 Dir. Shin’ya Tsukamoto, 67 mins That plot summary doesn’t really do this movie justice. By the time you’ve thrown in a superb, driving industrial soundtrack you have something visually arresting with real pace, strong performances and an unusual style rarely seen before or since. This one kept me – ahem – riveted throughout and left a real impression, I know. I know. Just last week you were asking yourself how on earth I’d omitted Begotten from the five-plus years of reviews, and this week I roll up with Tetsuo: The Iron Man. What sort of extreme and cult horror film reviewer do you call yourself if you haven’t reviewed this movie, I hear you cry! Well, today I shall be putting that right with a look at this industrial cult hit of the late eighties. To provide a bit of background, Tetsuo: The Iron Man builds on Tsukamoto’s earlier short films in theme and style, and was made with money saved up by the director from his day job. The shoot took place over eighteen months, with many of the cast becoming frustrated and burned out towards the end of proceedings – although I can’t honestly say that bleeds into what we see on screen. No doubt the movie is made on a low budget, but I was pleasantly surprised just how fresh it looked, and how impressive the special effects were for a movie that is now over 30 years old – the black and white colour scheme and stop motion no doubt do something to hide the shortcomings the visual FX might have had. Like Begotten, the black and white actually adds to the feel rather than detracting, fitting the metallic tones of the piece here. The story itself is presented in quite a complex fashion, with numerous flashbacks and switches in time, and this again adds to the surreal atmosphere. Our cast is unnamed, titled more by characteristics, and the plot begins as Metal Fetishist (played by the director himself) is flattened in the middle of the road by a distracted Salaryman (Tomorowo Taguchi). His revenge is to transform the Salaryman into a nightmarish abomination of metal and flesh, with this dark transformation taking place throughout the film. It features a host of very well-delivered body horror scenes, including a few scenes with his girlfriend with dark sexual undercurrents, and a number of bizarre dream sequences to boot. What ultimately transpires is a battle between the Metal Fetishist and the Salaryman, all shot in striking stop motion – a cleverly selected device for those specific scenes. That plot summary doesn’t really do this movie justice. By the time you’ve thrown in a superb, driving industrial soundtrack you have something visually arresting with real pace, strong performances and an unusual style rarely seen before or since. This one kept me – ahem – riveted throughout and left a real impression, with key scenes whirling around in my head ever since, and I came away really satisfied as a viewer. It may be tight at 67 minutes, but much longer and that relentless tempo and wild imagery may have started to lag – definitely a case of less is more here. There’s two sequels to this one, and based on this gloriously overblown first offering I’ll certainly be seeking those out soon. RATING: 9.5/10. I almost, almost went for the full 10 here, but there was the odd scene that slightly lost me so I just held it back a touch for that. But Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a movie with a bold visual style and a fascinatingly dark and surreal story to tell. The performances are strong and committed, and I was especially struck with just how well the effects still help up all these years on – the stylistic choices certainly seem to have enabled them to hold their impact. This is well worth going out of your way to check out if you haven’t yet, especially for fans of cyberpunk, science-fiction horror and body horror. By Alex Davis   the heart and soul of Horror movie review websites |
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