Blind Beast Review

Blind Beast
A sculptor and his mother kidnap a model and takes her back to their house which is a shrine to the senses. At first repulsed, she soon succumbs to his vision.

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

01 Jan 2001

Running Time:

86 minutes

Certificate:

18

Original Title:

Blind Beast

A late-'60s exercise in bizarro sado-erotica from Japanese director Yasuzo Masumura, based on a tale by Edogawa Rampo, this entry in the Collector/Misery-style sub-genre of abduction-themed psychodrama is about a blind masseur-cum-sculptor (Eiji Funakoshi) who — with the aid of his doting mother (Noriko Sengoku) — kidnaps a model (Mako Midori) who specialises in bondage photo-shoots. The most memorable aspect is the main setting: a warehouse complete with two huge prone female nude statues that the characters crawl over, and walls devoted to specific body parts (noses, lips, breasts etc.). All the abduction staples are trotted out — thwarted escape attempts, the kidnapee seducing (or genuinely falling for) her abductor, the accomplice who gets jealous, more and more extreme sex acts. Very weird.

You've probably seen stranger fare since, but as an example of Japanese '60s weirdness it has yet to be topped.
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