May 18, 2006

FIRST LOOK: Takashi Miike’s IMPRINT (May. 06) by Jsyn.

As some of you may already know, Asian film maker Takashi Miike had his episode of Masters Of Horror pulled from the season because it was deemed “too disturbing” by the powers that be over at Showtime. Miike was pretty “meh” about the whole ruckus while his yankee fans cried foul. Frankly, I’m sure he wasn’t surprised the episode was pulled and we’re going to get a special edition dvd of his episode later in the year anyway, so it’s not like we’re totally missing out.

If you’re reading this, I probably don’t need to explain who Takashi Miike is or what his work is like. For the uninitiated, let’s just say the guy is arguably the most “extreme” film maker on the planet. And by “extreme” I mean, “Holy Fucking Shit What The Fuck Am I Fucking Watching I Need A Shower And Then Maybe Church” extreme film making. The man is a mad genius from a strange land and most people (especially us Westerners) simply cannot handle his work. Go rent AUDITION and see for yourself.

Bravo channel recentley aired the uncut episode in the UK, entitled “Imprint”. It’s about an American (played by Billy Drago) who travels to an “island of whores and demons” somewhere in Japan to search for his long lost love he had to leave behind, but promised to come back for. What he finds, or more suitably what finds him, is the stuff of nightmares. I absolutley do not want to give anything away, so I have prepared some short and sweet bullet points.

Q: Was it any good?

A: Dude, it was fucking awesome. Honestly the best MOH episode out of the bunch. Those other directors in the series, aside from Argento and Stuart Gordon, should really think long and hard about what they need to do next season, ’cause this really just took a big steaming pile on who we consider “Masters of Horror”.

Q: Was it gross?

A: My God, YES! Eww!

Q: C’mon, was it really THAT gross? I mean, we’ve seen grosser, right?

A: Um, yeah it was that gross! When something is so gross that it’s just plain wrong, then yeah, it’s geee-rosss!

Q: Was it in English?

A: Disturbingly so, yes.

Q: How was it compared to his THREE… EXTREMES piece, “Box”?

A: I honestly dug “Imprint” more. It had all the beauty of “Box” with the grossness of “Audition”. Classic Miike.

(I know I keep talking about AUDITION. You’ll see why…)

Q: Did it make any sense?

A: I think so, I’m not really sure… I guess it did. Who cares? It was cool as Hell, it freaked me out and was extremely well made, so that’s all that matters in my humble opinion. Miike’s films are like sushi… not everyone who tries it likes it, and sometimes people’s tastes change and they aquire a taste for it. Then you get a wicked craving for it and you want it all the time.

Q: Anything else you can say about it?

A: When Billy Drago, whom I am convinced either lives in a cave or in one of those big metal trucking containers, is the most normal thing in the episode, we are all in for a treat! Inspired casting choice, by the way.

It’s a great episode. Totally twisted and bizarre as fuck. You sickos out there are gonna love it. I can’t wait for that dvd! – Jsyn.