Arrow Video Brings Japanese Exploitation Film BLIND BEAST to American Audiences on Blu-ray

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Submitted by Stu Moran on Wed, 09/15/2021 - 11:41

Director Yasuzo Masumura brings to you his adaptation of Edogawa Rampo’s classic short story, Blind Beast, in all the horrific imagery that will leave some in shock at the grotesque portrayal of a blind sculptor and his next masterpiece.

A young model named Aki (Mako Midori) is abducted and finds herself held captive in a literal house of horrors, surrounded by severed body parts of women and giant statues of disembodied limbs (and other, shall we say ‘questionable’ body parts). Her abductor Michio (Eiji Funakoshi) introduces himself to her and lets it be known that she will be his next work of art.

Aki recognizes Michio from a previous encounter with the blind sculptor. She is, at first, defiant and fights to be set free; but she later succumbs to his advances and submits herself to his sightless world, allowing herself to be taken in to his lifelong ambition to perfect the female form thru his art.

Intense imagery and tone surround the film, making it much more of an art piece unto itself rather than the sexploitation and grindhouse ‘pinkie’ film that it was marketed under back when it was released in 1969. Haunting and dreamlike at times, the viewer can see both sides of this tale, thru the eyes of Aki and the touch of Michio.

Arrow Video packs this first ever Blu-ray release of Blind Beast with the following special features:

High-Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio
Optional English subtitles
Brand new audio commentary by Asian cinema scholar Earl Jackson
Newly filmed introduction by Japanese cinema expert Tony Rayns
Blind Beast: Masumura the Supersensualist, a brand-new visual essay by Japanese literature and visual studies scholar Seth Jacobowitz
Original Trailer
Image Gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Virginie Sélavy

The themes of this film are extremely rough and will be very hard for many film fans to watch through to the end. Packed with all the violence and nudity that ‘pinkie’ films of this era were best known for, Blind Beast is not a first date film by any means, but is a must-have for any collector of Japanese cinema or grindhouse horror fans.

Grade:

2.5 / 5.0