The Beyond (1981)

Tagline: “Only Death awaits…in The Beyond”

Duration: 87 minutes

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 4.5/5
Entertainment Value:4/5
Originality: 4/5

Introduction

Having gained something of a reputation for his zombie movies after the success of ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ and ‘City of the Living Dead’, Lucio Fulci decided to follow up his adaptation of Poe’s ‘The Black Cat’ with the second part of what would become known as the ‘Gates of Hell’ trilogy. Moving away from the cannibalistic nature of his Caribbean zombies, and Lovecraftian undertones of Dunwich, he goes for surrealism in what many consider to be Fulci’s best film.

In a nutshell

Whilst renovating an old hotel, a couple inadvertently open one of the seven doors of hell to unleash a crazy and highly gruesome series of events. But can they close the door before they open the hotel?

So what’s good about it?

‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ took the zombie back to its voodoo inspired roots, ‘City of the Living Dead’ was atmospheric and very serious, ‘The Beyond’ is just insane! Fulci has frequently, sometimes unfairly been compared unfavourably to Dario Argento but this could so easily have been part of ‘The Three Mothers’ trilogy with its dreamlike quality, completely baffling series of events and almost total lack of cause and effect. For me it’s all the better for it and as Fulci himself once said, the criticism of its lack of coherence misses the point, intending it to serve as a collection of images. It works perfectly on this level, moving from set piece to set piece in true Grand Guignol fashion.

This would be a choice moment to talk about Gianetto de Rossi’s gore effects which are astounding at times. He clearly has a thing for removing eyeballs (left) which happens on more than one occasion but it’s the sheer relish with which the blood flows. From the opening scene where a warlock is slashed with a chain, pinned to the wall with rusty nails through the arm before having acid poured over his face (a trick repeated later in the film) it barely lets up. Coming way before CGI and clearly on a low budget, an estimated £300,000, the gore effects are expertly done and placed front and centre in glorious close up and in broad daylight which shows the faith and conviction Fulci had in de Rossi’s undoubted ability.

The movie is beautifully filmed and highly stylised, once again the opening sequence sets the tone with Fulci choosing to present it in Sepia tones (right) with a stand out being the staggeringly eerie scene where the corpse of Joe the Plumber rises out of the bath, some incredible make up effects there. There’s a wonderful eeriness about the shots outside the hotel that change from an innocuous sunshine during the early scenes,  changing to a persistent mist that invades the house on occasion. This is most notable when the blind character, Emily, runs out of the hotel after starting to bleed inexplicably from her hands. One of my favourite scenes is early on when Liza encounters Emily on a road that doesn’t seem to lead anywhere, stretching out towards the horizon with water on both sides. Apparently that is a real bridge but what an incredible effect it has on the film. What is Emily doing there? How did she get there? More importantly, what does she have to do with the hotel and what does she know about it?

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the film is just how unpredictable it is. It sprints from scene to scene with very little foreshadowing…there is absolutely no sign of zombies, they just suddenly appear behind the door, the tarantula attack comes out of nowhere and is never eplained, the reappearance of the warlock to Liza in the hotel room and an ending that is surely the bleakest of all of Fulci’s films. But the biggest surprise of all is that it’s not really a zombie film, despite its reputation suggesting otherwise, and like ‘House by the Cemetery’ functions best as a haunted house movie. The zombies are almost inconsequential and, other than Joe, not responsible for the carnage on show. Their sole function is seemingly to drive Liza and John to hell, or purgatory perhaps?

Would the real spider please step forward?

What about the bad?

There’s the terrible dubbing, suspect, over the top acting and overdone sound effects that seem to affect most Italian horror films, but the spider attack really stands out! Some of the spiders are real but it’s equally clear that some, well, aren’t! In a film full of colourful, inventive and gruesome effects, this scene, presumably an attempt to recreate the memorable shark attack from ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ falls a little flat. The one saving grace of the scene is that it has another truly wonderful eye gouging…by spider!!!

A special shout out to the worst doctor in the history of cinema…who hooks up a long dead corpse to a heart monitor and expects to see a response!!! Fulci playing a little joke with our expectations perhaps???

Any themes?

Eyes, sight and lack thereof! There are at least three gory eye gougings and two characters are presented without sight, one of whom meets the dangerous end of a gun whilst the other meets the toothy end of her own guide dog. These character, much like the film itself, have no literal view of the outside world, incapable either by circumstance or design of acknowledging reality but being forced to look inwards.

