Black Lizard is the nickname of the heroine of this classic Japanese film, the story of a mysterious jewel thief played by Akihiro Maruyama, a female impersonator. Visually stunning, Black Lizard is probably best known for its screenplay adapted by Yukio Mishima from a novel by Rampo Edogawa. Mishima, one of Japan's most prolific, respected writers, authors of the gay classic, Confessions of a Mask as well as The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, appears in the films as one of the Black Lizard's eerie, human statues. This film was released two years before Mishima committed suicide by ceremonial Seppuku at the age of 45.