This film begins with an incredibly beautiful young woman by the name of "Otsuya" (Ayako Wakao) trying to convince a young man named "Shinsuke" (Akio Hasegawa) to quit his job working for her father so that the two of them can elope together and eventually get married. Although Shinsuke has grave concerns about leaving a good job and a boss who has been quite generous with him, he is easily seduced by Otsuya's charms and goes along with her in spite of it all. Having also stolen some money from her father, Otsuya and Shinsuke stay at an inn run by a man named "Kenji" (Fujio Suga) who is a business associate of the family. What neither of them know, however, is that Kenji has a hidden motive for allowing her stay to at the inn which soon comes to fruition when she is kidnapped and sold to a brothel in another city. But what Kenji doesn't quite fathom is that Otsuya is much more devious and resilient than anybody could ever conceive and that she is now determined to have her revenge on everybody involved with her abduction. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an extremely good film which was not only artistic in one sense but also had the advantage of featuring an incredibly talented actress like Ayako Wakao who dominated every scene she was in with her beauty and charm. And although there is quite a bit of sexual eroticism inherent within the plot the director (Yasuzo Masumura) uses a subtle technique which both stimulates the imagination and enhances the imagery. That being said, I thought that this was an excellent film and I have rated it accordingly.

Based on Junichiro Tanizaki's story Shisei (The Tattooist),Yasuzô Masumura's (Black Test Car) tells the story of Otsuya and Shinsuke. She's the daughter of a rich merchant who is tempted by her father's employee to elope before they're caught by an inn keeper.

Now sold into prostitution, she's given a tattoo by Seikichi, a master artist, of a human-faced spider. Her pale skin has created the perfect canvas for him, but now she's been marked as the property of another man. As she and Shinsuke seek to escape their lives, all manner of horror follows, with the face of the spider changing - and Otsuya herself - with each act and each man who comes her way must pay.

Masumura and his muse Ayako Wakao, who plays Otsuya, made several films together, yet this film is the first of theirs I've seen. It's a woman getting revenge feature. Yet while the film makes you wonder at first if it's the tattoo or the woman doing all of the murder, by the end, the answer becomes clear.

Most impressive bloody drama of operatic proportions. Doubly wronged our heroine ends up a geisha with a tarantula tattoo upon her back. Apparently the first part of the Japanese word for tarantula means prostitute and so she feels she has no alternative but to remain in the profession into which she was forced. What she can do though is take revenge and hey does she take revenge. This is beautifully photographed action all the way and it gets plenty bloody, with a wonderfully over the top ending that makes you want to stand and applaud. How much this is a tale of an exploited woman and that of a woman overcoming adversity will be up to each viewer to decide. Gentle eroticism is a bonus and if this is not quite as crazy as the same director's Blind Beast it is just as audacious. Bold, bright and beautiful.