Although his work extends much further than erotic films nowadays, Shinji Imaoka's filmography mostly consists of pinku movies, as part of the latest (and probably the last) group of directors dealing with the category, the Seven Lucky Gods. His productions, however, differ significantly from the rest in the category, particularly due to their absurdly comedic sense and the elements of fantasy/horror, both of which are exemplified in “Uncle's Paradise”
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Uncle Takashi suddenly appears in the small city his nephew, squid-fishing Haru, is living, and along with him brings his peculiar set of issues: he does not sleep at night, because he always gets horrific nightmares when he does, while when he is awake, he is constantly horny. Expectedly, his appearance has a true impact on local women, not to mention a constant annoyance to his nephew, who now finds himself living with a man who has sex in the house constantly, and does not let him sleep at night. Haru has an affair with Rika, a local girl who is the girlfriend of another man though, who, eventually, finds out leading to an altercation. However, a bit later, the man dies after being bitten by a huge spider and Rika becomes something of a permanent in Haru's house. At the same time, though, a series of strange occurrences start taking place, involving squids, snakes, and vampire-like creatures who are eager to suck something different than blood.
Shinji Imaoka implements a comedic approach towards his family drama premises, with the quirkiness of the uncle and the reaction of the locals, including his nephew and his mistress, being the main source of this element. His quirks are truly absurd and quite funny, as we watch him writing with a red marker on the bodies of the women he has sex with, and afterwards trying to erase his “art” or continuously consuming energy drinks in an effort to stay awake, that has him, though, falling asleep during the day, in the most inappropriate moments.
At the same time, he manages to make some comments about living in small towns, with the lack of opportunities for work and relationships being presented as a source for friction for the inhabitants, who have to compete among them for both.
The appearance of the fish-like, demonic, sex-crazed creatures, however, gives a very different hypostasis to the film, as the screen is filled with ink-like liquid, lust, and elements of a horror movie, particularly after uncle and nephew make the rather wrong decision, to visit a love hotel. This aspect can be interpreted as a metaphor for what can happen when “foreigners” visit such a secluded society or in more genre terms, what happens when the borders between nightmares and reality are completely erased.
The result is weird but definitely entertaining, and occasionally quite funny, despite the fact that a number of scenes are not exactly for everyone.
Shiro Shinomoto, a veteran of pinku films (although not strictly) with more than 250 credits to his name, gives a great performance as Uncle Takashi, with him managing to be equally funny, absurd, and sensitive, as in his interactions with Rika, with him anchoring the movie in the best way. Minami Aoyama as Rika is the main source of eroticism here, and in that regard, succeeds to the fullest, while Mutsuo Yoshioka highlights his annoyance and perplexity as Haru equally convincingly. Rinako Hirasawa as one of the women Takashi has sex with, Yumeka Sasaki as the Angel of Hell and Takeshi Ito as the demonic hotel receptionist conclude a great cast.
Kazuhiro Suzuki's cinematography is on a very high level, with him capturing the dull premises of the small town, the erotic scenes, and a number of extravagant sequences, like the one where Haru finds himself in a bathtub filled with squids and ink and the hotel one, with equal artistry. The SFX make evident that Imaoka did not have a big budget on his hands, but in general, work fine in the narrative, and the creatures are convincing enough.
Despite its lack of budget, “Uncle's Paradise” emerges as a rather entertaining title, that will satisfy fans of horror, comedy and sex films, in its path towards a cult status.