Every turn Liza and John take seems to result in a return to the hotel and, more specifically, its basement. This is made explicit in the final scens where John and Liza escape the zombies in the hospital and run down the stairs to find themselves in the hotel basement despite never leaving the hospital. This places the film very firmly in the dream world, just like ‘Inferno’ and ‘Suspiria’ where the world around conspires to shift geographically, ensuring you arrive at a certain place without rhyme or reason. The final image (above, left) takes this point to its extreme with our survivors blind and trapped in a singular spot from which there is no escape, their own personal hell.

Release History

Yes, this was seriously underappreciated by the BBFC who insisted on substantial cuts, including the gunshot to the little girl’s head (right), two eye gougings and the gruesome prologue. The dog attack was shorn of almost half a minute of its violence but the censors had a particular problem with the unconvincing spider attack, removing 43 seconds! A total of 1m 39s was sliced for the cinema version which then found itself on the banned list when released by Vampix in 1982.

However, it’s NOT considered one of the DPP 39 and was re-released in the same cut version by Elephant in 1987 on VHS and then once again, in the same truncated version by VIPCO in 1992. VIPCO finally grew a pair and submitted an uncut version in 2002 which was passed and has seen several further releases before Arrow got their beautiful little mitts on it to bring out a wonderful edition in 2011 and even brought out a 'Gates of Hell’ boxed set with ‘House by the Cemetery’ and ‘City of the Living Dead’ on DVD only – though this was missing many of the special features from the 2 disc releases.

Cultural Impact

Widely regarded as one of Fulci’s best films this did the grindhouse circuit in the early 2010s, presented by Quentin Tarantino who introduced to it to a new audience that seemed to appreciate its unusual vibe and dreamlike atmosphere. For many in the US this was the first opportunity to see the film uncut as it had been heavily censored (even more so than in the UK) and retitled as ‘’The Seven Doors of Death’ with an uncut limited edition DVD released in the early 00s.

Like many of Fulci’s films, certainly in the US, he didn’t live long enough to see his films truly appreciated for what they are…wildly inventive, semi-surreal, dreamlike masterpieces. It’s great to see the film getting the audience it deserves on both sides of the pond and across the rest of Europe.

Final thoughts

Other than the first five minutes, there’s a real sense of fun running through this film, despite the blood and gore, with the film rocketing from scene to scene, barely giving us the chance to draw breath. Unlike ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ and ‘House by the Cemetery’ which are a little more exploitative (not necessarily a bad thing, they’re outstanding films in their own right), Fulci seems to be enjoying his filmmaking a little more. I really appreciated the fantastical atmosphere and, though he frequently plays second fiddle to Argento in the critical stakes, this holds its own against many of the meastro’s greats.

Memorable Quotes

Dr McCabe: “Trust me, I’m a Doctor.”

Emily: “We blind see things more clearly.”

Lyncher: “You ungodly warlock…because of you this hotel and this town will be cursed forever.”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Inferno’, ‘City of the Living Dead’, ‘Demons’, ‘Night of the Demon’

Do you like my review? Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

The Haunting (1963)

Tagline: “You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror.”

UK Running Time: 114 minutes

Film Quality: 5/5
Gore Content: 0/5
Entertainment Value: 5/5
Originality: 4/5

Introduction

After reading a review of Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ director Robert Wise picked up the rights to turn it into film. Owing MGM one more movie as part of his contract, he put the idea to them to make a haunted house movie for the 60s. Nelson Gidding, with whom he had worked before, had already written a treatment by this time, coming to the conclusion that there was a certain ambiguity in the novel about whether or not the house was haunted. Add to that Wise’s desire to create a tribute to horror auteur Val Lewton and you have a recipe for the archetypal ‘less is more’ fright flick.

In a nutshell

A parapsychologist recruits a hand-picked team to take part in a serious, scientific investigation of Hill House, a building with an interesting history that is believed to be haunted. Strange things begin to happen during the investigation, but is it a genuine haunting or is something else going on that could put all of their lives in danger.

So what’s good about it?

I’ve already hit on the fact that Wise takes the ‘less is more’ approach to film making, going against expectations by showing you absolutely nothing. He clearly loved the source material and his screenwriter picks up on the ‘is the house really haunted?’ concept and throws it over to the audience to make their own minds up. Nothing is quite as it seems and this is conveyed in several ways. First of all, as Dr Markway explains there are no right angles in the house so doors close by themselves. Secondly, nobody witnesses so much as a spoon bend so, is it all in their collective imagination? Thirdly, if you know you’re in a house with a reputation such as the one conjured up at Hill House and you stayed the night, would you not over-analyse each little bump and creak?

