A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE (1975)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 81 Minutes
Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Monowith Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Cast: Naomi Tani, Hideo Murota, Misa Ohara, Taiji Tonoyama,Tomoko Mayama, Terumi Azuma, Kôji Fujiyama, Kôji Fujiyama, Sami Suzuki
Set in the late-50's when prostitution has just been outlawed in Japan the truly wild exploitation gem A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975) was directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Wolf Guy, Sister Street Fighter), and it stars Nikkatsu erotic star Naomi Tani (Fairy In A Cage), as Yukino, an abused wife tricked into working at a brothel turned Turkish bathhouse to cover her degenerate husband's Yûzô (Hideo Murota, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity) gambling debts. It turns out that her sleazy husband's debt was a complete fabrication and that he is secretly in cahoots with the brothel madame. Even sleazier is the fact that Yûzô has rapes Yukino's younger sister Mayumi (Misa Ohara) who has recently come to stay with them. Later Yukino informs her husband that she is pregnant, he is furious at this turn of events, he along with his madame lover ties her bondage style from a tree and tortures her to death with vicious stick beatings and whippings, her body is then interred behind a brick wall Edgar Allan Poe's Black Cat style in the basement of the brothel. After some time has passed Yukino's sister Mayumi arrives at the bathhouse brothel looking for work, intending to have her revenge on Yûzô, who is now a manager at the brothel. At the same time the dead woman's soul returns seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in the form of a cat-demon who stalks the brothel and slaughters those responsible for her death.
Set in the late-50's when prostitution has just been outlawed in Japan the truly wild exploitation gem A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975) was directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Wolf Guy, Sister Street Fighter), and it stars Nikkatsu erotic star Naomi Tani (Fairy In A Cage), as Yukino, an abused wife tricked into working at a brothel turned Turkish bathhouse to cover her degenerate husband's Yûzô (Hideo Murota, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity) gambling debts. It turns out that her sleazy husband's debt was a complete fabrication and that he is secretly in cahoots with the brothel madame. Even sleazier is the fact that Yûzô has rapes Yukino's younger sister Mayumi (Misa Ohara) who has recently come to stay with them. Later Yukino informs her husband that she is pregnant, he is furious at this turn of events, he along with his madame lover ties her bondage style from a tree and tortures her to death with vicious stick beatings and whippings, her body is then interred behind a brick wall Edgar Allan Poe's Black Cat style in the basement of the brothel. After some time has passed Yukino's sister Mayumi arrives at the bathhouse brothel looking for work, intending to have her revenge on Yûzô, who is now a manager at the brothel. At the same time the dead woman's soul returns seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in the form of a cat-demon who stalks the brothel and slaughters those responsible for her death.
The film offers up a wonderfully bizarre mash-up of exploitation genres; we get sexploitation, pinky violence, surreal ghost cat horror and some sudsy slapstick sex scenes, in addition to some bloody gore towards the end, which makes for a quirky, unpredictable watch that is non-stop entertaining from start to finish. The tonal shifts are often shocking, as it goes from sadistic violence to comic suds-filled sex scene before finishing up with some tasty supernatural cat-ghost violence, but all of it is an absolute thrilling watch, especially the final 20-minutes when it explodes into an all-out supernatural revenger with Tani's cat-demon tearing things up quite nicely with plenty of gore and geysers of blood.
I love the feline cat-demon make-up, Tani looks stunning beneath a glittery white wig with black cat ears, vicious long white fingernails, snarling teeth, with stunning golden-eyes - delivering her supernatural revenge against her cheating murderous husband and his lover. This is just a terrific watch and definitely one of my favorite all-time releases thus far from Mondo Macabro, this outlandish slice of Japanese exploitation comes highly recommended.
Audio/Video: A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975) arrives in Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD widescreen framed in 2.39:1 widescreen, sourced new 2K transfer from film negative, digitally restored. The flick looks fantastic, film grain is well-managed, compression looks great, and colors look solid throughout. I found the black levels to be decent and depth and clarity are modestly pleasing. Audio on the disc comes by way of uncompressed DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is clean and free of problems and the score by Hiroshi Babauchi (Wolf Guy) sounds great.
Audio/Video: A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse (1975) arrives in Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD widescreen framed in 2.39:1 widescreen, sourced new 2K transfer from film negative, digitally restored. The flick looks fantastic, film grain is well-managed, compression looks great, and colors look solid throughout. I found the black levels to be decent and depth and clarity are modestly pleasing. Audio on the disc comes by way of uncompressed DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is clean and free of problems and the score by Hiroshi Babauchi (Wolf Guy) sounds great.
Extras kick-off with a kick-ass Audio commentary from Samm Deighan who thoroughly explores the genre hybrid, commenting on it's fusion of pinky violence, sexploitation and ghost-cat demon mash-up. As someone who has not seen many of the cat-ghost films I appreciated the insights and context she offered. We also get the 7-min White Cat in Showa Soapland with author Patrick Macias who talks about the studio-mandated overload of sex and gore seen in this flick, plus he shows up again in the 4-min Silent Waves - Pocket guide to Toei Horror, a featurette/intro which also appeared on the House of Terrors disc from Mondo Macabro. The disc is finished up with a 2-min Trailer and a tasty 13-min Mondo Macabro Promo Reel. The single-disc standard release version comes housed in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a killer new artwork by Justin Coffee.
Special Features:
- Brand new 2k transfer from film negative, digitally restored
- White Cat in Showa Soapland (Patrick Macias) (7 min)
- Silent Waves - Pocket guide to Toei Horror (4 min)
- Audio commentary from Samm Deighan- Trailer (2 min)
- Mondo Macabro Previews (13 min)
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
