The Inugami Family (Japan, 1976)

When a tycoon passes away, he unexpectedly leaves the family fortune to outsider Tamayo on the condition that she marries one of the grandsons, pitting blood against blood.

Directed by Kon Ichikawa, The Inugami Family shows the greed and deceit inside an old and wealthy family. During an inheritance dispute people suddenly starts to die, and a bizarre murder case takes the center stage while family members circle like vultures around the old man's money. It's both dark and quirky, a balance which Ichikawa manages perfectly. 

Genre: Drama/Mystery. 2h 26min.

In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, 1976)

Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardor, they forsake all, even life itself.

Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging) was a film-maker who directly opposed his peers in Japanese cinema, such a Ozu and Kurosawa. He thought their ways of telling stories and their reused themes of family and stale traditions was a thing of the past. He wanted to break taboos and do things no one in Japan thought was politically correct. His filmography is avant-garde and has stirred up a lot of controversy. In the Realm of the Senses was butchered by Japanese censors due to how it portrayed the insatiable lust between a prostitute and a hotel owner. It shocked the audience with unsimulated sexual activity, and bold nudity scenes. 

The story was lifted from a particularly gruesome real-life crime that happened in the 1930's, committed by a murderous geisha called Sada Abe. It's all a very fascinating read, though quite horrifying. Oshima delivers the story with intense eroticism and believable performances.  

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance

Shogun's Sadism (Japan, 1976)

Two stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as her personal slave to torment him, and tries breaking her spirit by means of torture. After Iori refuses to participate any longer he is exiled, but vows to get her back.

It's ok to feel uneasy while Shogun's Sadism (a.k.a. The Joy of Torture 2: Oxen Split Torturing). It's a graphic and shocking portrayal of how a sadistic shogun treats his prisoners as meat. We're constantly being shown the rape and torture these poor people has to suffer through, and there's no happy endings for anyone it seems. 

Recommended for those who enjoys torture flicks, and not for those who, well, don't want their entire evening ruined.  It may sound like I'm bashing it but I'm really not. The pure simplicity of its content is probably what speaks to me, and there seem to always come times when I'm in the mood for something this crazy.

Genre: Drama/Horror