Key to this ambiguity is the characters, how they’re portrayed and how they interact with each other. The two key characters in this respect are Eleanor, the reclusive outsider who has never been able to shake off her poltergeist experience as a child, and Theodora the psychic. There’s tension between the two and is it just possible that the neuroses and supernatural associations of Eleanor may be inadvertently channelled outwards by Theo the psychic? Most of the genuinely frightening moments, particularly the ‘breathing door’ scene, take place when Markway and Luke are elsewhere so there is one theory. The dynamics of the group is superb with the scientist, the sceptic, the psychic and the one in denial of the supernatural.

The film plays very much into the psychological concept of the uncanny, things are strangely familiar but not quite right. When we hear the child’s scream and the banging on the door, the camera closes in on a section of wallpaper (left) and the lighting to give the appearance of facial features. Haven’t we all done that? Seen faces in wooden doors, clouds and wallpaper and been slightly freaked out by it. Then there’s the mysterious Mrs Sanderson whose repeated warnings and expressionless face give the appearance of an automaton alongside the statues and busts that tower over our characters, imposing themselves whilst giving whatever haunts Hill House an almost omnipresent quality.

The way the film is shot is designed purely to disorientate. Many shots are filmed at an angle, we see characters leave the rooms from the right and enter another room from the left so we don’t get a clear idea of the geography of the house, we rarely get a sense of whether or not scenes take place during the day or at night so our concept of time is not necessarily linear. At some points the camera even imposes itself on the characters, at one point jarringly forcing itself upon Eleanor, making her lean over and nearly fall from a balcony wall. Some shots are shown in reverse and there’s the sensational scene (above, right) showing the ageing process of one of the historical characters from childhood to old age over a ten second period onscreen, filmed using overlaid images with an unnervingly surreal effect. Add to this the wonderful sound, many of the effects of which were played out to the actors during filming to get realistic responses and the overall effect is sinister beyond belief.

And what about the bad?

It would be wrong to pretend that the film was a massive hit when it came out. There were some reports of audience anger as they went to see a haunted house movie and came out of it without seeing anything. Of course this is missing the point entirely as it’s not what you see, it’s what you don’t see that scares you here and that point was also missed by the creators of the remake that stank out cinemas in the late 90s. However, other cinemagoers were terrified by the film, expecting a Hammer style atmosphere, colourful and slightly camp. There wasn’t a great deal of middle ground with critics, unsurprisingly given this polarised view from early 60s cinemagoers, giving it a mixed reception agreeing that it is cinematically wonderfully but too serious as a horror film. Perhaps audiences, or at least critics, weren’t quite ready for a serious exploration of our own deep rooted fears.

Any themes?

Madness. Is Eleanor (right) so traumatised by her past experiences with the poltergeist (only mentioned as an aside in the film, but her reason for being there) and her role as her mother’s carer and her subsequent death that Hill House tips her over the edge? One of the backstories of the house is that one of the characters dies whilst calling for help as her aid fools around next door, a situation very close to Eleanor’s own experiences, drawn out by either the spirits of Theo’s psychic abilities depending on your point of view. We discover from a wonderfully camp and chintzy scene early on that her home life is dull, she has no life of her own and longs for adventure and freedom. Finally given the room to let it all out, her anxieties consume her and this negative energy is picked up by psychic Theo and transferred to Markway and Luke.

There is also a lot to be said about what makes a house haunted. If you walk down a backstreet at night then chances are you’ll feel fine, if you were told a murder happened down that particular street the previous night you’d feel very differently about that walk. The same applies here, it raises the question about whether you can keep an open mind in a place where ‘terrible things’ have happened. As Markway puts it, if even one event was proved to be faked or flawed then all of the other evidence would be open to question. The fact that Luke is virtually converted into a believer is irrelevant, his initial scepticisim is mirrored by Markway’s urge to believe and by the end of the film they’ve met in the middle. Luke believes there’s something there whilst Markway believes he’s made a mistake in inviting a clearly unhinged woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Release history

The version released cinematically included a few additional scenes. The first showed the breakdown of Theo’s relationship with her lover, the second includes more inner thoughts from Eleanor on the way to the house whilst the third is a voiceover from Mrs Sanderson, replaced by that of Markway. All three are likely to have been replaced by Wise for reasons of characterisation. Theo’s relationship explicitly showed her sexuality, the film works far better with her lesbianism implied. Eleanor’s inner thoughts permeate the film regularly so toning it down at the start prevents it from becoming tiresome quickly and Markway is the authority figure at Hill House so should be the one delivering its history and introducing us to the house.

