Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009) by Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Year: 2009

Country: Japan

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Body-Horror

Plot:

After his son dies in an accident, an American living in Japan tries to deal with the anger and grief of the situation, which is only enhanced when his violent urges help transform his body into an indestructible metal construction capable of unleashing his vengeance in all its glory.

Review:

This was a fine if generally problematic genre effort. Much like the other entries in the series, this one works well with the series of gruesome and overly graphic sequences showing the transformation taking place and his eventual assault on those who wronged him using the full extent of his powers. The grief-inducing first half that sets up the reasonable setup for revenge is touching and truly harrowing, while the outcome of that is the somewhat terrifying changeover into the metal-skinned being at the heart of the story. This is part of the wholesale turn into the armored, grotesque deformity that takes out not just the innocent SWAT team in his path but the later scenes focusing on the revenge taking place in the underground tunnels and abandoned houses that can allow the spectacle of everything to come together incredibly well. The bizarre concepts, unusual camera movements, and frenetic approach here create a generally off-beat, atonal experience that’s quite fitting in terms of the other entries in the series, making for a lot to like here.

As expected, outside of this though, there’s not a whole lot to the film. There’s little need for this one to go with the full-body transformation into a metallic-skinned being the way this one does, showing that the change is just immediate and not gradual over time since it’s near the very beginning that everything takes place in quick order. What makes everything here all the more frustrating is that everything that goes on here has such a quick running time that it’s hardly time to develop much build-up on the whole transformation, so there’s little suspense in the change, with it all turning into an exploration of grief over how that manages to uproot his humanity. It’s all complex and confusing and has nowhere near the impact it should when it occurs. The other issue here is that some unconventional filming techniques make this one quite difficult to get into with the crazy camera shaking and jerking around, featuring some obscure close-ups and unnatural flashes to try to get the point across, making for enough factors that bring this one down.

Overview: **.5/5

A likable enough take on the style, even with a few issues, there’s enough to like here where it comes off as a fun enough entry in the series, even though some of the issues here do bring it down significantly. Those with an appreciation for the style or approach here or who are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.