original Japanese title RAPE! 25-JI BOKAN [Rape! Hour 25:00]

director: Yasuharu Hasebe
starring: Akira Takahashi · Yuri Yamashina · Yudai Ishiyma · Sueto Tsukada · Tamaki Katsura · Naomi Oka

Often considered the most extreme example of the pink ultra-violence genre, this is a brutal outing from Yasuharu Hasebe (the third entry in his trilogy RAPE! and ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER). Hasebe, a filmmaker from Nikkatsu's pre-pinku eiga days, was never satisfied with standard roman-porn projects, as exemplified by his NAKED SEVEN. The studio's violent pink productions allowed him the most freedom. However, the executives felt this movie had crossed the line. Even though it proved to be a boxoffice hit, the studio reassessed 'production standards' and stopped any similar projects (until the early '80s with BEAUTIFUL TEACHER IN TORTURE HELL, CAPTURED FOR SEX 2, et al).
   Akira Takahashi plays a notorious serial rapist called Crimson. He's been eluding police for months. In his 'normal' world, Crimson works at a gas station, taking advantage of the position by scoping potential victims. Sometimes, his friend - a fellow employee played by Yudai Ishiyama - accompanies Crimson for the sex assaults. One such rape is vividly portrayed in excruciating detail when the two men attack a classical ballerina, Ruriko (played by starlet Yuri Yamashina). Together, they also rape numerous bar-girls in the ruins of an old movie theater [In an ACC magazine interview, issue #25, director Hasebe says: "I chose that dilapidated theater for symbolic reasons...to represent the rape of cinema itself."]
   Meanwhile, in the film - since police are frustrated by lack of evidence in the assaults - vigilante groups spring up. The most aggressive is a gang of homosexual delinquents who discover Crimson's identity and track him down. They mercilessly beat the man and corner him in an empty swimming pool, where they use a hammer to knock out his teeth and orally gang rape him.
    Some critics wrote [despite the exploitative elements of the movie] it is "ripe with allegory, expressing Yasuharu Hasebe's personal, angry commentary on the decline of filmmaking in Japan." However, other critics - horrified by the unbridled cinematic savagery - found less artistic merit in the production.
Mr Hasebe passed away in June of 2009 after complications with pneumonia; he was 77.

A Japanese Film with optional English subtitles; widescreen format, uncut (73 min.),
in DVD format, encoded for ALL REGIONS, playable on any American DVD machine.
Extras include selected theatrical trailers.

Nudity/Graphic Violence/Rape/Sexual Brutality
Intended For Adult Audiences 18+