Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects Reviews

For the prurient, KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS features rape, rough trade, and child prostitution to go with its hefty dose of violence. Charles Bronson plays Crowe, who spends his days slogging through slime as a vice-squad cop and his nights fretting about the morals of his teenage daughter. His nemesis is Duke (Juan Fernandez), a pimp who impresses children into the kinky sex trade. Since Crowe (naturally) is no by-the-book cop, he goes after Duke in unconventional, violent, and offensive ways. Before getting his comeuppance, Duke kidnaps and rapes a Japanese girl (Kumiko Hayakawa) whom he markets under Crowe's nose, and while searching for her the Asian-hating cop discovers that Japanese are OK after all. The film's philosophy is summed up by one character's remark that "Justice isn't good enough. You gotta exact a biblical vengeance." In the service of this dubious principle, Bronson does his usual violent-teddy-bear number believably, and the other actors do what they can with the formula script and hack direction. The film is sheer exploitation, its hodgepodge of "moral" issues meant to lend the titillating proceedings an air of righteousness.