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 | sepia tinted scene | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Ishii in Italia (2007)

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Soundtracks

Utsukushiki Tennen (aka: Beautiful Nature)
Composed by Hozumi Tanaka
Circus music

User Reviews

One of the most popular movie by Director Teruo Ishii

The movie directed by Teruo Ishii was part of series of very radical erotic violence movies that he directed for Toei studio in the late '60s and early '70s.

The story is an edit on many novels written by Edogawa Ranpo (who got his name from Edgar Alan Poe), but gathered fans and has become a popular story since it was made. Kogoro Akechi is the main protagonist that appears in many of Ranpo's novels.

Kogoro Akechi has somewhat become like the Sherlock Homes of Japan. Becoming the focus of many mystery drama with even new stories invented like this one long after the death of his creator.

This is a pretty interesting story, and no wonder it still garners fan base. It's an improbably story, but it carries the essence of Ranpo's novel that contains strange and unusual situation, and characters. Actors, and acting are first rate, and has the over the top craziness that director Ishii is known for, that makes this movie worth watching.

It's not a mainstream movie by any means, but is an interesting movie from the '60s Japan.

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