Imprint 

In the 1800s, an American returns to Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with, but instead learns of the psychical and existential horror that befell her after he left.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator), Daisuke Tengan (teleplay)

Stars:

Billy Drago, Shihô Harumi, Michié

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Drago	...	Christopher
Shihô Harumi	...	Laborer #1 (as Shihou Harumi)
Michié	...	Komomo (as Michie)
Magy	...	Laborer #2
Shin'ichi Tokuhara	...	Laborer #3 (as Shinichi Tokuhara)
Takao Handa	...	Yoshi, Laborer #4
Hiroshi Kuze	...	Boatman
Miyuki Konno	...	Dead Woman
Yutaka Matsuzaki	...	Gate Keeper #1
Hiroshi Fujita	...	Gate Keeper #2
Sachiko Matsuura	...	Shamisen Player
Noriko Eguchi	...	Whore #1
Megumu Takada	...	Whore #2
Yuno	...	Whore #3
Miho Harita	...	Whore #4

Storyline

In the Nineteenth Century, in Japan, the American journalist Christopher is traveling through the country searching Komomo, the missing love of his life that he had abandoned years ago promising to come back to her later. He arrives in a shadowy island inhabited by whores and caftans, where he has an encounter with a deformed prostitute that tells that his beloved Komomo had passed away. He drinks sake with her and later he asks the woman to tell the story of her life. The prostitute discloses a dark and cruel story about her life and the sad fate of Komomo.

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Plot Keywords:

shocksploitation | prostitute | japan | journalist | island | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada Japan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Ashiocho, Tochigi, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

IDT Entertainment, Industry Entertainment, Kadokawa Herald Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode was originally going to be shown on Showtime in January 2006, but the station banned it shortly before the broadcast. It debuted in America on DVD on September 26, 2006.

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Quotes

The Woman: This island isn't in the human world; demons and whores are the only ones living here.

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Connections

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010)

User Reviews

Let down by gaping flaws

This is another typically weird Takashi Miike outing.

First, the acting. The Japanese characters aren't too bad (considering there is a good chance that they can barely speak English in real life), but their broken English can be hard to understand sometimes. However, Bill Drago as Chris has by far some of the worst acting I have ever seen. He seems to yell every line in a ridiculous manner every time he speaks, and towards the end, seems to have a vocabulary of ten words (which is the scripters fault, I'll accept), and he basically screws up this movie, and lowers my rating of it by quite a bit.

The plot is somewhat interesting, and unfolds in the end into utter madness, which isn't necessarily a good thing. It also loses some focus towards the end, going into the scarred women's life story, rather than the woman Chris is looking for, and the thing that is revealed at the end is kind of stupid. The plot itself, though, is able to retain interest for an hour.

The gore isn't particularly gruesome, or plentiful, but at the same time, I can see why this wasn't allowed on American television. A torture scene towards the middle is particularly brutal (think Audition-type stuff), and painful to watch, but other than that, little else is shown.

Basically, this is an interesting movie, hampered by godawful acting by Drago, and a plot that wanders off course. Other than Audition, I still haven't seen anything from Miike that lives up to the ravings of his fans.