There was some opposition to the inclusion of an openly gay character, in fact this was one of, if not THE first mainstream film to feature a homosexual, female character. Perhaps it was this that persuaded Wise to remove that earlier scene for fear of censorship or overshadowing the film itself, however I think characterisation was the more likely reason.

Cultural Impact

It’s widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time and a landmark of the genre. It has been remade, parodied (a wonderful pastiche appears in the most unlikely form of ‘Waxwork 2: Lost in Time’ with Bruce Campbell as the Markway character…a standout moment in the film!), referenced and acknowledged in countless other movies. Martin Scorses and Steven Spielberg in particular have championed the film and it was clearly an influence on Steven King and Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of ‘The Shining’.

It also brought Val Lewton’s low budget style of not revealing ‘the monster’ into the mainstream big budget horror movies, proving that just because you have the money to put the effects and the monstrous up there on screen doesn’t mean you have to. I can remember watching ‘Jeepers Creepers’ for the first time and for the first half of the film thinking what a refreshing change it was to see something so tense, to watch a film that doesn’t show the monster and cranks of the sense of dread. And then the feeling of utter disappointment as you see the monster and all of that heard work and atmosphere disappeared in an instant. THAT’s the legacy that ‘The Haunting’ has left behind and it’s great to see more films currently showing the same sort of restraint instead of splashing cheap looking CGI over the screen…yes, that’s ‘The Haunting’ remake summed up in a nutshell!

Stephen King and Steven Spielberg came together in the late 80s to produce a tv series based on Shirley Jackson’s novel but they couldn’t find a common ground. Spielberg wanted more action, King more restraint so the project was shelved with King eventually taking elements of that script and working it into the miniseries ‘Rose Red’. More recently, Netflix have announced an intention to adapt the novel into a series…we’ll just have to see how that develops.

Final Thoughts

I distinctly remember watching this as a 13 year old astounded that an old black and white film with no special effects to speak of could terrify me in such a way. I’d not seen a film like it, more used to the slasher films and ‘Poltergeist’ (no disrespect to that particular film, but it is FX heavy!) style horror that showed its hand right there on screen. In not showing what’s behind the haunting, it’s all in your head. Do you remember being scared of the dark when you were four? It wasn’t the dark, it was what might dwell within in that you couldn’t see…that’s the power of ‘The Haunting’.

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘The Shining’, ‘The Conjuring’, ‘Session 9’, ‘The Changeling’

Five of the Best: Soundtracks

Film: Suspiria

Artist: Goblin
Year: 1977

Cult horror director Dario Argento had collaborated with progressive rockers ‘Goblin’ before on ‘Profondo Rosso’ and turned to them again for perhaps their most memorable score. In an unusual move, Argento decided to record the music BEFORE filming began and worked in collaboration with Goblin with the intention of producing a fear inducing, experimental soundtrack. What emerged was a truly terrifying wall of noise that complements precisely what happens on screen.

The wonderful opening theme that plays out as Suzy walks out of the airport wouldn’t sound out of place in a children’s fantasy, there is a certain ‘Harry Potter’ playfulness about it until it begins to build up with unnerving, low oscillation and sudden screams of ‘witch’ as she becomes more disorientated with her unfamiliar surroundings during a torrential thunderstorm. We then have the loud bangs and crashes of ‘Sighs’ during the first demented murder, repeated in the middle of the film when the blind man is attacked by his own guide dog. This piece is much more experimental and represents the manipulative evil at work, capable of altering the mood, atmosphere and emotions of the beings and buildings around us.

By using a range of percussive, string and electronic sounds combined with sudden bursts of almost tuneless shouting, screams and monosyllabic words in isolation, the cumulative effect is a wall of frenzied noise which rarely lets up. When added to Argento’s stylised direction and expressionist, distorted photography, the overall effect is mesmerising, disorientating and completely overwhelming.

Film: The Omen

Artist: Jerry Goldsmith
Year: 1976

Alongside the shark theme from ‘Jaws’, this is possibly the most iconic piece of horror-themed music that has been borrowed, parodied and copied in everything from ‘Only Fools and Horses’ to ice skating routines and adverts for aftershave. Taking its cue from satanic chants, the orchestral arrangement gives the film an epic feel that raises it above most horror films that had gone before and gave future films something to live up to. The fact that it comes from a well-renowned composer gave the film more credibility than it possibly would have had otherwise.

