Queen Bee's Challenge (1972)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This movie involves two all-female gangs by the names of "the Pearl Gang" and a relatively new group to Kyoto called "the Black Lily Gang". The Pearl Gang is led by a woman named "Maki" (Reiko Ike) while the Black Lily gang is led by woman named "Yuri" (Chiyoko Kazama) and each are bitter enemies of the other. As it so happens, both of them are operating on the turf of a local Yakuza gang known as "the Kuroji Group" which limits their ability to be more than a minor nuisance to certain people here and there. In any case, when the Kuroji Group comes up with a plan involving these young ladies it creates a serious problem for all concerned. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a somewhat interesting crime-drama with several humorous scenes thrown in occasionally for good measure. On the minus side, it lacked cohesion from one scene to another and some of the fight scenes could have used some improvement as well. That being the case, I have rated this movie accordingly. Slightly below average.

I don't know if the film made prior to this one affects the plot as I haven't seen it but two rival girl gangs in Japan fall under the control of the male gangsters who are trying to use them for their own nefarious plans. There are cat fights galore but the men fighting reminds me of those old serials where the guys wear hats that never fall off while they break balsa wood furniture over each other's heads and do back flips over sofas. The "girls" are often topless and one gang of girls gives one hapless rival a shook up spraying Coke up a certain orifice. The women actresses take a harsh beating with what looks like a bamboo stick and one has hot candle wax dripped on her legs and upper torso. It doesn't look faked and the actresses have to have felt something during all this. The star girl boss turns out to be a surprising virgin who gives it up to the race car driver she falls in love with. I found it a bit comical to see these old 70s Japanese cars "racing" as the girl goes: "Faster! Kill me by going faster!" The 70s Toyota I owned could hardly get out of it's own way. The girl boss who isn't a virgin doesn't live to be in another sequel. The evil guy gangster dies by a huge knife that looks close to a foot and a half long. Worth a look but not as good as the best Pinky Violence films of the 70s.