Blind Beast

“Blind Beast” has to be one of the most bizarre movies I’ve ever seen.  It follows the story of Aki, a successful if controversial model, who is abducted by the blind sculptor Michio and his mother.  The pair take Aki to Michio’s warehouse studio, where things really start to get weird.  See the walls are covered with sculptures of body parts: eyes, ears, arms, legs, lips, and breasts.  Not to mention there are giant sculptures of nude female bodies rising out of the floor.   Michio explains that he has brought Aki there to make a sculpture of her, because her body is the most unique he’s come across.  He goes into a lot of off putting things about the wonders of touch and tactile stimulation.

Trust me the movie only gets weirder from there.  Two “s” words I never thought would go together collide during the course of the movie: Stockholm Syndrome (a hostage falling in love with their captor) and sadomasochism.  It descends into a bizarre love affair between captor and captive.  At first Aki tries to seduce Michio to escape but then eventually falls in love with him for real…

…which is when the first “s” word gives way to the second.  I won’t go into any more detail other than to say what follows is utterly shocking and creepy.  Some of the creepiest stuff I’ve seen in my entire life.  Even more amazing?  The creep factor is only achieved by hints and suggestions.

In fact that is the way the entire movie was filmed: hints and suggestions.  It rarely came out directly and said anything, yet oddly at the same time didn’t beat around the bush either.  There is no graphic gore or sexuality: only enough to make the viewer incredibly uncomfortable. There is nudity, but really only soft core nudity.  No it is the ideas that the movie puts forward, these ideas of the world of touch, that give it its power.  It gives the barest glimpse into a world most of us never explore, even in our most adventurous moments.  In a lot of ways this movie reminds me of Hellraiser, although Hellraiser was more in your face about the sexuality and gore.  Both movies had similar themes though: exploring the edges of human experience

I heartily recommend this movie to the horror fanatic.  It’s bizarre, creepy, and just plain unsettling through and through.  This isn’t a gore fest, nor is it a movie that will likely keep you up for nights on end.  But what it does do is shock, even if subtly, and leave you very, very uncomfortable.  I can almost guarentee when the end credits roll you will think:  “What the Hell did I just watch?”

And isn’t that the hallmark of any good horror movie?