Barnes & Noble

The works of Yasuzo Masumura have not enjoyed the broad U.S. success of such Japanese cinematic titans as Akira Kurosawa, Shohei Imamura, and Nagisa Oshima. But his 1969 effort, Blind Beast, proves that Masumura, who died in 1986, was their worthy peer. Based on a novella by Edogawa Rampo -- Japan's answer to Edgar Allen Poe -- Blind Beast is a stunning erotic, grotesque, hyper-stylized rumination on art and madness that makes its U.S. video debut in an appropriately resplendent DVD transfer. A jaded young fashion model named Aki (Mako Midori) is abducted by Michio (Eiji Funakoshi), a blind, mad sculptor on a quest to create the ultimate work of tactile sculpture, using Aki as the unwilling model. In a surreal warehouse/studio full of oversize body parts and enormous nude female figures, the duo knock heads, debate art, and eventually draw blood while Michio's doting but disapproving mother (Noriko Sengoku) keeps her hawk's eye on all possible escape routes. Although the film's tone certainly gets morbid and intense, there's also enough humor and curiosity about human nature, not to mention some simply stunning art direction, to ultimately make Blind Beast an illuminating trip into the dark. Volk Lindsay

All Movie Guide

This sick and depraved scenario begins when a blind sculptor and his mother kidnap a young woman and use her as a model. In the darkness of an abandoned warehouse, she suffers at the hands of the artist. Giving in to find an avenue of escape, she becomes caught up in a series of sadomasochistic games. After she eventually loses her sight and her mind, the sexual games become even rougher. Whips are replaced with knives, which give way to meat cleavers, as the demented girl begs to have her arms and legs cut off. The girl ends up cut down to size after the mother dies over a battle with her son. He contemplates suicide when he realizes the girl can no longer give him a hand in this macabre tale that gives new meaning to the expression "tortured artist." Dan Pavlides

Product Details

• UPC: 695026702122
• Source: FANTOMA
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:24:00
• Sales Rank: 44,885

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