Watches
April 30, 2016
A film that could've been directed by Teruo Ishii (he made the sequel) and feels like a spiritual predecessor to the work of Takashi Ishii. If that doesn't ring a bell, it means you'll be watching the darker and kinkier side of Japanese cinema. Sadly, Masumura didn't fully deliver, especially not in the first half.
Aki is a nude model who did some work for an exposition. On the day of the opening, a blind man comes along and touches Aki's statue. She feels a little uncomfortable, but forgets about the incident. When she orders a masseur a couple of days later, the same blind man shows up on her doorstep.
The first 45 minutes of Blind Beast are pretty tough. Performances are very mediocre, and the artsy decors look a little cheap. Once it reaches the halfway point the film gets a bit darker and freakier, though it can't quite compete with the films of Ishii. At least the second half has some appeal. Not quite the classic I was hoping for, but it wasn't all bad either.