"The Legend of the Poisonous Seductress" saga begins with this bloody tale of an actress who seeks vengeance against her tormentors after being wrongly imprisoned. Ohyaku (Junko Miyazono) was just an innocent actress when she was accused of a crime that she didn't commit. Subsequently thrown into prison and brutalized by her fellow inmates at every turn, the once fragile girl is gradually transformed into a sword-wielding warrior whose back is adorned with a maniacal demon. Now, her blade clenched firmly in clinched fists, Ohyaku sets out on a violent quest to cut down anyone and everyone who ever dared cross her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
This early entry into the Japanese "pinky violence" genre isn't as explicit or flamboyant as the genre's later films would be but it remains an impressive piece of work. Female Demon Ohyaku's script cleverly takes the female action films that had become popular in Japan during the mid-1960's and ups the ante by upping the sex, violence and overall twistedness of the storyline. That said, the film has to suggest more than it shows due to the time in which it was made so it relies on performances and direction to really sell the material. Thankfully, both director and actors are up to the task. Director Yoshihiro Ishikawa wraps the tale in lustrous black-and-white visuals (Nagaki Yamagishi's cinematography is as sharp as a diamond) and makes the film's manipulative storyline and intense content work by playing on the viewer's emotions. He achieves the latter thanks to excellent performances from a gifted cast. Junko Miyazono is the heart of the story and she makes a stunning heroine: her expressive face conveys a wealth of emotion in a single glance and her single-minded intensity makes her quest for vengeance as believable as it is sympathetic. There are also charismatic turns by Tomisaburo Wakayama as a philosophical crime boss, Koji Nambara as the sleazy government villain and Yuriko Mishima as a lusty tattoo artist. It's also worth noting that once Ishikawa and his cast get down to the revenge part of the story in the final third, his careful choreography of the events and the actors' committed performances make it a truly intense experience. All in all, Female Demon Ohyaku is a skillfully-crafted action/exploitation tale and would make a good introduction to the "pinky violence" genre for novices. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide