Japanese: Zero Woman III Keishicho O-ka no onna

Also known as: ZERO WOMAN III: ASSASSIN LOVERS

Rei (played this time out by Kumiko Takeda; click here for a still -- nudity) is fed up with her life as a contract killer and walks out on Division Zero. While drowning her sorrows one evening in a bar, she meets Katsumura (TOKYO BLUE: CASE I's Keiji Matsuda; click here for a still), a fellow assassin who proves to be her match in bed. Even though he was hired to eliminate his Zero counterpart, Katsumura is too bewitched by her to go through with it. After Rei's superior pleads that she reconsider her departure, she decides to go through with a hit that her boss claims is of utmost importance to the agency. Little does Rei know that Katsumura is in the employ of her target and he nearly kills her in the ensuing shootout. Against his better judgment, Katsumura takes Rei back to his apartment and nurses her back to health. In spite of this decidedly unprofessional display of compassion, Rei then continues on with her assignment. Not surprisingly, this puts Katsumura in hot water and his employer decides to force the issue by taking the assassin's girlfriend hostage. She will be eliminated unless the increasingly anxious and ineffectual Katsumura disposes of Rei once and for all.

This entry offers the usual conflicted killers (both of whom suffer from recurrent nightmares and other emotional issues) and familiar situations, though there are a few slivers of character development (flashbacks reveal that Rei's parents were eliminated in a murder/suicide, a traumatic event that she witnessed as a schoolgirl). Director Masahide Kuwabara makes good use of some interesting locations (the finale takes place in an old bowling alley, rather than the usual dockside warehouse) and the camera set-ups and editing display more creativity than usual. The striking Takeda is also one of the better actresses featured thus far in the series and exhibits sufficient intensity to be moderately believable.

Asia Pulp Cinema/Central Park Media #APCD 2084 (U.S. Label) Dolby Digital 2.0 Sync Sound Japanese and Dubbed English Language Tracks Optional English Subtitles 11 Chapters Illustrated In the Menu With (Tiny) Clips Letterboxed (1.66:1) Coded for ALL Regions 90 Minutes (running time includes new English language crawl added after the original) Contains brutal violence, torture, mild sexual violence, sexual content, nudity, and coarse language

DVD menu courtesy Central Park Media.

ZERO WOMAN: ASSASSIN LOVERS is available at Poker Industries.