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Friday, August 28, 2026

CYCLOPS (1987) Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

CYCLOPS (1987)

Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition

Label: Visual Vengeance

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 52 Minutes 20 Seconds

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37;1)
Director: Jôji Iida

Cast: Kai Atô, Mayumi Hasegawa, Yoshimasa Kondô, Kazuhiro Sano

The Japanese splatter-punk flick Cyclops (1987) is a grotesque slice of v-cinema (direct-to-video) gore that was the directorial debut of Jôji Iida (Spiral). In it we get a lengthy opening text blurb that establishes that due to enviormental contaminant and air pollutants children with hideous deformities have been born. While most die off young some survive and grow into adulthood. Doctor Keiichi Takozawa and his protégé Takamori (Kazuhiro Sano, Entrails of a Beautiful Woman) continues to study these mutations, which he believes are the next stage in human evolution. They have also developed a cell-therapy to create an outer skin that hides these mutations and deformities, allowing the mutants some form of normalcy. Dr. Takamori's younger sister Miyuki (Mayumi Hasegawa, The Nearest Place in the Sky) being one such mutant, however, when her best friend is abducted and killed after being suspected of being mutant, the teen struggles to maintain her "normal" visage as her mutant abilities start to emerge because of the stress that she is endured. Meanwhile, a one-eyed mutant Sonezaki (Kai Atô, Lady Snowblood) in disguise, looking sort of Terminator-ish, stalks her and attempts to kill Dr. Takamori's unborn mutant child.

Even at just 52-minutes long Cyclops is a slow-burn to start off, the scenes establishing the characters is a bit of a slog, but it does build a bit of momentum, before it culminates in a special effects extravaganza highlighting the deformed flesh and slimy transformations created by special effects artists Shuichi Kokumai (Guzoo: The Thing Forsaken by God - Part I) and Yuichi Matsui (Rusted Body: Guts of a Virgin III). The sequences which takes place inside of a hospital elevator and are absolutely unhinged, channeling the tendril terror of John Carpenter's The Thing and the extremem body-horror transformations of David Cronenberg's The Fly and Scanners. The sequence is chock full of inventive practical effects, including pulsating wounds, hideous transformation and plenty of gooey viscera. Once the breathtaking gory practical effects kick in the shortcomings of the previous 40-minutes are easily forgiven. Cyclops is a wild example of the sort of low-budget direct-to-video stuff coming out of Japan inthe mid to late '80s, wildly imaginative and in-your-face, chock full of pulsing veins and terrifying internal tendrils and appendages. If your a fan of low-budget, high impact body-horror this demented delight deserves a spot on your physical media collection.

Audio/Video: Cyclops (1987) makes its North American debut on any home video format by way of a region-free Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance sourced from a new 2K transfer from original 16mm film elements, framed in the original 1.33:1 fullscreen aspect ratio. The image is very pleasing with pleasing colors, there's a small amount of debris and grit to it, and some scenes lean a bit green, but generally I found this to be very pleasing with appreciable detail and texture in the close-ups, especially during the body horror-soaked finale with its barrage of practical effects chock full of ooze and slimy grotesqueries. If you've ever sought this Japanese v-cinema cult item out and had to endure murky VHS dupes or dodgy YouTube uploads you will be in for quite a treat, this film has bever looked better.

Audio comes by way of Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track sounds good, there's a small of low-level hiss discernible but it's pretty subtle stuff, once the screaming starts and the mutations emerge the track offers some nicely robust sound effects. It's not the most dynamic track but it does the trick just fine.

Extras include a new Audio Commentary with Justin Decloux of The important Cinema Club and Patrick Macias, author of Tokyoscope: the Japanese Cult Film Companion, the 54-min

No Compliance: New Interview with director Joji “George” Iida that runs nearly an hour as he talks about his influences and early films. Nexy, the 11-min Not in the Way Your Expect: The Films of Joji “George” Iida - Video Essay by Justin Decloux of The important Cinema Club, and the 11-min All the Monsters Are Here: The Japanese DTV Market of the Mid-80s - Video Essay, also with DeCloux. DeCloux is a is enthusiastic and knowledgeable presence as he discusses Iida's filmography, which is largely unknown to me, and he also talks about some notable v-cinema entries, which I appreciated, I wrote down the names of tons of films I'd bever heard of before so that I can seek them out. I've seen DeCloux show up on various releases from Film Masters, Cartuna, Bleeding Skull and Visual Vengeance through the years, a knowledgeable guy, but most importantly he's comes off as a wildly passion lover of low-budget cult cinema. We also get an Image Gallery and a Koji Yamamura Sketch Gallery with his terrific pencil sketches for the design elements of the "cyclops". Also includes are 3-min of Visual Vengeance Trailers for the low-budget gorefests The Screaming, The Abomination, and Colony Mutation.

The single-disc Blu-ray release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring artwork by James J. Krause, and the original Japanese VHS artwork on the reverse side. Inside there's a Folded Mini-Poster featuring original pressbook artwork.

The limited edition first-pressing also includes a couple of nifty exclusive packaging extras, beginning with one of the ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS Stickers sets, which loosk like a new variation, plus a 16-Page Illustrated Booklet with writing on the film by Christoph N. Kellerback, "She Is Not Yet Aware of Her Nature" A detailed Look at the Creation of Cyclops.

We also get a second 8-Page Illustrated Booklet, with the A (Short) Horror Trip by Nando Rohner, plus a Slipcover with exclusive artwork by art by Takashi “The Dude” Kondo.

Special Features:

- New 2K transfer from original 16mm film elements

- Commentary with Justin Decloux of The important Cinema Club and Patrick Macias, author of Tokyoscope: the Japanese Cult Film Companion

- No Compliance: New Interview with director Joji “George” Iida (53:48)

- Not In The Way Your Expect: The Films of Joji “George” Iida - Video Essay (10:42)

- All the Monsters Are Here: The Japanese DTV Market of the Mid-80s - Video Essay (10:58)

- Image gallery (1:26)

- Koji Yamamura Sketch Gallery (1:06)

- Visual Vengeance Trailers: The Screaming (1:00), The Abomination (1:02), Colony Mutation (0:47)

- Folded mini-poster featuring original pressbook art

- Reversible sleeve featuring original Japanese VHS art

- Optional English Subtitles