For a fan of gore and sleazy themes - Takashi Miike's MASTERS OF HORROR entry, IMPRINT, is chock-full of a lot of the stuff that I dig in films. Miike has never been one that's scared to tread on "rough" territory, and this short film is another bit of proof that he doesn't look to be "selling-out" any time soon. That said - there were still enough problems with IMPRINT for me to give it an excellent rating.
Billy Drago plays Christopher, an American searching for his lost love in 1800s Japan. His wanderings bring him to an island full of brothels where he hopes to find Komomo - his lovely young hooker that he had promised to bring back to the States. Unable to locate her, he decides to spend the night in the company of a seemingly sweet but facially disfigured prostitute who claims to have known Komomo. Deep into his sake and seeking a bit of rest, Christopher implores the whore to tell him a story about her life. The hooker agrees, and begins to weave horrid and gruesome tales about her upbringing - and of the fate of Komomo...
The controversy of the film being pulled from the MASTERS OF HORROR line-up is pretty well deserved, as there are definitely a few scenes that I could see the suits at Showtime getting all sweaty about. The scenes of strong torture along with the themes of abortion and implied pedophilia probably caused quite a stir in the board-room. That said, IMPRINT is still flawed to the point that I can't give it an excellent rating. Drago is a bit wooden and his "emotional displays" come off as forced. The real "resolution" to the film (which plays out a bit like Frank Henenlotter's BASKET CASE) feels out of place and was an unwanted bit of unintentional humor in an otherwise dark and twisted film. Whoever thought up the make-up FX for the last scenes involving the disfigured whore and her "sister" should be shot. Unfortunately, these elements dropped the overall production down by several points in my book, which is a shame as I liked the rest of the film so much. Strong torture, a plethora of aborted fetuses, twisted pedophilia and incest themes - the bulk of the film really is a sleaze-lover's delight, but the prostitute's "revelation" just killed it for me. Otherwise, a solid entry that is definitely worth a look - I'm sure some won't have as big a problem with the ending as I did...7.5/10
Billy Drago plays Christopher, an American searching for his lost love in 1800s Japan. His wanderings bring him to an island full of brothels where he hopes to find Komomo - his lovely young hooker that he had promised to bring back to the States. Unable to locate her, he decides to spend the night in the company of a seemingly sweet but facially disfigured prostitute who claims to have known Komomo. Deep into his sake and seeking a bit of rest, Christopher implores the whore to tell him a story about her life. The hooker agrees, and begins to weave horrid and gruesome tales about her upbringing - and of the fate of Komomo...
The controversy of the film being pulled from the MASTERS OF HORROR line-up is pretty well deserved, as there are definitely a few scenes that I could see the suits at Showtime getting all sweaty about. The scenes of strong torture along with the themes of abortion and implied pedophilia probably caused quite a stir in the board-room. That said, IMPRINT is still flawed to the point that I can't give it an excellent rating. Drago is a bit wooden and his "emotional displays" come off as forced. The real "resolution" to the film (which plays out a bit like Frank Henenlotter's BASKET CASE) feels out of place and was an unwanted bit of unintentional humor in an otherwise dark and twisted film. Whoever thought up the make-up FX for the last scenes involving the disfigured whore and her "sister" should be shot. Unfortunately, these elements dropped the overall production down by several points in my book, which is a shame as I liked the rest of the film so much. Strong torture, a plethora of aborted fetuses, twisted pedophilia and incest themes - the bulk of the film really is a sleaze-lover's delight, but the prostitute's "revelation" just killed it for me. Otherwise, a solid entry that is definitely worth a look - I'm sure some won't have as big a problem with the ending as I did...7.5/10
