Rampo Noir (2005) Ranpo jigoku (original title)

Directors:

Akio Jissoji
Atsushi Kaneko
(more)

Writers:

Rampo Edogawa (short stories)
Akio Satsukawa (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

5 November 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Spirit | Nude In Public | Violence | Car | Tokyo Japan

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tadanobu Asano	...	Private detective Kogorô Akechi (2x); A man; Masaki (story "Imomushi", "Kagami jigoku", "Kasei no unga", and "Mushi")
Yûko Daike	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Chisako Hara	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Masami Horiuchi	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Mikako Ichikawa	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Hanae Kan	...	(story "Imomushi")
Ryûhei Matsuda	...	Tarô Hirai (story "Imomushi") (as Ryuuhei Matsuda)
Kaiji Moriyama	...	(story "Kasei no unga")
Tomoya Nakamura	...	(story "Kagami jigoku")
Hiroki Narimiya	...	Tooru (story "Kagami jigoku")
Tamaki Ogawa	...	Fuyu Kinoshita (segment "Mushi")
Nao Ohmori	...	First Lieutenant Sunaga (story "Imomushi") (as Nao Oomori)
Yukiko Okamoto	...	Tokiko Sunaga (story "Imomushi")
Hiromasa Taguchi	...	(segment "Mushi")
Minori Terada	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Susumu Terajima	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")
Yumi Yoshiyuki	...	(segment "Kagami jigoku")

Directed by
Akio Jissoji		(story "Kagami jigoku") (as Akio Jissôji)
Atsushi Kaneko		(story "Mushi")
Hisayasu Sato		(story "Imomushi") (as Hisayasu Satô)
Suguru Takeuchi		(story "Kasei no unga")

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Rampo Edogawa		short stories (as Edogawa Ranpo)
Atsushi Kaneko		screenplay for "Mushi"
Akio Satsukawa		screenplay for "Kagami jigoku"
Suguru Takeuchi		screenplay for "Kasei no unga"
Shirô Yumeno		screenplay "Imomushi"

Original Music by
Saiko Ai
Aramaki Kôhei
Yoshihide Ohtomo
Ikeda Ryôji

Visual Effects by
Tsuyoshi Kazuno	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Sam Goldie	....	focus puller: Iceland

Production Companies

• Albatros Film
• Culture Publishers (CP)
• Geneon Entertainment
• Kadokawa Eiga K.K.
• Micott & Basara K.K.
• New Select K.K.
• Ranpo jigoku Seisaku Iinkai
• Toei Satellite TV Company

Distributors

• Albatros Film (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Studio Buckhorn (visual effects)

Also Known As:

"Ranpo jigoku" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Australia:MA (2006) | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18

Company:

Albatros Film

Movie Connections:

References Slow Death: The Dismemberment (1985) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bones

It's extreme alright—extremely boring!

I was watching Rampo Noir on my portable DVD player the other night when the battery ran out of power mid-film; normally this kind of inconvenience would have made me angry, but in this case I was actually appreciative of the break, such is the mind-numbingly tedious nature of this dreary, overlong piece of pretentious art-house drivel.

The film comprises of four strange and erotic tales based on the works of celebrated Japanese author Edogawa Rampo, each connected by the recurring themes of mirrors, perverse love, obsession and the fact that they are all utterly incomprehensible.

Even though extreme boredom had set in within the first minute of opening tale 'Mars Canal', I persevered, telling myself that, with each part realised by a different director, there was the possibility that one of them might be worth a watch. Sadly, all four episodes turn out to be just as stupefyingly dull as the first, despite the introduction of the odd bit of bondage sex, mutilation and other assorted deviancy.

Hell, even Hisayasu Sato, director of such gloriously twisted films as Naked Blood and Wife Collector, fails to impress, having succumbed to the same soporific artsy-fartsy style as his contemporaries. And when that guy doesn't deliver the goods, it's time to start praying for the battery to run out!