Horrors of the Malformed Men (1969) 7/10

Horrors of the Malformed Men is the notorious film from director Teruo Ishii banned in its native Japan. The film was recently found, remastered and finally released in America for the first time. The film had a short run in theatres in Japan until public outcry demanded its ban. The film was rarely seen thereafter and was kept in a private vault. Because of its history the film grew and grew in infamy so now we can finally see what all the hub-bub is about.

The film chronicles a man working as an intern at a hospital and is mistakenly taken for a mental patient. While in the mental ward, he is attacked by a mysterious bald man, but kills his attacker in the scuffle. He escapes from the hospital and finds out that a local wealthy family's patriarch has recently passed away that looks identical to him. He then poses as the resurrected patriarch to hopefully discover information about his unknown past. He discovers that his father has been living in seclusion on an island for nearly 30 years. He decides to go to the island and meet with the man only to find out that in those 30 years he has kidnapped several children, intentionally deforming them to create an army to take over the country.

As you might imagine there's alot going on here and the film feels like theres too much story being crammed into the run time but having said that the film does move at a quick pace and rarely slows down. The real question is, did it deserve to be banned? By today's standards the film fairly tame though still disturbing. This is one of the unique films that really can't be cut down to tame it. The themes and overall mood of the film ooze malice therefore simply cutting certain scenes would only result in confusion rather then toning down the shock value.

The film is great for Japanese film buffs searching for unique cinema but for the rest of us its compelling but doesn't meet the expectations set by the years of obscurity and infamy

Gore - mild

Nudity - some

Overall - 7/10