VILLAGE OF DOOM (1983)
Label: Unearthed Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 105 Minutes 40 Seconds
Audio: Japanese PCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Director: Noboru Tanaka
Cast: Masato Furuoya, Kumiko Ôba, Isao Natsuyagi
Village of Doom (1983) is a Japanese true crime story that tells the tale of the infamous Tsuyama Massacre, a revenge killing spree that occurred on the night of May 21st 1938 in the rural village of Kamo near Tsuyama in Okayama Prefecture. In the film Tsugio Inumaru (Masato Furuoya) is a 21-year-old man who lives with his grandmother, having been orphaned at a young age. He is known around the village as the "genius", he's mild-mannered and has plans to becoming a teacher, but he dreams of enlisting in the military to serve his country. However, after being diagnosed with tuberculosis he is denied entry, and becomes increasingly distraught and depressed about. He often wanders the village at night, and through his strolls ends up sleeping with a couple of the village women whose husbands are off at war, and lonely, and welcome him into their beds. It here that you can clearly see the influence of director Noboru Tanaka who was known for his Nikkatsu’s roman porno flicks, there's a lot of psycho-sexual happenings here with Tsugio indulging in this newfound sexual fervor.
Despite this sexual awakening he begins to feel increasingly ostracized by his fellow villagers, and even the women eventually turn away from him, even his cousin Yasuyo (Misako Tanaka), whom he has mutually expressed romantic interest in, ends up marrying his best friend. Frustrated and lonely he starts to plan a massacre at the village, literally mapping out a plan of attack that includes cutting the power to the village. After an altercation with his former best friends local authorities recognize him as a potential threat and confiscate a cash of ammunition and weapons they find at his home, but he secretly amasses a new cache of weapons including a shotgun, a Japanese sword and axe. The night of the tragic massacre he dons a makeshift light-hat, cut the power, and goes door-to-door murdering over 30 villagers whom he has felt have wronged him in recent times, including his own grandmother, decapitating her first so that she won't have to face the shame of his actions later.
To this day the deadly attack remains the deadliest mass murder spree in Japanese history, and it would be easy to make a film that painted him as just evil-incarnate, but it's slightly more shaded than that. He starts off as someone who seems to be on the right path, but tragedy and loss in his life have scarred him. His psycho-sexual escapades around town seem to chip away at his moral compass, and when he is diagnosed with tuberculosis, after he is not only denied entry into the military, but which cause the women of the village turn away from him. He goes off the deep end, mired in despair and anguish, ultimately resulting in the violent and deadly massacre.
The film has a bit of slow-burn build to it, but the sexual escapades in the middle add some vitality to it, and the final 30-minutes which show the massacre are quite shocking and well-done. Something I found interesting was the exploration the ancient custom of "yobai" aka night-crawling, which I was not familiar with when I tossed this on, but apparently it's an obscure coming-of age ritual wherein single young men would enter a house unannounced and engage in consensual sex with young women. I found it very strange indeed. The flick ultimately humanizes the killer, while not exactly condoning what transpired, but offering a tragic character study of a young man who feels left out and left behind, who finds his aspirations falling away from him, and who resorts to horrific spree of nocturnal violence and in the end, suicide.
Audio/Video: Village of Doom (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from Unearthed Films as part of their Unearthed Classics line-up, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. It generally looks quite good, colors are pleasing and black levels are strong, while occasionally looking milky or leaning green, but otherwise this looks terrific. Audio comes by way of Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, the Japanese dialogue sounds natural and the unusually anachronistic score by Masanori Sasaji sounds just fine.
Bonus features include an Audio commentary by Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder; the 15-min Dark Asia with Megan: Case #57 Japan's Darkest Night, Tsuyama Massacre; a Promotional Gallery, and 1-min Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap, we also get a Slipcover, w which is probably limited to the first pressing only.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary by Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder
- Dark Asia with Megan: Case #57 Japan's Darkest Night, Tsuyama Massacre (15:03)
- Promotional Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer (1:20)
- Audio commentary by Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder
- Dark Asia with Megan: Case #57 Japan's Darkest Night, Tsuyama Massacre (15:03)
- Promotional Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer (1:20)
The Village of Doom (1983) is quite an unsettling true crime story, the tale of a mass killing spree committed by someone who feels ostracized and excluded by his community is more relevant now than ever, sadly, and while the film is certainly exploitive I found it to be quite well-made, with a terrific performance by Masato Furuoya as the unstable young man who perpetrated the horrific crime. Unearthed Films Blu-ray has a strong A/V presentation, and the extras are appreciated. If you're a fan of true crime cinema or unsettling character studies this is well worth seeking out, recommended.
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