft side, but detail is solid and sharpness is more than reasonable. The print seems to be in good condition, with no serious defects to mention. I did see a nick here and there, but all things considered, the material has been well preserved. The contrast isn’t quite as spot on black as I would like, but that could be related to the source elements, instead of this presentation. I found colors to be subdued, but consistent, which means it is probably part of the visual scheme. So a nice, solid widescreen edition of the flick, which is good enough in this case.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio here is presented in solid, but not too memorable fashion, via a pair of soundtrack options. You can listen to the original Japanese language track or an English dub, of which I recommend the original soundtrack, without question. There is some English dialogue in the Japanese soundtrack however, so don’t be surprised. The elements are in fine form and never seem forced, while volume remains stable and never varies much. The music is clean and as rich as stereo allows, while the sound effects have good presence, all things considered. I found the dialogue to be great also, with a clean overall sound and no mishaps to cover here. This disc also includes optional English subtitles, in case you’ll need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes some still photos, as well as the film’s trailer.
