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52%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #9,878
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Two police detectives Numata and Tosaka infiltrate a group of underground black market human organ dealers. Things go haywire during a raid on the group's surgical headquarters. Numata barely escapes, while a wounded Tosaka gets left behind. Through a series of surreal and gory events, the identities of the organ dealers are revealed as Numata plans his revenge.
--IMDb
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Review by Tristan
Added: July 3, 2008
Keeping with my running theme of Asian cinema reviews, I felt it was time to dive into something that wasn't as fluffy and light as some of my latest. You can only watch so many action-comedies and action-horrors before you need something a little darker. When it comes to dark, sadistic horror films, the Japanese just have it down pat. Guinea Pig, the Entrails films, Red Room, all of these are perfect examples of how twisted and downright awful film can get. Most people dismiss these as vile and repulsive pieces of garbage, but judging by how many companies seem to snatch them up and release them on DVD, there is definitely an audience out there. I have no qualms about being in this audience, and films like this are a way for people such as myself to enjoy the darker side of cinema.
Police officers Numata and Tosaka are working day and night to bust a small ring of organ sellers from providing organs to the black market. One night it seems like their sting operation is a success, until everything goes terribly wrong and Tosaka is kidnapped by the very people he is trying to bring to justice. He is promptly operated upon, and right in front of Numata, no less. After escaping and losing his job with the police, Numata is unable to deal with the loss of his partner, so he drunkenly wanders the streets, looking for the men who ruined his life. At the same time, one of the surgeons from the organ ring is holding down a job as a high school biology teacher, and is hiding the body of Tosaka in his lab. I guess in Japan, keeping a body alive in a laboratory isn't so far fetched. Anyway he keeps him alive by murdering young virgin girls in his school, and using their blood to sustain Tosaka. Okay, now that's a little far fetched for my tastes. So with the police investigating into the missing girls, and Numata bent on avenging his partner's "death" it all comes together in a very entertaining and somewhat surprising ending.
If you were a gorehound looking for some of the infamous Japanese splatter cinema, you've come to the right place. If you're looking for a coherent storyline, believable acting, or any other kind of entertainment besides the red stuff, keep walking. I found this movie to be so boring, I fell asleep a few minutes in and had to start again from the beginning to see what I'd missed. No movie should put you out at 3:30 pm. It didn't have to be boring mind you, which is probably why I'm so disappointed with this one. The visuals, while poorly edited, were truly stunning. Kei Fujiwara was able to use the blood and violence in this film in the same way an artist uses brushes and paint. It was an art form, and even the most hideous and vile things seemed beautiful and majestic. I know that for a film of this nature, these words seem very out of place, but so does a female director. That's probably the only thing that managed to save this film. That and the score, which I found to be equally moving. At times it was mellow and soothing, others it was thrashy and industrial. If I had to describe it, I'd say it was some sort of Nine Inch Nails / Brian Eno hybrid. Odd combination yes, but it worked very well for this movie.
I can't even begin to explain how much of a letdown this movie was. When you purchase a box set entitled Asian Cult Cinema: Extreme Horror Collection, you figure you can't do much better. While two of the titles in it are classics that I've seen several times, Organ interested me the most, as I'd read stories about it's extreme gore and violence. It had its fair share of violence and gore, yes, but these scenes were few and far between and certainly not enough to save a film just short of two hours in length. My biggest complaint was the editing, which was so atrocious it's disgraceful to film. Half of the scenes in the movie were cut short by a second or two with the character still in mid sentence. There were times where I wasn't able to read all the subtitles due to this same problem. I'm sure plenty of you out there have watched a film that was either subtitled or dubbed. Personally I prefer subtitles, but there are people out there who don't mind hearing audio that doesn't line up with the mouths. This brings me to my next point, something I thought hadn't been done since audio was first introduced to film. For nearly 90% of this movie, characters would speak, scream, or groan in pain without once moving their lips. Either these people would be phenomenal ventriloquists, or they cut some serious costs by doing all the audio in post. Whatever the case may be, it was highly annoying, and half the time you didn't know who was supposed to be talking. Couple this with poor acting and a confusing, disjointed storyline, and you've got all the makings of a bad movie.
I can't in good conscience recommend this film. It wasn't very entertaining, and it was too confusing and poorly edited to follow along thoroughly. It isn't even one of those films where you miss a few minutes and you'll never catch up. A few seconds after the movie opens you're already confused, and when the credits start rolling you're just as lost as you were to begin with. Maybe it's the actors' faults, maybe it's the director's. When your only claim to fame is one of the leads in Shinya Tsukamoto's cyberpunk classic Tetsuo, maybe you shouldn't dabble with the fine art of Japanese splatter films. Kei Fujiwara took a chance with this film, and unfortunately fell flat on her face. Maybe her other film Id is better, but until I get a chance to watch it, all I have to go by is this little abomination. So what I've come up with is this: a point for the gore, a point for the visuals - the cocooning/birthing sequence is still stuck in my head, and a point for the soundtrack. If my math serves me correctly, that means I'm giving this film a 3/10. I must really be feeling generous today.
3/10.
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