Horrors of Malformed Men (1969)

After escaping from an insane asylum, a medical student assumes the identity of a mysterious dead man, who appeared to be his doppelganger, and gets lured to a sinister island ruled by a mad scientist and his malformed men.

Director:

Teruo Ishii

Writers:

Teruo Ishii (screenplay), Masahiro Kakefuda (screenplay)

Stars:

Teruo Yoshida, Yukie Kagawa, Teruko Yumi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Teruo Yoshida	...	Hirosuke Hitomi / Genzaburô Komoda (plays two parts)
Yukie Kagawa	...	Shizuko
Teruko Yumi	...	Hideko / Hatsuyo (plays two parts)
Mitsuko Aoi	...	Toki Komoda
Michiko Kobata	...	Chiyoko Komoda
Yumiko Katayama	...	Female Patient A
Kei Kiyama	...	Kei
Reiko Mikasa	...	Mad Woman
Miki Obana	...	Slashed Woman
Michi Tanaka	...	Kin
Yoshiko Katô	...	Masseur
Asano Kanamori	...	Female Patient B
Yôko Koyama	...	Miki
Chiyo Okada	...	Clerk
Mie Hanabusa	...	Mie

Storyline

After escaping from an insane asylum, a young medical student takes on the identity of a dead man to discover the true identity of a man whose picture he saw in a newspaper--who is his exact double. His investigation leads him to a remote island where he discovers a sinister laboratory where a crazed scientist is performing gruesome experiments on live humans--and that his own family has a connection to the scientist.

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Plot Keywords:

insanity | based on novel | eye patch | female frontal nudity | island | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

31 October 1969 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Horrors of Malformed Men

Filming Locations:

Noto, Ishikawa, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Ishii in Italia (2007)

User Reviews

Not very good at all

This infamous Japenese cult flick unfortunately doesn't live up to its lofty reputation. It has some worthy moments, but only a few in what is otherwise a painfully boring and poorly made affair. The confusing story involves a medical student searching for his origins based on the few memories he has from his childhood. He makes his way to the coast of the Japan Sea, where he discovers an obituary for a man who looks exactly like him. He then pretends to be the dead man resurrected, and eventually is brought to an island not far away where the dead man's father is purportedly conducting odd experiments on human beings. The entire story up to here is confusing, uninvolving, and honestly pretty stupid. Only when the protagonist arrives on the island with the titular malformed men does it contain a shred of interest. But only a shred. The mad scientist on the island, kind of the Japanese version of Dr. Moreau, is mutating human beings into freaks. These people, played by circus performers, are dressed in weird costumes and covered with icky makeup. Supposedly the film was meant to reflect the effects of an atomic bomb. I'm not really that sure that was meant, since I don't think any radiation poisoning resulted in a person turning silver. This seems to be where some of the film's fans find substance in the thing, but, really, that half-assed commentary isn't even close to as good as the half-assed commentary in the original Gojira, or, even more appropriate to this conversation, another Ishiro Honda film, Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People, which was made six years earlier than Horrors of Malformed Men. The malformed men are pretty cool, I must admit, but their appearance and participation in the film takes up around ten minutes of this 100 minute film, one tenth, by my estimation. I couldn't forgive the first half of the movie. And even moreso I can't forgive what comes after this, where the mad doctor tells his story in a prolonged, monochromatic flashback. I guess I should be thankful, because the stuff I couldn't understand about the plot earlier in the movie is explicated in such detail that I wanted to rip my hair out. But at least I finally got the plot. And worse, after the doctor has his ten minute flashback, another character has another ten minute flashback. The story is patently ridiculous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It could have been fun, but it isn't. It's a crushing bore! It does end on a hilarious bit, but nothing could have saved this movie.