Apr '17
Watched Horrors of Malformed Men (1969). Striking from the start, as striped spiders crawl on a web while the credits flash in bold, coloured panes. Then a fake knife attack in a mental asylum, exposed breasts, a scary bald man, a fight with and killing of a scary bald man, and an asylum escape. This is just an introduction to the main character, a medical student seeking his forgotten childhood, going on memories of wave crashed rocks and a lullaby. Things really get going when he impersonates a dead man (everyone knows the man died so he pretends to have risen from his grave). And this isn't even half way through. Pretty much just set up. As the title suggests, there are malformed men too, Butoh dancers in post apocalyptic gear and bizarro make up/prosthetics. One has their buttocks sewn to a goat. There is, it is fair to say, a lot going on in this film...
The Synapse DVD makes some pretty bold claims for this one. "Banned for decades! The most notorious Japanese horror film ever made" and such. Actually, as the liner notes explain, it fell out of favour for a while due to its political incorrectness and nobody saw it much for a while. The original Japanese title is apparently considerably stronger and more pejorative than Horrors of Malformed Men, and the film is not exactly wholesome in its treatment. Also, I might speculate on disquiet linked to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and their after-effects, or even Dr Shiro Ishii and his deeds at Unit 731. But, as can be told all the performers are able bodied, no exploitation took place in the making. And its pretty difficult to take this as anything other than insane pulp (it's an adaptation of tales by Edogawa Rampo), there's nothing really to connect it to reality. Also, its nowhere near as tasteless (or frankly, foul) as many films in the pinku eiga/roman porno boom that came a few years after, or as gruesome as any vintage era or 80's onward torture pictures or as disturbing as fellow 60's Rampo adaptation Blind Beast, or some of Koji Wakamatsu's work that decade.
So, its not so imposing. But is it good? Well, it does enough. Made on a decent budget, with mostly good raw old school film-making talent (editing and compositions on point), this is pretty impressive for a number of stretches. Striking colours, vivid, perverse visual imagination, uneasy score to match, fine choreography, at times images flow and bodies whirl like a fever dream of a madman transposed straight to celluloid, the effect is mesmerising, thrilling, joyful. Plot is as wild as the visuals and there's a good deal of sleaze too. So its pretty essential for weird cinephiles. But on the minus side, only the villain really engages, the lead and most other characters remain rather flat and bland throughout, so there are definite dips in interest when events slow down around the middle of the film. Also, the out of control plotting is resolved with climactic exposition dumps, a method which I feel generally only works at the theatre with excellent performers. And in general there's a nagging feeling of inconsequentiality. There's a lack of weight here, of real purpose or meaning, and so like a painting with inferior primer, the images don't all stick as well as they should. A few years ago I would probably have loved this dearly, nowadays I'm left still a little hungry. But still, I enjoyed it on the whole. My criticisms shouldn't be taken to heart. Well worth watching if it sounds like your cup of tea.
The Synapse DVD makes some pretty bold claims for this one. "Banned for decades! The most notorious Japanese horror film ever made" and such. Actually, as the liner notes explain, it fell out of favour for a while due to its political incorrectness and nobody saw it much for a while. The original Japanese title is apparently considerably stronger and more pejorative than Horrors of Malformed Men, and the film is not exactly wholesome in its treatment. Also, I might speculate on disquiet linked to Hiroshima, Nagasaki and their after-effects, or even Dr Shiro Ishii and his deeds at Unit 731. But, as can be told all the performers are able bodied, no exploitation took place in the making. And its pretty difficult to take this as anything other than insane pulp (it's an adaptation of tales by Edogawa Rampo), there's nothing really to connect it to reality. Also, its nowhere near as tasteless (or frankly, foul) as many films in the pinku eiga/roman porno boom that came a few years after, or as gruesome as any vintage era or 80's onward torture pictures or as disturbing as fellow 60's Rampo adaptation Blind Beast, or some of Koji Wakamatsu's work that decade.
So, its not so imposing. But is it good? Well, it does enough. Made on a decent budget, with mostly good raw old school film-making talent (editing and compositions on point), this is pretty impressive for a number of stretches. Striking colours, vivid, perverse visual imagination, uneasy score to match, fine choreography, at times images flow and bodies whirl like a fever dream of a madman transposed straight to celluloid, the effect is mesmerising, thrilling, joyful. Plot is as wild as the visuals and there's a good deal of sleaze too. So its pretty essential for weird cinephiles. But on the minus side, only the villain really engages, the lead and most other characters remain rather flat and bland throughout, so there are definite dips in interest when events slow down around the middle of the film. Also, the out of control plotting is resolved with climactic exposition dumps, a method which I feel generally only works at the theatre with excellent performers. And in general there's a nagging feeling of inconsequentiality. There's a lack of weight here, of real purpose or meaning, and so like a painting with inferior primer, the images don't all stick as well as they should. A few years ago I would probably have loved this dearly, nowadays I'm left still a little hungry. But still, I enjoyed it on the whole. My criticisms shouldn't be taken to heart. Well worth watching if it sounds like your cup of tea.
