Rampo Noir [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Four Surrealistic Tales From Rampo, 4 Dec 2009

By 

The Critic Ali Insane “Oyabun Max” (Lab 4, The 13th Floor) –

  

Four directors adapt one tale each of surrealistic debauchery and ultra violence from Japanese author Edogawa Rampo who was heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Tadanobu Asano appears in all four stories, two of which as the super sleuth Kogoro Akechi who is very similar to Sherlock Holmes.

The first segment Mars’ Canal consists of Asano running through vast vegetation butt naked, spliced in with images of him violently assaulting a women. Both of these stark, contrasting images come to the viewer with no sound at all making the experience very disturbing but tame in comparison to what is to follow.

In the second segment Mirror Hell we follow Akechi trying to solve the hideous murders of two women with melted faces and skulls. Toru Itsuki, the equivalent to Moriarty, is the alchemist responsible for the black magic unlocked by the secrets of the shadow mirror.

Caterpillar is the third story about a Disfigured war hero and his sadomasochistic wife who tortures his amputated body and uses it for kinky sex whilst being secretly observed by the voyeuristic Man with Twenty Faces played by the enigmatic Ryuhei Matsuda. The twist in this short fable is horrifying but the torture and bizarre sex scenes beforehand cushion the blow.

The Final segment is Crawling Bugs and my personal favourite because it’s the first time I’ve seen Asano come out of his comfort zone of subtle/understated and often ambiguous with great aplomb. He plays a chauffer with a skin irritation and a phobia of human contact showing his audience that he can plunge into depths of vulnerability, falling in love with the actress who employs his services and slipping into the realms of fantasy when his actions go horribly awry. The intellectual dialogue filled with philosophical prose combined with beautiful and arresting images make this compulsive viewing for anyone who appreciates extreme art… Its mind boggling stuff of the highest degree!

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