Director: Teruo Ishii
Year: 1969
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Kyôfu kikei ningen: Edogawa Rampo zenshû; Horrors of the Deformed Men;
Genre: Deformities
Plot:
Looking to find out a burning mystery, a man escapes from an insane asylum and sets out to uncover the truth only to see a manner of accomplishing that when a man with his identical appearance is found dead, but a complication threatens to undo his quest when a strange secret is revealed.
Review:
For the most part, this was a wholly enjoyable effort. A lot of what makes the film so enjoyable is the strong first half which really sets this off on a fine note with how this plays out. The idea of him being trapped in the asylum with a fractured memory and trying to remember what happened while having all the unfortunate events occur around him both inside the prison and out provide this with a wholly enjoyable setup. The scenes in the asylum showing the crazies who aren't dangerous but still psychotic and in need of being locked away which sets quite an imposing atmosphere early on when it comes to keeping him locked away when he clearly isn't like the rest of the crazies, and it gets better outside as the encounter with the girl who may know the truth about him which ends in tragedy before anything really happens. Combined, these efforts provide a fine mystery-like beginning that is quite enjoyable and engaging during this section.
Beyond this, film scores incredibly well with the scenes on the island depicting the strange revelations found there. The lead-up to the fact that the entire island is full of deformities and freaks, from the stories told to him and the various clues that fill him in on his quest to understand the mystery, and once we get beyond that there's some fantastic imagery of them alone on the island observing the demented work of his father. With their painted bodies, misshapen and deformed features, extended or protruding body parts and generally bizarre look that goes along with their absolutely hypnotic dance performances and behavior that are captured in truly frantic matters which bring about a look more akin to an arthouse effort with the stylish manners utilized here, these scenes create some memorable and unnerving ideas that are quite fun overall. Alongside the fine gore from that time period, these here are what hold this one up overall for the most part.
There are some problems here. The main issue with the film is the complete lack of scares or tension in the middle of the film as we follow an incredibly convoluted and uninteresting hidden identity storyline. This whole section of the film, exploring the idea of him infiltrating the family and getting beyond their suspicions as if he were the man originally brought back to life, just becomes deathly boring as it resorts to the same old series of backstabbing political intrigue and sexual liaisons between him and the female members of the household which offers up the exploitation angles but nothing else. Once it gets to him being sent to the island things pick up but it's still not very interesting under this part of the film.
That also brings up the other issue here in that the scenes on the island are far more bizarre than they are creepy or scary. The idea of them being just regular, random freaks and not really homicidal or dangerous doesn't provide this with any kind of special danger since nothing really happens to him in the end, and with the rather tame manner in which they're pretty much dropped out of the film in order to turn into a cut-rate mad scientist effort for his continuous ruminations about turning everyone into deformities just doesn't make this one interesting or scary. Likewise, the fact that the ending turns into an endless round of reveals and storytelling for a section of the film we wouldn't have known about anyway just turns the entire thing into a comical and overlong unraveling sequence that does the film no favors. These are what hold this one down the most.
Overview: *** 1/2/5
While there are some rather big parts to this one that are rather detrimental overall, the fact that this one does have some positive points manages to give the film a wholly watchable quality. Give this one a shot if you're a fan of these bizarre Asian genre pieces or are looking for something unfamiliar along this type of storyline, while those unimpressed with this style of a film should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment