6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
High demand for tattooed geisha generates an entire industry for their production. Europeans pay more for tattooed beauties. Gorgeous tattooed women lead to a history of confrontation between two highly skilled masters of tattoo.
Starring: Teruo Yoshida, Asao Koike, Yumiko Katayama, Haruo Tanaka, Tôru YuriForeign | 100% |
Horror | 45% |
Drama | 13% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Japanese: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In one of those weird coincidences that sometime accrue in the annals of film history, two movies with tattoos at the center of their stories opened within just a few weeks of each other in spring of 1969. The Illustrated Man appeared first, offering a kind of portmanteau science fiction effort culled from a well regarded set of stories by Ray Bradbury about a man whose body is covered in tattoos (or “skin illustrations”, as he insists on calling them), with each drawing alluding to a different tale (the film only adapted a trio of Bradbury’s larger work). A few weeks after The Illustrated Man had debuted, and probably well after The Illustrated Man had already departed from United States movie houses if not global cineplexes due to its less than rapturous response by both critics and audiences, Teruo Ishii’s Inferno of Torture opened in Japan, just the latest in Ishii’s so called “Joys of Torture” series. There’s no science fiction content in Ishii’s film, which probably goes without saying, as the film takes place in the nineteenth century and involves a hapless woman named Yumi (Yumika Katayama) who is forced to go to “work” as a geisha girl in order to satisfy an unpaid debt. Unfortunately, Yumi finds that she has actually consigned herself to near slavery in a brothel run by (among others) an imperious Madam named Otatsu (Mieko Fujimoto). The brothel caters to Western clients and one of the “specialties” it offers is that the women are all variously tattooed, something that is depicted as being evidently very appealing to prospective customers.
Inferno of Torture is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only the following fairly generic verbiage about the transfer:
Inferno of Torture [ Tokugawa irezumi-shi: Seme jigoku ] is presented in its original aspect ration of 2.35:1 with mono audio. The film was restored by Toei with additional picture remastering by R3Store Studios, London.From a damage standpoint, this release is commendably free of any larger signs of age related wear and tear, though eagle eyed videophiles may catch sight of brief distractions like flecks or hairs in the gate. The palette looks just a little skewed toward yellow to me, with reds ending up looking slightly orangish at times. Densities and saturation are generally solid, and aside from a few opticals and effects shots, the grain field is well resolved. There are a few passing moments that look a bit softer and dupier than the bulk of the presentation (see screenshot 18). In close-ups, fine detail is typically quite good.
Inferno of Torture features a serviceable LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original Japanese (with optional English subtitles). This is a pretty dialogue heavy film, and as such the mono track suffices perfectly well. There are occasional moments of underscore and sound effects, and at least a few ardent screams of anguish along the way, but the track, while narrow and not especially deep sounding, provides all elements without any issues.
If you've seen some of Ishii's other "Joys of Torture" outings, you'll be more prepared for some of the carnage than newcomers, but I have to say I think this film could have been quite enticing, and arguably more enticing, without any of the bodily harm interludes, since its bizarre tale of "dueling" tattoo artists in an already dissolute Edo period is fascinating on its face (and/or back, as the case may be). There's quite a bit in this film which frankly didn't make total sense to me (to cite just one of several examples, who is the boy/young man seen lying on the floor next to Yumi when she's about to be forced to join the brothel?), but Ishii once again crafts an almost hallucinatory offering that is provocative if occasionally a little on the silly side (my favorite scene in that regard is the kind of almost "pirate fight" between topless tattooed women on a boat). Technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package, while not huge, very interesting, for those considering a purchase.
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