BIFFF: RAMPO NOIR (RANPO JIGOKU), an omnibus horror movie directed by Suguru Takeuchi, Akio Jissôji
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The omnibus horror movie Rampo Noir (Ranpo jigoku) is scheduled to be screened at the 24th Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (BIFFF) in Belgium on March 13th at 8:00 p.m. (20.00) and March 14th at 10:30 p.m. (22.30). Albatros K.K. (Arubatorosu K.K.) released the movie theatrically in Japan on November 5th of last year.
Rampo Noir is comprised of four stories, all of which are based on short stories by Tarô Hirai (1894-1965) - better known by the pen name "Edogawa Ranpo". Here are synopses for those stories:
"Mars Canal" ("Kasei no unga"): directed by Suguru Takeuchi; screenplay by Suguru Takeuchi; starring Tadanobu Asano, Kaiji Moriyama, and shan. Synopsis: "A naked man (Tadanobu Asano) wanders through a depressing landscape, finding only dried ground and a bleak sky. He is drawn to the edge of a swamp. Gazing in, he sees the reflection of a snow white figure, identical to a former lover. He lets his mind recall the excruciating details of his last encounter with her...."
"Mirror Hell" ("Kagami jigoku"): directed by Akio Jissôji; screenplay by Akio Satsukawa; starring Hiroki Narimiya, Tadanobu Asano, Mikako Ichikawa, Tomoya Nakamura, and Minori Terada. Synopsis: "A series of women are discovered with their faces burnt and skulls charred. Detective Akechi (Tadanobu Asano) investigates and discovers that a hand mirror created by the handsome Toru (Hiroki Narimiya) is always found at the scene of the death.
Toru makes old fashioned mirrors for a living. He is obsessed with mirrors and reflections, which seem to him like portals to another world. Women are unnaturally attracted to Toru, and the dead women were his regular customers. Detective Akechi knows he must have some connection to the mysterious deaths, despite his convincing alibis. Meanwhile, Toru makes plans to create the ultimate mirror - a project that threatens to drive him insane...."
"Caterpillar" ("Imomushi"): directed by Hisayasu Satô; screenplay by Shirô Yumeno; starring Ryûhei Matsuda, Yukiko Okamoto, Hanae Kan, Tadanobu Asano, and Nao Ômori. Synopsis: "Lieutenant Sunaga (Nao Omori) returns from the war a hero, but he has lost arms and legs as well as his ability to speak or hear. Only his eyesight remains. His beautiful wife, Tokiko, (Yukiko Okamoto) cares for him dutifully at first, but soon feels bored and disgusted by the task. She begins to torture her crippled husband with increasing cruelty. Artist Taro Hirai (Ryuhei Matsuda) spies on the couple from the garret above.
A Detective Kogoro Akechi (Tadanobu Asano) receives a film depicting amputated limbs preserved in jars, with a disturbing message from someone called "The Man with 20 Faces" and links the Sunaga couple to his case. As Akechi pursues his investigation, the beautiful Tokiko prepares to make an ultimate sacrifice for her husband...."
"Crawling Bugs" ("Mushi"): directed by Atsushi Kaneko; screenplay by Atsushi Kaneko; starring Tadanobu Asano, Tamaki Ogawa, and Hiromasa Taguchi. Synopsis: "Sexy, hip and mysterious, actress Fuyou Kinoshita (Tamaki Ogawa) returns home from a successful night on stage. Still dressed in her fabulous costume, she admires herself in a compact mirror. On the drive home, she receives a phone call from her lover and agrees to make a detour to their secret hideaway and wait for his arrival. As she waits, she senses an unnerving presence in the room....
Fuyou's limousine driver, Aizo Masaki, (Tadanobu Asano) is used to these little detours. Quiet and strange, Aizo also has a bizarre allergy that has him almost constantly scratching. He recalls finding Fuyou's hair ornament while cleaning the limo, and this brings to mind the nights he has spent watching her kinky sex games through the window as he waited to drive her home. It's all become a bit much for the reserved Aizo, and he comes up with a plan to make Fuyou his forever...."
For more information on Rampo Noir, see ScreenAnarchy's ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.
Rampo Noir trailer (Japanese w/ English subtitles; downloadable 9.5 MB WMV file)
Rampo Noir trailer (Japanese w/o subtitles; streaming Windows Media)
Rampo Noir official website
BIFFF: Rampo Noir (English)
