Nothing says Christmas like bondage and sadism. Fourth in a series of films, Tenshi no harawata: Akai inga is known in English as Angel Guts: Red Porno. It isn’t a porno film, though—it’s a roman porno film, where “roman” is short for “romantic.” Basically, the name is just a marketing gimmick dreamt up by the honchos at Nikkatsu Studios, which pioneered these softcore erotic films. They’re racy, yes. And often fetishistic in ways that boggle the mind. But pornographic? Not unless your own imagination supplies the “graphic” part.
In this effort, the beautiful Nami Asada works in a department store and at the suggestion of a friend poses nude for a magazine called Red Porno. She’ll lose her job because of it, but in Nikkatsu’s fevered imagination Asada’s decision is the stepping off point to more serious problems. Her bondage themed pictorial is wildly popular, and generates interest from a man who lives nearby, spies on her, and possibly harasses her with pervert calls. At the same time there’s an exploration concerning whether the formerly conservative Asada has unleashed her true, kinky self.
While this is the main thrust of the story, the question of lonely men being susceptible to flights of egotistical fancy and sexual obsession is actually more interesting, especially because in this case it leads to mistaken identity and violence. But in dealing with this issue the film is rougher than most roman pornos, which we never consider to be a good thing. Do we forgive this one because it tries to make a serious point about male sexual desire often being aggressive in some way, shape, or form? No, not really. But you’ll have to decide on your own. Angel Guts: Red Porno premiered today in 1981.
