Tetsuo II: Body Hammer

Fans of the original Tetsuo: Iron Man (1989) can find more of the same industrial polymorphous perversity in this 1991 sequel which--like Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2--is less sequel than quasi-remake. Drawing on the obvious influences of Blade Runner, Road Warrior and Terminator, as well as Japanese anime, writer/director/editor Shinya Sukamoto's film opens with one of the most relentlessly hyperkinetic chase scenes to grace modern cinema as a young couple's son is kidnapped by cyborgs. The shocking conclusion of that initial chase scene is enough to make the father, Tomoo (Tomoroh Taguchi) go...well...metallic. A human transformer whose body sprouts fairly high-powered weaponry and jet propulsion systems when he's stressed (which, slavish sensual thrill-seekers take note, is most of the movie), the tortured half-man, half-metal Tomoo pursues his enemies through a techno-industrial hell where he meets another guy who looks like he swallowed a hardware store and the pair sit down for a nice cup of tea (just kidding, one of them actually shouts "rust or die" and they commence to locking mechanical prostheses). I mention the foregoing in order to give this review some semblance of a plot; the film itself is far less concerned with story than with rapid-fire imagery. Bottom line: Body Hammer is often technically brilliant, narratively warped, and an all out assault on the senses. This release--the original director's cut--will surely find favor with fans of darker sci-fi. A strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)