Oblivious Maximus
I am the worm
Inferno (Dario Argento, 1980) - One of the pinnacles of Italian horror and maestro Argento's career. The thematic sequel to the much more celebrated Suspiria (1977) and the second film in Argento's "Three Mothers" trilogy (the third being the long-delayed and off the wall Mother of Tears (2007)), and in many ways a superior film to Suspiria. The death scenes may not be as extravagant and Keith Emmerson's score, which is one of the finest ever crafted for an Argento film (see the badass soundtracks thread) might not be as iconic as Goblin's brilliant Suspiria soundtrack but its a much more challenging and phantasmagoric experience especially from a storytelling standpoint. Italian horror has never really been about coherent plots and Argento has often been accused of being style over substance but Inferno takes that idea to another level. The first half of the film is an incredible exercise in stream of consciousness plotting, seguing from one random dreamscape to the next. What's also amazing is just like in Suspiria, Argento has one of the films most iconic moments happen early on and yet it never feels like the film blew its load too soon having such a scene over and done with so early. The second half becomes slightly more conventional but not by much and there's never a shortage of gorgeous lighting (the film is dominated by red and blue) or exquisite direction. Absolutely essential.
Full Metal Yakuza (Takashi Miike, 1997) - Imagine RoboCop (1987) if Murphy was a gangster put back together by a leather clad Dr. Frankenstein with a huge (pixilated, this is Japan after all) cock. The RoboCop comparisons pretty much end after the concept of a dead man brought back to life as a half-cyborg as unlike Verhoeven, Miike isn't interested in satire or social commentary (at least not in this film). He is however fully committed to delivering a perverse and gratuitous cyberpunk sci-fi splatterfest and deliver does he ever. The film is a comedy as much as it is a sci-fi/revenge flick and Miike is fully self-aware the entire time of the films absurdities, although he does give the titular robo-yakuza a would be love interest. Without spoiling anything, it doesn't end well. The film also predicts Miike's later Ichi the Killer (2001) somewhat with the main characters personality being very similar to the character of Ichi. There's also of course the films bloodshed and arterial spraying which becomes so over the top it crosses over into farce territory. The look of the film is also worth mentioning because it was lensed digitally for Japan's direct to video (V-Cinema) market. Its a testament to both Miike's talent and Japan's advanced DVD technology of the time because while at times suffering from the limitations of early digital video, its still a more refined looking movie then most American or British video productions from around the same time. Miike fans who are unfamiliar with his pre-Audition (1999) work should find this film to be of interest. Fans of the Tetsuo films should also eat this right up. Grade-A exploitation.
Full Metal Yakuza (Takashi Miike, 1997) - Imagine RoboCop (1987) if Murphy was a gangster put back together by a leather clad Dr. Frankenstein with a huge (pixilated, this is Japan after all) cock. The RoboCop comparisons pretty much end after the concept of a dead man brought back to life as a half-cyborg as unlike Verhoeven, Miike isn't interested in satire or social commentary (at least not in this film). He is however fully committed to delivering a perverse and gratuitous cyberpunk sci-fi splatterfest and deliver does he ever. The film is a comedy as much as it is a sci-fi/revenge flick and Miike is fully self-aware the entire time of the films absurdities, although he does give the titular robo-yakuza a would be love interest. Without spoiling anything, it doesn't end well. The film also predicts Miike's later Ichi the Killer (2001) somewhat with the main characters personality being very similar to the character of Ichi. There's also of course the films bloodshed and arterial spraying which becomes so over the top it crosses over into farce territory. The look of the film is also worth mentioning because it was lensed digitally for Japan's direct to video (V-Cinema) market. Its a testament to both Miike's talent and Japan's advanced DVD technology of the time because while at times suffering from the limitations of early digital video, its still a more refined looking movie then most American or British video productions from around the same time. Miike fans who are unfamiliar with his pre-Audition (1999) work should find this film to be of interest. Fans of the Tetsuo films should also eat this right up. Grade-A exploitation.
