Takeshi Ito Movies

A sexy call girl becomes the flashpoint of an international incident after inadvertently coming into possession of a curious artifact with the power to unleash Armageddon on a world consumed by chaos. Sachiko Hanai makes a living by fulfilling the fantasies of men who always longed to make love to their teachers. One day, upon wandering into a local coffee house, the unsuspecting sexpot sets off a violent gun battle between two groups of gangsters involved in some seriously shady dealings. As the guns are drawn, Sachiko attempts to run for cover but instead ends up directly in the path of a stray bullet. A smoking round lodged firmly in her forehead, the dazed prostitute stumbles out into the street as one of the gangsters furtively slips a mysterious metal canister into her purse. When Sachiko's attempt to remove the bullet with an eyeliner pencil cause her synapses to start firing on overdrive, she rapidly gains the ability to speak multiple languages and solve complex mathematical equations. Little does the unsuspecting prostitute realize that the canister dropped into her purse contains the severed finger of the U.S. president - the fingerprint of which possesses the potential to send the entire nuclear arsenal of the powerful Western nation soaring into the skies. Originally released as a routine pinku eiga entitled Horny Home Tutor: Teacher's Love Juice, the film was subsequently expanded into an ambitious anarchic satire of world politics by director Mitsuru Meike and screenwriter Takao Nakano. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A dark, disturbing splatterpunk entry from cult pinku-eiga director Hisayasu Sato, this softcore thriller has the distinction of being the first Japanese film to even so much as mention AIDS. It stars Takeshi Ito as an alienated young man whose girlfriend just broke off their romance. As in most of Sato's films, alienation and despair make the protagonist vulnerable to evil, in this case a beautiful female serial killer known as the Modern Time Vampire. The pair fall in love, graphically (and with surprising eroticism) exchanging blood as the ultimate proof of their devotion. Unfortunately, Ito's new girlfriend has a thirst for blood that his body can't keep up with, and the sanguinary affair quickly turns tragic. Kiyomi Ito co-stars with Ryumei Homura and Dai Hiramatsu. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This prize-winning pinku-eiga film was cult director Hisayasu Sato's second foray into gay themes, following the previous year's Kamen No Yuwaku, and can be viewed as a somewhat downmarket tribute to Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. The plot concerns the editor of a muscle magazine who falls in love with one of his top models, only to accidentally cut off the young man's arm during a heavy-duty session of sadomasochistic sex play. Horrified at what he has done, the editor is sent to prison and a grim, self-loathing future. The editor worships Pasolini's films, and while he is in jail, the classic Salo: The 120 days of Sodom is released. The opportunity to someday see the film gives the convicted criminal the strength and hope to persevere. Somewhat contrived and slow-moving, the film nevertheless has some evocative moments. But Nuovo Cinema Paradiso it isn't. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi