You wanna know where my lust for extreme horror comes from? Like most male teens, I saw the Faces of Death movie, but most of that stuff was laughable, like the guy Bungie jumping out a window, but the cord was too long. It was hilarious. And I would go and see whatever I could find that would tickle me in a demented way. Then came Masters of Horror on Showtime. They aired 12 of the 13 movies, but the last one wasn’t allowed to air on Showtime. Wait, it’s Showtime, how can it not air? Well, it was deemed too extreme for American audiences. I don’t know if this was a marketing ploy, but I am guessing it was probably very real. It was lost money that they spent to make it and never get to air it. Either way, it created a stir. The internet was abuzz. Then we found out that it aired in other countries, and it got uploaded online. Now it was a race in 2006 to get your hands on it and see just what was deemed so horrible that Showtime, a premium channel, couldn’t show.
It finally downloaded at around 3:30-4 AM and I am like, I just have to see this because I’m insane. So I wake up and watch it in the dark. And there are visions that I cannot get out of my head, very vivid. Some things can’t be unseen. Don’t get me wrong, it is tame in some ways now, in some ways, in other ways, it still makes one cringe. So in my infinite wisdom, after seeing it and processing what I had just seen, I don’t know why, but when my mom woke up to go to the bathroom, I decided it was a perfect time for this: “I just saw one of the most bizarre films ever. You have to see this.” Well, I did get her to watch it later that day. Why would I subject my mom to this? I have no fucking clue. I’m not always right in the head apparently, but my mom always watched horror with me, so I had to show her.
I went into work that Monday, and on my break, I find my buddy Jay and I tell him about this film. He insists on me burning him a copy, so yeah, I was making copies left and right. People had to see it, and didn’t know how to take it. It was so weird, and unsettling to certain people. So without further adieu, I bring to you, Takashi Miike’s Imprint.
This stars Billy Drago as Christopher. In the 1800s, he comes to Japan to find his love, Komomo, who was a prostitute. He tracks down her last location and talks to another whore, only to find out that Komomo is dead. This story is about finding out about the horrors that happened to Komomo after he last visited. Let’s just say, she had a bad time.
I should point out that the acting is meant to be over the top, especially Drago’s. If you don’t get why, rewatch the film until you figure it out. The colors are also over the stop, very vivid. People really need to think about why things are the way they are presented in this. Everything was very intentional and meticulous. I have read that this also stays very true to the book. On top of that, Miike is a master at what he does.
So we have this story about how Komomo was the top whore and the other whores were jealous. She also stuck up for the whore Drago is talking to. The whore’s set out a plan to sabotage Komomo. They set her up to lead the head whore to believe that Komomo stole from her. So they hogtied her. They burn her armpits. Then they slide long pins down below her fingernails in exquisite detail. Then pins along her gums in her mouth. They hung her upside down and let her suffer. It was some of the most graphic torture scenes I have ever seen and they still hold up amazingly well. Komomo hangs herself.
But Drago isn’t buying this story. He demands the truth. We find out our whore the one who actually set up Komomo, and she also strangled her to death. She couldn’t handle her kindness, so this whore’s a straight-up bitch. And there’s more, so much more, but to write it down truly doesn’t do this unique film justice. I can see a lot of people just getting pissed off and or confused. To this day, I am still not 100% sure what the correct interpretation of the ending is. But the journey to get there, fucking A. By the by, 3 breasts!
In conclusion, this is not for the weak at heart. Trust me when I say this. If you are squeamish, avoid this. You can waste an hour doing something else. This is like a horror version of Mulholland Dr. It is definitely an absolute mindfuck, but it is very good, the colors are beautiful, and it’s a fun movie if you can handle it. I’ve seen this close to 10 times now. I give it a 6.8 because the things I liked about it, I truly loved. That may be too high for most of you, to which I say, for the general population, this would end up closer to 3.4. Watch some of Miike’s other films. They are pretty interesting.
Final Rating: 6.8
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- IDT Entertainment
- Industry Entertainment
- Kadokawa Herald Pictures
- Kadokawa Pictures
- Nice Guy Productions
- Reunion Pictures
Please go find a copy and support the creators.