While no one was looking, David Aaron Clark snuck into town and took over as one of the premier directors in the business. Chronologically, this is one of Clark's first attempts at directing and is only being released now, but it already shows finesse, style, a synthesis of elements and a maturity of accomplishment that comes from years of whittling away at a genre.

Most of this slickly-lensed, beautifully-scored, superbly-edited bondage feature is occupied by the presence of Suzi Suzuki, who comments on various aspects of sex in the Japanese culture. Gathering from what she says, you can put it another way: Had the kamikazes stopped off in a Japanese strip bar on their way to Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7 might have occurred around Christmas - the Japanese being very slow and methodical at achieving arousal. After doing a kimono-enhanced striptease, Suzi masturbates, then is both caned and made love to by Neko Kim. In a follow-up piece, Jade Blue is tortured to exquisite extremes by Kim. Cerebral as well as visual, this one has it all.