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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: February 11th, 2014.
Director: Yoshihiro Kawasaki
Cast: Jun Izumi, Chiaki Kitahara, Yukari Takeshita, Shu Mingawa
Year: 1985
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The Movie:
The first thing we see, when Yoshihiro Kawasaki's 1985 Nurse Girl Dorm: Assy Fingers (retitled Sticky Fingers on the front cover of this release) begins is a pretty young woman so in the mood for self-satisfaction that she uses the action end of a vacuum cleaner on her hoo-haw. From there, we're off and running for sixty-two minutes of completely bonkers softcore sex and screwball comedy in one of the most bizarre entries in Impulse Pictures' Nikkatsu Erotic Cinema line thus far.
The 'plot', such as it is, revolves around our masturbatory heroine and a few of her fellow nurses, all of whom live in the same dorm and are employed at the St. Elizabeth Hospital. When they're not at work, they're looking for love, sometimes in all the wrong places, but sometimes in all the right places, but they're constantly watched by the matronly dorm madam and her bulldog (who comes complete with a head mounted flashlight to illuminate those hard to reach places). Their horny little world is turned upside down when a former nurse of near mythical status named Yuki (Jun Izumi) returns to the dorm she used to work at after her marriage ended in divorce.
It doesn't take long for the matron to figure out that Yuki is a very bad influence on the nurses. Before you know it, they're all trying to get their boyfriends into the dorm late at night for a little bump and grind and if they're not doing that, they're having torrid lesbian affairs or blowing the doctors. Yuki's past comes back to haunt her when a strange man named Tadao, his face wrapped in bandages, shows up claiming to be the man who managed to tame Yuki and talk her into holy wedlock. It seems he wants her back and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Yuki, on the other hand, is intent on doing her thing… as is the matron.
This one is pretty nuts. Definitely a product of its time (look for Thompson Twins and Duran Duran posters prominently displayed more than once!), it moves at a ridiculous pace and crams in more puzzling moments of bizarre humor than should realistically be possible. When the girls aren't screwing the guys or each other the guys are getting chased around (and quite a bit more, in one key scene) by the matron and, yes, her chubby, slobbering bulldog. Why exactly he has a flashlight mounted on his head is never really explained, but why take all the mystery out of a movie if you don't have to, right?
The couplings are plentiful and steamy, nicely shot in that typically creative Nikkatsu way in that anything with pubic hair on it is obscured by foreground objects. The score, which is heavy on eighties style synth/pulse beats, is interesting and wonderfully out of place at times while the daring cast give their all. Jun Izumi is rightfully top billed and it's easy to see why. Not only is she gorgeous but she's got some charisma too. In the end this isn't likely to rank as anyone's favorite in Impulse's line but it is definitely a rock solid slice of sleazy (and often times genuinely funny) sexploitative entertainment. Oh, and the whole Assy Fingers thing? It kinda makes sense by the time the end credits roll.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The feature looks good in this 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are handled well and look quite natural as do skin tones. Black levels aren't quite inky deep but they're strong and detail is pretty good across the board. There are no issues with print damage to complain about and overall this is a clean, sharp, good looking picture though it should be noted that a few scenes were shot with some softness in mind and that comes through in the transfer (as it should).
The Japanese language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track is crisp and clean though occasionally just a tiny bit shrill. The levels are well balanced and there are no issues with hiss or distortion. The optional English subtitles that are provided are free of any typos and easy to read. This won't floor you but it sounds fine, there are no problems.
Extras on the disc are limited to a menu, chapter selection and a gleefully trashy trailer for the feature. Inside the case, however, we once again find an insert booklet containing some the movie's original poster art and some interesting liner notes from film scholar/author Jasper Sharp. The trailer basically plays up the sex and tells us very little about the story, but it's an interesting piece of marketing with some great hyperbolic text on screen! Oh and flip the cover around and those Sticky Fingers? They revert back to their original Assy Fingers incarnation!
The Final Word:
Nurse Girl Dorm: Sticky Fingers or Assy Fingers or whatever you want to call it is a truly odd mix of sex and comedy, the kind that only could have come from Japan. It's completely nonsensical but ridiculously entertaining. Sexy, sleazy and gleefully stupid, it's a fine addition to Impulse's line of Nikkatsu titles.
