Night of the Felines – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Japan, 1973
Director: Noboru Tanaka
Writer: Akira Nakano
Cast: Tomoko Katsura, Ken Yoshizawa, Hidemi Hara, Keiko Maki, Hidetoshi Kageyama, Akemi Yamaguchi, Kazuo Kinugasa, Tatsuya Hamaguchi, Akira Takahashi

Release Date: April 7th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 68 Minutes 10 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Japanese
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £16.99 (UK)

"Masako (Tomoko Katsura), and her out-of-hours relationship to her next-door neighbor Honda (Ken Yoshizawa; Ecstasy of Angels, Guts of a Beauty) is the focus of this love letter to the vibrant Kabukicho entertainment district in its early 1970s heyday." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Blu-Ray (1080P) Presentation in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio."

Night of the Felines comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 26.4 GB

Feature: 18.8 GB

The source is in great shape; there is some very minor print debris that remains. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, black levels are strong, and image clarity and compression are solid.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and range-wise ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a theatrical trailer (1 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Japanese with removable English subtitles), an introduction by Kei Chiba (10 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress and director Yumi Yoshiyuki titled Pink Film Vs. Roman Porno (13 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Japanese with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Irene Gonzalez-Lopez and Jasper Sharp, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 12-page booklet with cast & crew information, and an essay titled Soap and the City written by Caitlin Casiello.

Summary:

Noboru Tanaka directed Night of the Felines. In the 1970s he was one of the more prominent directors making romantic pornography films for Nikkatsu. The films The Oldest Profession, The Hell-Fated Courtesan, A Woman Called Sada Abe, Watcher in the Attic, Angel Guts: Nami, and Village of Doom are among his other notable works.

The narrative has two stories that eventually come together. The first of these two revolves around a woman named Masako; she’s a sex worker who works at a bathhouse. The other revolves around Makoto, a straight man who sleeps with men, and he has trouble getting aroused by women. The thing that links these two stories is a man named Honda; he’s Masako’s neighbor, and he’s friends with Makoto. Knowing his friend's intimacy issue, Honda gets Masako to help with Makoto’s arousal problem.

Although the film includes the expected nudity and sex scenes typical of a Nikkatsu romantic pornography film, many of these moments are disappointingly brief. The most satisfying erotic moments are the scenes with Masako and her friends who work at the bathhouse. Aside from a few instances where the images are fogged during the sex scenes, most of the time, strategically placed objects cover the more explicit areas.

Outside of Masako, Makoto, and Honda, the rest of the characters lack any depth. That said, when it comes to those who portray these three characters, their performances are excellent, especially Hidetoshi Kageyama (Wife to Be Sacrificed), who portrays Makoto. He perfectly captures his character's awkwardness and longing for the girl he loves to love him in return. Tomoko Katsura, who portrays Masako, is equally captivating; she would only appear in one other film, and Ken Yoshizawa (Sex Rider: Wet Highway) delivers a low-key performance that counterbalances the other two.

Though the narrative contains significant exposition, the story itself feels secondary to the visuals. These visuals include a few striking moments, particularly the scene in which a character's suicide is symbolically represented by an umbrella falling in their place, followed by the body reemerging upon impact. Other notable moments include Honda eating a cabbage hanging from a rope while watching his neighbors have sex and a man sitting beneath an upside-down umbrella overflowing with water into his mouth. Not to be overlooked when discussing Night of the Felines is its score, which features classical-sounding music cues that contrast the harsh reality of what's unfolding onscreen. Ultimately, Night of the Felines is a well-crafted melodrama that explores characters leading unfulfilled lives as they seek meaningful connections.

Night of the Felines gets an exceptional release from 88 Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a trio of insightful extras; highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer