PopSyndicate.com

Threesomes, voyeurism, hustlers and murder...sounds like a standard weekend.

Most Americans know very little about Japanese cinema outside of Godzilla and Akira Kurosawa films.  One of the trends coming out of the 60’s was a group of films dealing with sexuality and violence called pinku.  It’s a little like the grindhouse films of America but usually done with more style and less grit.  The Bite is a long forgotten film that involves threesomes, voyeurism, hustlers and murder.

Koichi is a gigolo who specializes in voyeuristic sex.  He seduces young girls and takes them back to his madam to have sex with while paid clients watch on behind a two way mirror.  The clientele consist of the young and old, men and woman and people of different kinks.  When Koichi falls for one of victims, Akiko, he begins to feel bad about his game and threatens to destroy everything his madam has built up.  He tries to settle down with Akiko and put his old life behind him but when his mother’s health starts to go, he’s drawn back into the life.  When the madam uses Akiko against him, Koichi seeks revenge.

I don’t know if they had mods in Japan but watching this movie you would think so.  It’s a not as shocking as it would have been back in 1963, with the voyeurism and copious nudity, but as a pinku film, it’s a standard affair.  The Bite is pulpy slock that has some charm but outside of the curious looking for more entries into the genre, it holds little value.

Cinema Epoch has been slowly releasing pinku films and I for one am happy to see this forgotten bit of film history coming back to life.  While The Bite isn’t one of the better examples of the genre, it is fairly representational.  If you’ve never seen a pinku film before and are curious about them, The Bite is a solid rental.  Otherwise, you’ll probably want to pass.

3