Just like the aforementioned ‘Jaws’, the music acts as a stand in for the unseen ‘Satan’ or at least the satanic influence of Damian which is embodied most famously in ‘Ave Satani’ with its eerie and foreboding latin choral arrangement which, translated, comes across as the equally chilling “We drink the blood, we eat the flesh, raise the body of Satan…Hail, Antichrist…”. It’s so powerful that it’s easy to forget that there’s a much more subtle score at play during the scenes of happy family life which provides the contrast.

Hugely influential, almost every single ‘satanic’ horror film with a few quid behind it uses a mixture of choral and classical music in the same way that ‘Psycho’ influenced the strong use of violins in slasher films…it’s just the way it has to be!

Film: Assault on Precinct 13

Artist: John Carpenter
Year: 1976

Increasingly recognised as one of the great American directors, his work has been reappraised recently but let’s not forget what an incredible musician he is, after all, he created that iconic ‘Halloween’ theme. However, for me his most striking contribution to cinematic scores is the one he laid out for ‘Assault on Precinct 13’. A lean, stark, bold and simple film, he takes the same economic principles applied to his writing and directing into his electronic score.

The memorable opening theme has an imposing rhythm about it and he adds layers with each second repetition. This works perfectly with the relentless attacks of the gang who lay siege to the precinct, more and more of them joining each wave of the attack. The screeching, single tone of the keyboard in the background during the blood ritual is terrifying in its intent and, taken alongside the slow build of the main theme gives the film a brutal, single minded driving force that few films of its type have managed to replicate.

There are calmer moments to the film as well, such as the more melodic relief when the siege is over which, whilst utilising the same synthesised qualities, uses a higher frequency and softer tone that perfectly complements the mood of those final scenes. As a composer, he’s perfectly placed to be able to score the films that he writes and directs, using it as another character and creating that perfect balance of sound and vision. Truly, one of the great American directors is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves as a composer.

Film: Shogun Assassin

Artist: Mark Lindsay and W. Michael Lewis
Year: 1980

A true one off, ‘Shogun Assassin’ re-edited two Japanese films (‘Baby Cart on the River Styx’ and ‘Sword of Vengeance’) from the ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ series into a single film with English dialogue. So…how do you appropriately compliment a film set in feudal Japan where honour, vengeance and a strong moral code rule? With a pounding electronic score of course!!! It really shouldn’t work but it is a wonderful piece of music and the editors very wisely keep some of the original soundtrack intact.

We get a wide range of musical styles from the Carpenter-esque, ominous opening theme that accompanies Daigaro’s “It was a bad time…” opening monologue, the beat-driven piece used underneath an encounter with a group of ninja in the woods (replicated as the end theme) to the epic sound of swooshing synthesisers ahead of the final desert battle that recalls Tangerine Dream. It is a very 80s sounding soundtrack that really shouldn’t fit with its subject matter but, and I really can’t put my finger on why, it is an unmitigated success.

It has become something of a hip-hop classic as well with sections of the score and snippets from the film appearing in RZA’s classic ‘Liquid Swordz’ album and parts of Genaside 2’s ‘New Life 4 The Hunted’. It’s a soundtrack that can easily be enjoyed as a single piece of music separate from the film.

Film: The Lost Boys

Artist: Various
Year: 1987

The only film from this list to feature a rock soundtrack, all tracks were written and arranged specifically for the film, one is performed on the boardwalk by the original artist (Tim Capello) within the film. For a movie that just oozes cool and epitomises the 80s, the soundtrack album became almost as popular as the film itself with ‘Cry Little Sister’ by Gerard McMann becoming the unofficial theme song of the feature and was used for some of the movie’s cues.

It could lay claim to be the very first ‘popular’ soundtrack album to a horror film (‘Fright Night’ came a year earlier with the same idea but not quite the same level of sex appeal) and there can be very few horror fans who don’t have it in their collection. Thomas Newman composed the minimalist ‘original score’ as a blend of gothic and orchestral music that strongly resembles elements of ‘Cry Little Sister’ and one of his compositions that features in the boardwalk scenes (‘To the Shock of Miss Louise’) makes a seamless appearance on the soundtrack album.

Other offerings from the soundtrack include INXS, Echo and the Bunnymen and Roger Daltry…’Walk This Way’ by Run DMC and Aerosmith was featured in the film during the attack on the surf Nazis but doesn’t appear in the film, presumably because of licensing issues.



