Search - Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion: Beast Stable on DVD

Beast Stable

Angelina Chin | 11/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, the information about this film is misleading. They're wrong. I ordered this because I saw Tamura Masakazu's name on it. It turned out to be the wrong film. But to my surprise, it's very enjoyable. After I watched the Grudge Song (the actual one with Tamura), I found Beast Stable to be better! The shock elements are there and they're actually visually well-made. (But be ready to see blood and gruesome acts.) One tends to sympathize with Sasori in this film cos she's trying so hard to live a normal, peaceful life, but the evil policemen just wouldn't leave her alone. The small details are also thoughtfully-made and entertaining. Cool stuff!"

Family versus Friends

Daitokuji31 | Black Glass | 07/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The third volume of the Female Prisoner Scorpion Series, Beast Stable, opens up with quite a bang, or maybe it would be better to say a large meaty slice, when our heroine Matsushima Nami, better known as Sasori, or Scorpion, slices open the face of one police officer and then hacks off the arm of another, an arm that she is handcuffed to, so that she can escape a train. The viewer is then treated to a running Scorpion with a severed arm dangling from the handcuffs that bind her to it. If this scene is not twisted enough, we then go to view a young prostitute copulating indifferently with a man on top of her. Now this scene is not really odd until we learn that the girl, Yuki, is having sex with her own mentally handicapped brother. So begins the third volume, some also consider the weakest volume, of the Female Prisoner Scorpion series.



Unlike the other volumes of the series in which the action, of course, centers on Sasori, Beast Stable seems to be more interested in the being of Yuki. Stuck with her familial obligation to take care of her retarded brother, Yuki makes her living as a prostitute. However, because she is an independent worker, she often comes under the attack of Yakuza who want a cut of her money. Because of her situation she begs Sasori to kill her brother, but has a change of heart and eventually this familial bond will lead her to betray Sasori.



Sasori's role is a bit underplayed in this film. She does get revenge on a handful of yakuza and some police officers, but most of her time is spent hiding within the sewers. However, the time in the sewers also offers the audience some scenes of filmic beauty when Yuki drops matches through manholes to attract Sasori. Sasori's, whose being is the embodiment of the betrayed, face is extraordinarily innocent in these scenes and almost glows with naïveté and trust. Because of these images her fate is that much bitterer.



While it might not be as action packed or stylish as the first two films in the series, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable is still a decent film and it does raise such issues as body politics and abortion."