MS. ROBOT

Geishas go wild in Noboro Iguchi's scattershot sci-fi epic.

Above, two posters for Robo-geisha, or Robogeisha, as it was titled in the west. Only for the adventurous, this is low budget action gore, or maybe subversive shock sci-fi, or possibly transgressive black comedy. In any case, it’s about a pair of orphaned sisters who compete as assassins after receiving cybernetic implants, are separated and exploited by a powerful corporation, and eventually are thrown together in a final duel. You get sword fights, machine guns, sparks and bloodspray and explosions, a walking castle, copious miniature/computer/stop action efx, and lots of shakycam—aka the budget filmmaker’s crutch. If the whole bizarre counterculture spectacle is preposterous, well, you’ve been warned. Viewers generally react one of three ways—some like it; some want to like it because it will make them cool; and some dislike what they see as a sophomoric mess. We won’t say which we were, but we’ll note that even with the numerous references to films ranging from Godzilla to Ichi the Killer, Robo-geisha isn’t as clever as it thinks it is. The smartest aspect of it is that director Noboru Iguchi and cohorts managed to create their own cinematic genre. That, no matter how you feel about the actual movie, is pure genius. Robo-geisha premiered in Japan today in 2009.

Femme Fatale Image

ABOUT

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1924—Dion O'Banion Gunned Down

Dion O’Banion, leader of Chicago’s North Side Gang is assassinated in his flower shop by members of rival Johnny Torrio’s gang, sparking the bloody five-year war between the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit that culminates in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1940—Walt Disney Becomes Informer

Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI, with instructions to report on Hollywood subversives. He eventually testifies before HUAC, where he fingers several people as Communist agitators. He also accuses the Screen Actors Guild of being a Communist front.

1921—Einstein Wins Nobel

German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize for his work with the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation. In practical terms, the phenomenon makes possible such devices as electroscopes, solar cells, and night vision goggles.

1938—Kristallnacht Begins

Nazi Germany’s first large scale act of anti-Jewish violence begins after the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, and in total the violent rampage destroys more than 250 synagogues, causes the deaths of nearly a hundred Jews, and results in 25,000 to 30,000 more being arrested and sent to concentration camps.

1923—Hitler Stages Revolt

In Munich, Germany, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in the Beer Hall Putsch, an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government. Also known as the Hitlerputsch or the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch, the attempted coup was inspired by Benito Mussolini’s successful takeover of the Italian government.

1932—Roosevelt Unveils CWA

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create temporary winter jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.

A collection of red paperback covers from Dutch publisher De Vrije Pers.
Uncredited art for Hans Lugar's Line-Up! for Scion American publishing.
Uncredited cover art for Lesbian Gym by Peggy Swenson, who was in reality Richard Geis.

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Things you'd love to buy but can't anymore

Vintage Ad Image

Around the web