Arrow Films

Horrors of Malformed Men, by Teruo Ishii (1969) Out in Blu-Ray on 17th Sept. 2018

Cult director (Shogun's Joy of Torture, Blind Woman's Curse) presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the fevered imagination of Japan's celebrated pioneer ofero-guro (“erotic grotesque”) literature, Edogawa Rampo.

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Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman's household and his dead double's marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.

A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo's tales, boasts astonishing carnivalesque art design and haunting performances. Withdrawn from cinemas by its own studio after its original scandalous release nearly fifty years ago, the film is among the very best screen interpretations of the author's macabre brand of horror-fantasy fiction, and a unique oddity of Japanese cult cinema.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 2K restoration of the film presented on High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray
• Uncompressed mono 1.0 PCM audio
• Newly translated optional English subtitles
• Two audio commentaries by Japanese cinema experts Tom Mes and Mark Schilling
• Malformed Movies: a new video interview with Toei exploitation movie screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda
• Malformed Memories: Filmmakers Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo the Iron Man) and Minoru Kawasaki (The Calamari Wrestler) on the career of director Teruo Ishii
• Ishii in Italia: Ishii and Mark Schilling visit the Far East Film Festival
• Poster Gallery
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford

FIRST PRESSING ONLY:

Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp, Tom Mes and Grady Hendrix

DETAILS

Director: Teruo Ishii
Cast: Teruo Yoshida, Yukie Kagawa, Teruko Yumi

BD RRP: £24.99
Region: B
Rating: TBC
Genre: Horror
Duration: 102 mins
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: 1.0 Mono
Colour: Colour
Discs: 1

About the author

Adriana Rosati

On paper I am an Italian living in London, in reality I was born and bread in a popcorn bucket. I've loved cinema since I was a little child and I’ve always had a passion and interest for Asian (especially Japanese) pop culture, food and traditions, but on the cinema side, my big, first love is Hong Kong Cinema. Then - by a sort of osmosis - I have expanded my love and appreciation to the cinematography of other Asian countries. I like action, heroic bloodshed, wu-xia, Shaw Bros (even if it’s not my specialty), Anime, and also more auteur-ish movies. Anything that is good, really, but I am allergic to rom-com (unless it’s a HK rom-com, possibly featuring Andy Lau in his 20s)"

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