ACF 1571: THE DEVIL'S FEAST due out on DVD next Tuesday, July 31st

The Devil's Feast / Oni no kaen

Directed by Kenji Hanyuu

Screenplay by Hiroshi Yoshino

Based on a novel by Oniroku Dan

Japan, 2007, 67 minutes

Presented by Switchblade Pictures

Oniroku Dan (April 16, 1931 - May 6, 2011) was a famous, popular and prolific Japanese writer of S&M novels, many of which were made into films. The Devil's Feast will be the latest one to make it to U.S. shores when it comes out on DVD next Tuesday, July 31st.

Shiro Okamoto is the talented advertising director at Nippo Newspaper, a small neighborhood paper. His wife Shizuyo is a lovely and well-endowed young thing, devoted to her husband. Unfortunately Shiro can't seem to see his nuptial duties through to completion. Shizuyo repeatedly apologizes each time  Shiro fails to perform as expected, which only makes her frustrated husband angry at her.

Shiro tries to pleasure his wife Shizuyo

Shiro's sex life perks up when the lovely Kumiko Nishikawa joins the editorial staff of the paper. She is enticingly introduced by a series of shots taken by a camera that faces backwards towards her and tracks along with her as she walks down a hallway: first her feet and ankles, then her short skirt and thighs, and finally her face and neck. She's smart and talented, as well as great looking, and could have been working at a bigger, better paper, but has chosen instead to join the staff at Nippo.

Shiro and Kumiko soon are going at it full bore and often at the Oubi Inn. With her, he has no problem performing up to expectations. In fact, he becomes even more amorous when she insists that he bind her with ropes.

Kumiko gets tied up by Shiro

All hell breaks loose, however, after Kumiko learns about an old scandal from Shiro. It seems that 10 years ago Genkai Yoshioka, the founder of a new age religion called The Sutoka Group, was suspected in a series of violent rapes. He was never charged and the matter seemingly has been forgotten by all except Shiro and the head of Nippo Newspaper.

When Kumiko publishes an article exposing the history of rape suspicions, the financial health of the paper, which relies heavily on Sutoka ads for revenue, and Shiro's job both are put in jeopardy. To placate Yoshioka, Shiro asks his wife to serve as a "shrine maiden" -- whatever that means -- to the cult leader for a week. Will all be forgiven by the sadistic cult master, or will Shizuyo be served as just another dish at the devil's feast?

Shizuyo as "shrine maiden" 

There are numerous soft-core sex scenes in the film, and both actresses are lovely to behold. The three leads acquit themselves well, and the production values are decent enough. What the film really has going for it is Oniroku Dan's story, which makes the whole thing very interesting, and not just prurient.

On the downside, the dubbed moans in some of the sex scenes can be a bit distracting. Somewhat surprisingly, the English subtitles are not removable; they are embedded in the film. And there are no meaningful special features, just DVD credits and trailers for three other releases from Switchblade Pictures.

Still, even though it's a bare-bones disc, the story, the female bodies and the sex scenes warrant an ACF Rating of 3 out of 4 stars. It's a good release that I'm quite comfortable recommending.