Shunya Itō, Japan, 1972, DCP, 94 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. 

LADY SNOWBLOOD star Meiko Kaji is Sasori, a woman and prisoner, out for vengeance. If looks could kill, the pop-art psychout and second installment in Toei Company’s “Female Prisoner Scorpion” series would knock you dead in its first ten minutes. After becoming a folk hero while in a year-long solitary confinement, Sasori is ready to lead a ragtag group of inmates out of one prison and into another — the “free” world. An unlikely female hero in the world of exploitation cinema, this blood-soaked tale of resistance cemented its star’s status as a true cult icon.