Horrors of Malformed Men

Japanese horror cinema from the 1960s constitutes a strange breed. While big budget mainstream ghost stories and chillers like Kwaidan and Kuroneko were met with international acclaim for their sophisticated style and unnerving imagery, a crazier, weirder, exploitative strain of popular horror films found an audience at home. Adapted from a collection of stories by Japanese horror and mystery author Edogawa Rampo, Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) is directed by Teruo Ishii, a specialist in the lurid subgenre of ero-guro (short for "erotic grotesque"). The story begins with amnesiac medical student Hirosuke Hitomi (Teruo Yoshida) surrounded by topless women and it follows his odyssey as he escapes an insane asylum, flees a murder charge, and assumes the identity of his (recently deceased) double. His odyssey takes him to a remote island where a demented patriarch performs Doctor Moreau-like experiments on humans in a bid to create a new race of deformed, grotesque beings. The narrative jumps and twists with such abruptness that it creates a dreamlike quality and the horrific imagery is enhanced by the performances of Tatsumi Hijikata (a founder of Butoh dance theater) as the mad scientist and by the members of his dance troupe, who portray the malformed men (and women) of the title with strange and surreal choreographed movements. Considered Ishii's masterpiece, the film was notorious in Japan (it was later banned), where it startled filmgoers with horrific visions that—like Godzilla the previous decade—channeled the legacy of the atomic bomb. Making its Blu-ray debut in a restored edition, extras include audio commentary tracks by Japanese cinema experts Tom Mes and Mark Schilling, interviews, and a featurette with filmmaker Ishii and Schilling. Likely to appeal to fans of surreal cult films, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)