Arrow Video Releasing Rampo Noir

[Ignatius]

It's a mixed bag, and not hugely memorable overall. The Akio Jissoji segment is the best, fairly middling from a dramatic standpoint but filled with fascinating and complex shots where the frame is filled with mirrors. The Hisayasu Satō segment is nothing special but interesting to see him attempt something more arty, away from his usual violent pink style. Everything else is pretty forgettable imo.

I wasn't a huge fan of it but honestly there's something nice about seeing some Hisayasu Satō getting a fancy Blu-ray release. Unlikely it'll lead to a fancy restored boxset of his best pink films but a guy can dream.

[BW Haggar]

I was really excited for a minute when I saw this, thinking it might be a box set containing some of the many '60s/'70s Rampo adaptations which have yet to receive a blu-ray release... but sadly not.

As it is though - huh. Anyone seen this? Any good?

[Ian Jane]

Coming from Arrow Video on 1/7/25.

Four filmmakers from completely different backgrounds bring their radically personal takes to the stories of Japan's celebrated master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo (Horrors of Malformed Men, Blind Beast).

In "Mars's Canal", by music video director and visual artist Suguru Takeuchi, a lone man encounters the other side of his psyche beyond the reflective surface of a circular pond set in a desolate landscape. Japanese New Wave auteur and longtime director of the Ultraman series Akio Jissoji harnesses his distinctive stylistic sheen in his story of a mad mirror maker, "Mirror Hell". "Caterpillar" sees the singular vision of cult director Hisayasu Sato at its most grotesque, in his portrait of a wounded war veteran who returns from the frontline as little more than a bloody torso, helpless to defend himself against the increasingly perverted caprices of an embittered wife. Finally, a famous actor is subjected to the obsessive attentions of her limo driver in "Crawling Bugs", the directorial debut of internationally acclaimed manga artist Atsushi Kaneko.

Produced by the same team behind Ichi the Killer and Uzumaki, and with a cast featuring some of Japan' top stars, including Tadanobu Asano (Maboroshi, Silence) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Blue Spring, Gohatto), Rampo Noir is a stylistic tour-de-force that vividly evokes the "erotic grotesque" worlds created by Japan's pioneering proponent of horror and mystery fiction.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

HD Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Original lossless Japanese stereo audio
Optional newly translated English subs
New commentary by Japanese film experts Jasper Sharp and Alexander Zahlten
Another World, a new interview with Suguru Takeuchi, director of “Mars’s Canal”
A Moving Transformation, a new interview with Hisayasu Sato, director of “Caterpillar”
Butterfly Queen, a new interview with Atsushi Kaneko, manga artist and director of “Crawling Bugs”
Hall of Mirrors, a new interview with cinematographer Masao Nakabori about working with Akio Jissoji and “Mirror Hell”
The Butterfly Effect, a new interview with Akiko Ashizawa, the cinematographer of “Caterpillar”
Looking in the Mirror, a new interview with actor Yumi Yoshiyuki about “Mirror Hell”
Archive stage greeting footage with the cast and directors from the Japanese premiere of Rampo Noir
Crossing the Lens, a feature-length making-of documentary by Tatsuya Fukushima from 2006
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Eugene Thacker and Seth Jacobowitz