Do you agree with my selection? Leave a comment below and let me know!!!

The DPP 39: Video Nasties Part 6

In 1984, the Video Recordings Act ushered in a terrifying new era in UK home video entertainment. The regulation and subsequent censorship of home videos by the British Board of Film Classification led to a number of films being seized by the authorities and prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. In total, 39 of these films were successfully prosecuted, over the coming months The Horror Video will look very briefly at the release history of each film and its current status. To view the rest of the series…

Part 1: ‘Absurd’, ‘Anthropophagus’ and ‘Axe’, click here
Part 2: ‘Bay of Blood’, ‘The Beast in Heat’ and ‘Blood Feast’, click here
Part 3: ‘Blood Rites’, ‘Bloody Moon’ and ‘The Burning’, click here
Part 4: ‘Cannibal Apocalypse’, ‘Cannibal Ferox’ and ‘Cannibal Holocaust’, click here
Part 5: ‘The Cannibal Man’, ‘The Devil Hunter’ and ‘Don’t Go in the Woods’, click here

Title: ‘The Driller Killer’ (1980)

Director: Abel Ferrara
Uncut running time: 96 minutes (100 minute ‘pre-release’ version available)
Alternative titles: None

Arguably the film that signalled the start of the video nasties era thanks to its graphic cover art which simply featured a still from the infamous drill through the head scene. This is less an exploitation film, bordering on arthouse territory as it explores the deteriorating mental state of a frustrated artist struggling to make ends meet in a society riddled with violence and decay. It has a lot in common, thematically, with Martin Scorsese’s ‘Taxi Driver’ and gore hounds may find it a little dull. It’s incredibly slow and very gritty, the titular power tool making only a brief appearance during his frenzied killing spree midway through the film.

It was VIPCO who put out a virtually uncut version, missing a single scene of character development, in February 1982, it was pounced upon in July 1983 and remained unavailable until 1999 when a pre-cut version missing 54 seconds of violence was released on VHS by Visual Entertainment. Needless to say it was all culled from the drill murders other than a single scene of Reno and his flatmates entering a nightclub. Since then several uncut versions have been put out in varying degrees of quality since the film slipped into the public domain. Finally Arrow Video got hold of it and, more by luck than design, found a pre-release version with some extra footage (non-violent) which was remastered with new special features and a commentary that didn’t sound like it was recorded in a public toilet!

Current status: Uncut in the UK and US from Arrow Video.

Title: ‘Evilspeak’ (1981)

Director: Eric Weston
Uncut running time: 89 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Evilspeaks’


Not a bad film which sees a bullied cadet at military school dabble in Satanism to take revenge on his attackers. It’s fair to say that it’s a bit ‘out there’ at times but it is one of the better made ‘nasties’ and stars Clint Howard who was the little lad from ‘Gentle Ben’! What got this into trouble was some pretty good gore effects including some very graphic flesh eating by wild boars as well as the theme of Satanism, much of which was cut when the film was resubmitted following its inevitable ban.

Videospace put this film out uncut in 1983 before resubmitting a pre-cut version, presumably in response to the growing video nasties panic. It didn’t work as both versions were seized and prosecuted in March 1984. Horror classics rereleased it relatively quickly in 1987, but not before more than three and a half minutes was removed, including a gory checklist of a head chop, neck break, bovine intestinal feasting, nail in the head, more beheadings and a heart being ripped out. Also missing was some satanic text on a computer screen. This version was released on DVD a couple of times before a shortened version (all gore intact) was released by Anchor Bay and 88 films along with a composite cut, the shortened version containing the director’s commentary.

It didn’t fare much better in the US where an ‘R’ rated version was passed missing just under three and a half minutes before the dependable Shout! Factory released it uncut in 2014

Current status: Available in the UK uncut on 88 Films and in the US uncut on Shout! Factory.

Title: Expose (1975)

Director: James Kenelm Clarke
Uncut running time: 84 minutes
Alternative title: ‘House on Straw Hill’, ‘Trauma’


Here’s another one that I know very little about having not seen it but I do know that the plot sees a reclusive writer become involved in a rape revenge situation where his secretary is attacked and kills her assailants. She then has sex with our scribe’s estranged wife before he is killed in a car crash and his wife murdered in the shower…it certainly sounds interesting! It’s got a decent cast headed by Udo Kier and was remade in 2010 directed by Martin Kemp.

