Blind Woman's Curse

Watched one of the most bizarre, wildest, Japanese 1970s exploitation cult classic last night: Blind Woman's Curse (www.discotekmedia.com). It stars Quentin Tarantino favorite Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood, Female Convict Scorpion) as a crime boss who has to defend her clan from a vengeful blind swordswoman. But there are all these crackpot horror elements thrown in -- a freakshow carnival, a creepy hunchback, girls skinned alive, a blood-drinking cat, an opium den filled with naked prostitutes and lots of blood-spraying sword battles. Directed by the notorious Teruo Ishi (Female Yakuza Tale, Horror of Malformed Men), it's macabre and madly entertaining.