Teruo Ishii was a one-man film industry in 1969. The Japanese director based at Toei Studios had nine films come out that year. To put that into perspective, Quentin Tarantino has only directed 9 films so far. This was a memorable time for Ishii since the year started with Orgies of Edo and ended with Horrors of Malformed Men. In the midst of this came Love & Crime which featured true stories of lovers who killed. Ishii gives the five stories an extreme vision. Besides men, we witness women who have no limits when it comes to carnality and homicide.
The movie starts with the medical examiner Murase (Kamen Rider‘s Teruo Yoshida) slicing open his recently deceased wife. Why is he allowed to do this autopsy? That’s not explained. Quincy never had to cut up his old girlfriends. Murase discovers something he didn’t expect inside her. This leads him to doing research on infamous killings in Japan that involved people having affairs. We are presented reenactments of Toyokaku Incident, Abesada Incident, Kodaira Incident and Takahashi’s biography. The big focus of the film is the Abesada Incident. Sada Abe (Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41‘s Yukie Kagawa) is a prostitute who hooks up with a rich married man. They get into breath play. This builds up as she chokes him more and more. He tells her to not let go when she’s strangling him. This “no safeword” wish leads to his death. She tops of the moment off by lopping off a part of him as a memento. How does she explain this to the judge? The film has an unusual twist when the real Sada Abe shows up and talks with the actor playing the medical examiner. It’s the perfect book ends for the segment.
What gets me about Love & Crime is how Teruo Ishii made all those other movies and yet doesn’t this film feel rushed. There’s a bit of frenzy when one lover turns on the other. He plays with the stories doing one segment in black and white so people don’t think it’s the same horrific tale continually told. Ishii gives us the final fate of so many of that weren’t as lucky as Sada Abe. He depiction of a hanging and a beheading are so raw. The beheading scene takes place in a snowstorm to make it gruesome and gorgeous. If you want complete horror, there’s a woman dealing with her husband after he comes down with leprosy. Ishii’s coroner fully explores what can happen when an affair goes fatally wrong. Love & Crime is a great movie although not a good date movie if you’re looking to bring your sidepiece.

Audio Commentary by Jasper Sharp and Amber T gets into the historical reality of the segments. They point out that one story, the woman is a bit older than her lover. They get into the cinema of Teruo Ishii from this era.
Kiss Of Death: Mark Schilling On Love & Crime (17:50) points out that director Teruo Ishii had 9 films released in 1969. This film was brought to him by the studio to reflect the violence that had been happening in Japan. It’s historical and exploitive. He gives background on a few of the cases in the film. This early version of a true crime film in Japan was a major hit for Toei at time when the box office was down.
Trailer (3:27) opens up with the bizarre killings. They even show a beheading so the audience knows they aren’t getting teased by this film.
Image Gallery (0:59) features press photos and the poster.
Illustrated booklet with an essay by Nathan Stuart about Teruo Ishii.
88 Films present Love & Crime: Limited Edition. Directed by Teruo Ishii. Screenplay by Teruo Ishii, Masahiro Kakezuda & Shizou Nonami. Starring Sada Abe, Mitsuko Aoi, Rika Fujie, Takashi Fujiki, Shin’ichirô Hayashi, Shôtarô Hayashi, Tatsumi Hijikata, Oden Takahashi, Kenjirô Ishiyama, Yukie Kagawa, Yumiko Katayama, Yoshi Katô, Kei Kiyama & Asao Koike. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released: January 21, 2025.