''aka'' ''Blind Beast vs. Killer Dwarf'' is a 2001 Japanese

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Teruo Ishii was a Japanese film director best known in the West for his early films in the ''Super Giant'' series, and for his films in the ''ero guro'' ("erotic-grotesque") subgenre of ''pinku eiga'' such as ''Shogun's Joy of Torture'' ( 1968). He also dire ...

in his final effort before his death, in 2005. Mieko Tanaka, elected to the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

in the

2009 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on August 30, 2009 to elect the 480 members of the House of Representatives. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) defeated the ruling coalition ( Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito Party) ...

, appears in a role that includes a

nude scene In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scene ...

. This precipitated a surge in its sales that year.tokyoreporter.com 2009/09/17
/ref>

Plot

While returning home after viewing an all-girls

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, dime-novel writer Monzo Kobayashi encounters a strange deformed

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

dressed in

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

garb carrying a woman's severed arm. Unnerved yet fascinated by the encounter, Monzō begins his own research into dwarfs including the mysterious samurai-clad man. Introduced to investigator Kogoro Akechi by an old friend, Monzō learns about a string of grisly murders involving the same man whom Monzō had encountered. As time wears on, Monzō's fascination soon becomes an obsession as he desperately tries to find the secret behind the murders and the strange man.

Cast

Lily Franky is a Japanese illustrator, writer and actor. He has appeared in more than 40 films since 2001. Career In 2016, Franky received the Cut Above Award for Outstanding Performance in Film at Japan Cuts JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film is a ...

as Monzō Kobayashi *

Shin'ya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker, film producer, screenwriter, editor, director, cinematographer, art director, production designer and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/ ...

Kogorō Akechi is a fictional private detective created by Japanese Mystery fiction, mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo. Overview Akechi first appeared in the story in January 1925 and continued to appear in stories for a quarter of a century. Edogawa Ranpo (a pse ...

* Hisayoshi Hirayama as Mōjuu / Blind Beast * Little Frankie as Issunbōshi / Dwarf * Mutsumi Fujita as Ranko Mizuki *

Reika Hashimoto is a Japanese model and actress. She is of Japanese-Spanish heritage. Her father is an American citizen of Spanish descent. She has been working as a model since she was 10, and her acting debut was in the 1999 movie '' Hakuchi'' (directed by M ...

as Yurie Yamano *

Tetsurō Tanba Tetsurō, Tetsuro, Tetsurou or Tetsuroh (written: 哲郎, 哲朗, 鉄郎, 徹郎 or テツロー in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese anime director *, Japane ...

as Dr. Tange * Kenpachirō Satsuma as Yasukawa, the doll-maker

Release

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Panik House Entertainment on August 22, 2006. It was later released by

Synapse Films Synapse Films is an American DVD and Blu-ray label, founded in 1997 and specializing in cult horror, science fiction and exploitation films. History Synapse Films was owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler a ...

on September 29, 2009.

References

External links

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Japanese Movie Database The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...