As the last wave of vengeful female ghosts inspired by "Ring' "s Sadako fade from cinema screens worldwide, either in their original J-horror manifestations or the obligatory Hollywood remakes, more adventurous foreign-film fans have begun turning their heads Eastward in search of a new frisson. Their next, more carnal, focus is the Japanese pink film, or pinku eiga.
Pink films are softcore sex movies shot on 35-mm film, as opposed to video, and intended primarily for screening on rolling triple bills in specialist adult theaters. It's a market that has long died out in most other countries in the world, but in Japan it is still in rude health.
In recent years, such films have become an increasingly popular feature in international festival schedules too, including Frankfurt's Nippon Connection, Udine's Far East Film Festival and London's Raindance. In September, Austin's Fantastic Film Fest played host to a retro of genre high-points with new prints of two early classics — 1969's "Buru Fuirumu no Onna" ("Blue Film Woman") and '71's "Funshutsu Kigan" ("Gushing Prayer") — playing alongside the decidedly non-PC "Jigoku no Ropa" ("S&M Hunter") (1986) and 2003's bewildering "Yoake no Ushi" ("A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn"). The latter two titles were provided by the L.A.-based company Pink Eiga, which is poised to unleash a tsunami of some 50 such works on an unsuspecting American DVD market early in 2009. And this November, South Korea boasted its own Pink Film Festival aimed solely at women viewers.