The Maturity of a Film Genre in an Era of Relaxing Standards of Obscenity: Takashi Ishii’s Freeze Me as a Rape-Revenge Film James R. Alexander July 2005 The Metaphysics of Violence Understandably, the 'rape-revenge' scenario has been endlessly controversial, yet the cinema continues to replay it in different guises and contexts. This article charts the evolution of a genre, giving particular emphasis to the Japanese cinema's take on the theme.