Jokôsei: tenshi no harawata (1978)

Director:

Chûsei Sone

Writers:

Toshiharu Ikeda (screenplay)
Takashi Ishii (manga series Tenshi no harawata)
(more)

Release Date:

22 July 1978 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Brother Sister Relationship | Knife | Rape Scene | Japanese Schoolgirl

Cast

Tatsuma Higuchi	...	Sadakuni
Tsutomu Hori		(as Ben Hori)
Shin Kagayama
Kenji Kasai	...	Kajima
Megu Kawashima	...	Megu, Tetsurô's sister
Ken Kazama
Kazuyuki Komiya
Maya Kudou		(as Maya Kudô)
Toshihiko Oda
Machiko Ohtani	...	Nami Tsuchiya
Ryuusaku Shinsui	...	Police Detective A
Sanshô Shinsui	...	Tetsurô Kawashima (as Sanshô Shinsui)
Yoshimasa Tôma
Tokuko Watanabe
Tomoko Yamanoue
Hiroyasu Yoshida	...	Police Detective B

Directed by
Chûsei Sone		(as Chuusei Sone)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Toshiharu Ikeda		screenplay
Takashi Ishii		manga series Tenshi no harawata
Ryuusaku Shinsui		screenplay

Produced by
Yoshiyuki Kaino	....	executive producer: Nikkatsu
Naoya Narita	....	planner

Original Music by
Masumi Oono

Cinematography by
Nobumasa Mizunoo

Film Editing by
Shinji Yamada

Production Design by
Heihachiro Watanabe		(as Heihachirô Watanabe)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Toshiharu Ikeda	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Moriyasu Tsuchida	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu

Distributors

• Nikkatsu (1978) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Artsmagic (US) Ltd. (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Asian Cult Cinema (video)

Also Known As:

Angel Guts: High School Coed (USA) (DVD title)
Tenshi no harawata 1 (Japan) (series title)

Runtime:

Japan:79 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Nikkatsu

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tenshi no harawata: Nami (1979)

Slow, dull, boring, prodding, take your pick.

I like J-horror, anime and even kinda dig the pink movement, which some have claimed this a member of, but this did nothing for me. I willing to go a step further and label this one of the biggest let downs of my film watching career.

Three young rockabillies go around getting their kicks out of raping girls. One of the group starts to develop a concisions about their pass-time when his kid sister nearly catches them in the act. Invariably, the group turns on itself as the once friends begin fighting with each other. It ends on a down note befitting the film as a whole.

Aside from watching the friends yell at each other, which they do a lot, there isn't a whole lot going on here. The film is littered with LONG continual shots that only exacerbate the issue. On top of that, even when the film starts to do something interesting, it suddenly gets bogged down in ethereal philosophy that never makes any sense. For instance, after one of the buddies has his change of heart about assaulting girls, he goes out and does it again, but then stops his buddies from taking their turns. Huh? The cinematography is slow and lighting is poor. The writing is OK, as is the acting, which makes this a sub-par cinematic effort from the start. Mix the lack of technical prowess with the flimsy content and you have nothing more than a waste of time.

Oh, and one more extra note, at least one of the girls that appears in the buff does not look old enough to be doing that kinda stuff.

3/10