Tetsuo (1989)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Shinya Tsukamoto

Writer:

Shinya Tsukamoto (writer)

Release Date:

1 July 1989 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A strange man known only as the "metal fetishist", who seems to have an insane compulsion to stick scrap metal into his body...

Plot Keywords:

Metal | Fetishist | Japanese | Transformation | Cyberpunk

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Tomorowo Taguchi	...	Man
Kei Fujiwara	...	Woman
Nobu Kanaoka	...	Woman in Glasses
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renji Ishibashi	...	Tramp
Naomasa Musaka	...	Doctor
Shinya Tsukamoto	...	Metals Fetishist

Directed by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinya Tsukamoto		writer

Produced by
Shinya Tsukamoto	....	producer

Original Music by
Chu Ishikawa

Cinematography by
Kei Fujiwara
Shinya Tsukamoto

Film Editing by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Art Direction by
Shinya Tsukamoto

Costume Design by
Kei Fujiwara

Production Companies

• Japan Home Video (JHV)
• K2 Spirit
• Kaijyu Theater
• SEN

Distributors

• Des Films (???) (France) (DVD)
• Fox Lorber (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Kaijyu Theater
• Original Cinema (1992) (USA) (subtitled)
• Palisades Tartan (1989) (USA) (all media)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2002) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Studio Canal (????) (France) (DVD)
• Tartan Video USA (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• There's Enterprise (????) (Japan) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Tetsuo, the Iron Man (USA)
The Ironman

Runtime:

67 min | Argentina:69 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 | Singapore:(Banned) | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R | New Zealand:R13 | UK:18 | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:16

Company:

Japan Home Video (JHV)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Little Red Riding Hood (2009) (V)

An insane cyberpunk masterpiece!!!

"Tetsuo: the Iron Man" is utter chaos. Shinya Tsukamoto has created a strange world of metal fetishists and human decay. To make it all the more insane, it's filmed at the pace of a speed adrenaline rush. An office worker slowly transforms into a mutated metal creature after cutting himself shaving. Wires, drills, cables and steel burst from his face and body. And who can forget the giant metal drill penis? The office worker faces off with a villain who has a metal fetish. The villain enjoys sticking metal objects in himself. The film turns into a battle to the finish between the two men. "Tetsuo" has to be one of the strangest films ever made. Stranger than both "Eraserhead" and "Begotten". It's fast pace style can be later seen in films like PI. Thank God, this film is in black and white; it's extremely graphic!