This movie has never seen an uncut release in UK cinemas with three minutes missing from its original theatrical release, including around a minute and a half of pre cuts. The main problem has always been the rape scene and its associated sexual violence although an uncut version was released by Intervision in 1980 before it was prosecuted in March 1984. Cut by just under a minute for its 1997 re-release on VHS, mainly for cuts to the rape scene and the shower scene (the BBFC have always had a problem with blood on breasts) this is the same version that has persisted on DVD to this day.

Current status: Available on Village DVD in the UK, cut by 51 seconds, uncut on Severin under its alternate title ‘House on Straw Hill’ in the US

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

Tagline: N/A
UK Running Time: 67 minutes

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 3/5
Entertainment Value: 4/5
Originality: 4.5/5

Introduction

Japanese art has always been strongly been linked to Manga, the far eastern ‘comics’ are read by adults and children alike and many dabble in the science fiction genre. Technology plays a big part in some and in the 1980s there was an explosion in popularity for animated movies based on popular Manga titles peaking with the astoundingly cinematic ‘Akira’. Several attempts were made, largely unsuccessfully, to adapt some of these into live-action movies. But it was a relatively short, underground movie called ‘Tetsuo’, created almost single-handedly by Shinya Tsukamoto, clearly influenced by a society immersed in Manga and the fast growing technology that really hit the spot.

In a nutshell

A metal fetishist is killed in a hit and run accident by a ‘salaryman’ who begins to undergo an unusual change. As if possessed by the will of the fetishist he begins to be consumed by metal, suffering increasingly bizarre and nightmarish visions until a confrontation with the reanimated fetishist leads to an apocalyptic conclusion.

So what’s good about it?

It is wildly inventive and writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, tea man, etc… Shin’ya Tsukamoto creates an unbelievably vivid and visceral spectacle. Tsukamoto’s background was in advertising but you could be forgiven for thinking it was in music videos as there is a beat and rhythm to the way he directs the action, particularly the terrifying chase scene by the woman at the station and subsequent attack in his garage. The film is based on an early play he wrote that he performed at school, although quite how he managed this I will never know and there is definitely an element of performance art during a number of the sequences that belies its cyber-punk leanings.

I have no idea what the budget was, clearly it was VERY low, but the effects work is, at times, superb. True, some of the grain and murky black and white photography may mask some of the cracks in the effects work but it also adds to the overall impact of the movie. Our metal fetishist (played by Tsukamoto) scours junkyards looking for pieces of metal to insert into his body, you can’t get much grittier, and the opening scene where we witness him doing that is tough to watch. As the film progresses the effects become less make-up based and more in the realm of camera trickery as stop motion effects take over. It must have taken weeks to achieve the level of detail as wires and pieces of metal combine and twist to merge the salaryman and fetishist into a singular being. It’s this bloody mindedness that caused a lot of friction between Tsukamoto and the crew over the course of the 18 month shoot which was very much a meticulous labour of love for the self-confessed schoolboy daydreamer, desperate to get his vision onto the small screen.

The editing is frenetic and exhausting to watch at times. Film is sped up, slowed down, chopped together, split apart and burned across the screen to emphasise the fragmented existence of a pre-digital Japan ready to explode in a world of ever-developing technology. There is little time to catch breath before the next set piece and what little plot there is, is just blown away by the power of the visuals and sound. Tsukamoto seems genuinely interested in the relationship, and possibly dependence on machines and technology which, looking at present day culture, is incredibly visionary.

Having talked about the visuals, the sound (the music is one of the few things NOT provided by Tsukamoto!) includes a brilliant industrial score by Chu Ishikawa. The scene where the salaryman and his girlfriend eat is overlayed with the most wonderful metallic sounds as the salaryman’s emotions and senses become consumed by metal to such an extent that he can’t bear the sound of teeth on a fork. The moment at the start when the fetishist pulls a grooved metal bar through his teeth (right) makes me cringe every time!

And what about the bad?

It is a challenge to watch and, as with many ‘arthouse’ movies, it is a case of style over substance with hardly any plot and an almost total lack of dialogue that makes ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ look a bit wordy! I personally don’t find this a negative as such but it’s a real turnoff for the casual fan. It is hard to follow and I do wonder how many people may have gone into having read the synopsis, thinking it was going to be a Paul Verhoeven style action epic and switched off after 20 minutes. It has its audience and I don’t think I fully understood what the hell was going on until I’d watched it for the fourth or fifth time so it does require a hell of a lot of effort to get anything out of it. I suppose it’s like many of the best things in life, you get out of it what you put in.

Any themes?

