I knew enough about BLACK TIGHT KILLERS to not get my hopes up too high expecting a sleaze-fest like Yasuharu Hasebe's later-made and awesome pinku-shocker, ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER (which many - myself included - believe to be amongst the finest pinku films ever made). Even so - this one was a fun and quirky 60's-style crime/mystery that works well for what it is...
A military photographer takes a cute stewardess out to dinner where she is promptly kidnapped. Deciding that he has fallen in love with the girl, our "hero" decides to investigate her kidnapping himself, and ends up having run-ins with cops, gangsters, crooked businessmen, and a gang of go-go dancing ninja-girls who use chewing-gum bullets, deadly 45-records, and razor-sharp measuring tapes as weapons. It all revolves around the kidnapped girl and some stolen gold, and several groups attempts to retrieve the "goods"...
BLACK TIGHT KILLERS is a fun, brainless diversion. Hasebe makes good and stylish use of color, silly back-drops and eccentric characters to bring together an entertaining film. I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as the later, "rougher" pinku material to come out of Nikkatsu Studios, but it's interesting to see Hasebe's directing "progression". Fans of 60s-style neo-noirish crime/action films will get a kick out of this one. Hardcore sleaze and pinku fans who grab this one strictly because Hasebe's name is attached to it will more than likely be disappointed...7/10
A military photographer takes a cute stewardess out to dinner where she is promptly kidnapped. Deciding that he has fallen in love with the girl, our "hero" decides to investigate her kidnapping himself, and ends up having run-ins with cops, gangsters, crooked businessmen, and a gang of go-go dancing ninja-girls who use chewing-gum bullets, deadly 45-records, and razor-sharp measuring tapes as weapons. It all revolves around the kidnapped girl and some stolen gold, and several groups attempts to retrieve the "goods"...
BLACK TIGHT KILLERS is a fun, brainless diversion. Hasebe makes good and stylish use of color, silly back-drops and eccentric characters to bring together an entertaining film. I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as the later, "rougher" pinku material to come out of Nikkatsu Studios, but it's interesting to see Hasebe's directing "progression". Fans of 60s-style neo-noirish crime/action films will get a kick out of this one. Hardcore sleaze and pinku fans who grab this one strictly because Hasebe's name is attached to it will more than likely be disappointed...7/10