#kazuhiko shihomi

[mariocki]

Onna hissatsu ken: Kiki ippatsu (Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread, 1974)

"What amazing sisterly love. Ha ha ha! I'll be sure to send Koryu to the afterworld in a manner even more cruel."

"You kill innocent people like they're insects. It's inhuman!"

[schlock-luster-video]

On November 9, 2019 Sister Street Fighter and Lady Street Fighter were screened as a double-feature on TCM Underground.

[keepitcult]

Sister Street Fighter (1974)

[minya8chan]

Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread

[twilightronin]

Sister Street Fighter

[may8chan]

Sister Street Fighter

[jailhouse41]

Lobby card for Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread (Onna Hissatsu: Ken Kiki Ippatsu, 女必殺拳危機一発), 1974, directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (山口和彦) and starring Etsuko Shihomi (志穂美悦子).

[thefilmsimps]

Sister Street Fighter (dir. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi)

-Jere Pilapil- 8.5/10 There is a certain type of action movie that I’m a sucker for, and that’s really the type that goes all-out, getting bonkers stupid in its pursuit of a sublime kind of hyper-reality, where, say, a team will parachute sports cars out of an airplane to intercept a guarded convoy. In some ways, this is easier to achieve in martial arts: you can kind of get by introducing crazy characters with crazy weapons and having the hero defeat them in creative ways. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi’s Sister Street Fighter is this kind of movie, and it’s mostly glorious, giving us a host of wild characters that our protagonist mostly treats as jobbers in her quest to rescue her brother. Oddly, this is a spin-off of the Sonny Chiba classic The Street Fighter, but not really. Sure, Sonny Chiba is in this, and it has “Street Fighter” in the title. But he’s not playing the same character here, even in a limited supporting role. Etsuko Shihomi stars as Koryu, the titular sister, whose brother went undercover to bust a drug cartel led by Ryozo Hayashi (Shohei Yamamoto). He’s gone missing, so Koryu sets out to find him. That’s the gist of the premise, and the movie deftly switches between Koryu and Hayashi as pursuer and target. The search pulls in many characters, a martial arts school, more hired guns on behalf of the cartel, and even a priest with a harpoon gun. That’s the secret to Sister Street Fighter: it never stays in one place for long. It’s mostly a by the numbers martial arts flick, but sped up. Fight scenes are good enough to be compelling (honestly, probably better than in the original The Street Fighter) but not dragged out to epic length. It’s twisty enough that some characters that seem like they should be a big deal are defeated swiftly (or in one case, forgotten, unless I missed something). Koryu is kind of overpowered: she’s of the Bruce Lee hero’s mold where her skill is unparalleled, but the movie is just throwing wave after wave after wave of obstacles in her way. But Shihomi is a compelling lead, and watching her beat the hell out of all manner of bad guy is a thrill. The one thing that takes me out of this movie is a rape scene of the worst kind. It’s (I’d argue) unnecessary to the plot, and violently interrupts the otherwise swashbuckling style, pulling things to a dead halt. I’m sure in 1974 standards, it probably sticks out less, but it’s even the worst kind of rape scene, filmed luridly to provide the movie with a couple extra seconds of bare breasts. It’s a very obvious miscalculation in what is otherwise a worthy iteration of the The Street Fighter style, maybe even improved one.

[thegeekshow]

Sister Street Fighter: "Stealth Feminist Exploitation Icon?"

Sister Street Fighter took our resident Japanese film guy by surprise. But was it a good or bad surprise? Read his review to find out.

Shinichi Chiba (A.K.A. Sonny) became a star in the global kung fu fever inspired by Bruce Lee and the international success of his unfortunate swansong, Enter the Dragon. Like many of his Hong Kong peers, Chiba starred in an awful lot of movies and not many of them good – however, he did star in a series that elevated him to a level of international stardom that was instrumental in installing him…

[mariocki]

Kaette kita onna hissatsu ken (The Return of the Sister Street Fighter, 1975)

"Koryu... the end is near. As my parting gift, I'll let you see something - to show that all your efforts were a waste of time."

[schlock-luster-video]

On April 12, 2019, Sister Street Fighter and Lady Street Fighter were screened as a double-feature on TCM Underground.

Here's some new art inspired by both features!

[schlock-luster-video]

On August 31, 1974 Sister Street Fighter debuted in Japan.

[schlock-luster-video]

On April 12, 2019 Sister Street Fighter and Lady Street Fighter were screened as a double-feature on TCM Underground.

[schlock-luster-video]

Today in action-thriller/ martial arts film history: on December 11, 1975 Sister Street Fighter debuted in the Netherlands.

Here's some Etsuko Shihomi art to celebrate!

[may8chan]

Sister Street Fighter