Horrors of Malformed Men

And coming from Japan's long, unique, and often bizarre history of film, that is saying something. The fact that this film was produced in the sixties actually boggles my mind as does the amount of material pilfered from it over the years by both Western and Eastern filmmakers. The fact that it is still to this day banned in it's native Japan is another sticking point. Consider this a must for the film fan who's seen it all.

An insane asylum, psychadelic dancers in silver body paint, siamese twins, a pond full of beautiful naked women who are fed from a boat like so many koi, a bizarre family mystery, matching swastika scars on the feet of two different men -one alive and one dead, second-hand cannibalism via crustacean, women sewed to sheep, an island of custom made freaks, an murder scene that was ripped off wholesale for use in a James Bond film (You Only Live Twice), and a revenge plot so insanely convoluted that it must have influenced Oldboy are just some of the head-spinning madness "The Horrors of Malformed Men" has to offer.

The sensational cover of the DVD is extremely misleading, but it got me to watch the film so who's to argue? Fans of Takashi Miike are urged to buy this film ASAP and cult cinema/grindhouse afficianados should consider this a must-see as well. The gore is less than one would think, but there is plenty of sex, bizarre visuals, and insane and disturbing material here to make this a memorable experience for any exploitation fan. The only drawback is the poor makeup. But again, we are talking about a foreign film from the 1960's here so don't let that stop you from snapping this forgotten gem up.

This is my second run in with director Teruo Ishii, a film that is as twisted as the previous film of his I had seen Blind Womans Curse. Horrors I hear has a reputation for being a banned cult classic. I'll admit that I walked into this expecting rampant nudity and gore and a take on some taboo subjects. The taboo bits come up in the end of the film that I won't explain here to spoil it, but as a whole compared to the films of Takashi Miike and the like its banned status is a little perplexing. But that doesn't make it bad. In fact the film is a perplexingly awesome mix of the surreal and the over the top. It mixes the stories of Edogawa Rampo to create a smorgasbord of absurdity. From the opening where the main character escapes from an asylum where women bear their breast and stab people with fake knives to the part where the hero pretends to be the resurected son of a wealthy family who he just happens to resemble. And this is before we even see the butoh dancing ruler of a dream island who kidnaps beautiful women to take to an island where he surgically altering men to take over the world. The movie takes it to level ten when it comes to giddy silliness. And this is before Rampo's Kogoro Akechi shows up at the end to reveal the plot. I've already revealed some plot details but that I'll keep secret to avoid spoiling it.
To me the whole thing feels like the predecessor to the films of Takashi Miike or Katsuhito Ishii. Unlike others I didn't find it a masterpiece of horror but at least Shinya Tsukamoto agrees that its goofy blast.

It's too bad that "Captain Samba" doesn't know what he's talking about. It's fine if he didn't like this film, but his claim that "maybe one line in 30 is translated" is just plain wrong. Everything in the film is translated, and the subtitling is one of the better jobs I've seen of a classic Japanese title. Even written signs and songs are translated, which is uncommon for many DVD labels.

Rent the film yourself to judge - don't believe this clown's review.