There is a lot to take out of it relating to the relationship between man and machine, or more specifically man and metal. It is one of man’s greatest engineering achievements, the automobile, that sets in place the origin of the metamorphosis. It takes the electric razor to encourage the first few bits of metal out of the salaryman’s face and the fetishist’s aim is to consume the world with metal and turn it to rust. It’s hugely apocalyptic and in that sense it has a lot in common with many Japanese Manga stories that use metamorphosis and technology as the driving force towards bringing about the end of the world.

There is a lot of sexual imagery within the film as well. The fetishist is intent on inserting phallic pieces of metal into vaginal wounds and what a bizarre choice of music to accompany the car accident! Seductive saxophone music plays over the top of soft focus images of the car, filmed in a way that sexualises the whole experience. The salaryman has a horrific dream here his girlfriend dances very exotically, growing a metallic probe (left) which she uses to rape him and of cause there’s the sledgehammer metaphor as his penis turns into a drill with which he accidentally impales his girlfriend. Just as the fetishist sexualises his own body in the context of metal, so does Tsukamoto in the context of what happens to the salaryman and his increasingly bizarre visions.

Tsukamoto has very clearly been inspired by the work of David Cronenberg, in particular the brilliant ‘Videodrome’. Both films deal with the literal change of the body, being turned into a biomechanical weapon whilst sexualising elements of the experience in a disturbingly masochistic way. When he’s confronted by the lady at the train station (right) and looks down at her hand it bears a resemblance to James Woods’ hand when it assimilates the gun. Both films deal with the distinction between what is real and what is imagined as the lead characters try to make sense of what is happening to them. The end of ‘Videodrome’ (I really must get round to giving that ‘The Horror Video’ treatment!) is apocalyptic (“Long live the new flesh”) suggesting a wider implication to his own personal change, very similar to the fetishists final desire to “Turn this world to rust”.

One final thing that isn’t immediately obvious is the familiar ‘angry, vengeful spirit’ theme of many a Japanese horror movie. The fetishist is killed and dumped in a ravine, suddenly the salaryman becomes possessed and haunted by the fetishist, cursed if you like. This echoes themes that were later developed more literally as ghost stories in ‘Ringu’, ‘Ju-On’ and ‘Pulse’ where the vengeful personality of the individual is let loose on the person or people who encounter it.

Release history

There have been no issues relating to censorship but there is a version released on DVD that is 10 minutes longer than the standard 67 minute release, brought out in 2010 to coincide with the release of ‘Tetsuo: Bullet Man’, the third instalment. None of the new material was edited due to violence or sexual content and, presumably, these were edited out of the original cut to preserve the efficiency of the running time rather than inserted to create an extended version.

The only place you will find an official blu ray version is in the UK where Third Window released it on a single disc with its sequel ‘Tetsuo: Body Hammer’ and a second DVD with one of Tsukamoto’s earlier shorts, interviews and trailers. The version included on this disc is the standard 67 minute version and its restoration was personally supervised by Tsukamoto which suggest that this is his preferred version.

Cultural Impact

Fairly minimal other than its ongoing status as a cult film. It owes more to the work of David Cronenberg and David Lynch than any other body of work owing it a debt but it was one of the first attempts at realising a live action Manga. This approach has become more popular over the years with big budget Hollywood productions of ‘The Guyver’, Dragonball Evolution’ and more recently ‘Ghost in the Shell’ and ‘Death Note’. It’s such an obscurity that there really isn’t very much written about the film but it is held in high regard amongst cult film fans, those with an interest in body horror and extreme Asian cinema.

The film spawned two sequels, neither of which quite capture the ferocity and originality of the first film and were made with bigger budgets. They were more different realisations of the same theme than direct sequels. Nine Inch Nails contributed some original music to ‘Bullet Man’ which you can look up on YouTube…it really is some incredibly harsh industrial music, reminiscent of some of the material produced by Trent Reznor during his ‘Downward Spiral’ period.

Final Thoughts

It’s not often that you can call a film ‘one of a kind’ but it certainly applies here. Some of the themes such as body horror and sexual fetishes have been dealt with elsewhere by other directors but rarely as viscerally and with such flair as Tsukamoto delivers here. It’s certainly not for everyone and if you’re put off by some of Cronenberg and Lynch’s weirder material then you haven’t got a prayer of getting through this one…it is anything but accessible but if you like a spot of challenging cinema that is an all out assault on the senses then look no further!

You’ll like this is you enjoyed…

‘Videodrome’, ‘Eraserhead’, ‘Akira’, ‘Hardware’