Horror Extreme Movie Catalog
Tetsuo - The Iron Man (Special Edition)
Theatrical Release Date: 1989
MPAA Rating: 
Studio: Tartan Video
Editorial Review - Amazon.com
Shinya Tsukamoto draws on the marriage of flesh and technology that inspires so much of David Cronenberg's work and then twists it into a manga-influenced cyberpunk vision. A man (Tomoroh Taguchi) awakens from a nightmare in which his body is helplessly fusing with the metal objects around him, only to find it happening to him in real life... or is it? Haunted by memories of a hit and run (eerily prophetic of Cronenberg's Crash), the man knows this ordeal could be a dream, a fantastic form of divine retribution, or perhaps technological mutation born of guilt and rage. Shot in bracing black and white on a small budget, Tsukamoto puts a demented conceptual twist on good old-fashioned stop-motion effects and simple wire work, giving his film the surreal quality of a waking dream with a psychosexual edge (resulting in the film's most disturbing scene). The story ultimately takes on an abstract quality enhanced by the grungy look and increasingly wild images as they take to the streets in a mad chase of technological speed demons. This first entry in his self-titled "Regular Sized Monster Series" is followed by a full-color sequel, Tetsuo II: The Body Hammer, which trades the muddy experimental atmosphere for a big-budget sheen but can't top the cybershock to the system this movie packs. --Sean Axmaker
brilliant
A Customer Review by Mr. Birdlick
This film is absolutely brilliant. Tsukamoto's genius shines through this gritty and rusted masterpiece. His way of filming is unique and beautiful to say the least. There is also some really impressive stop motion animation to be seen in this film, though its fairly brief. The sound track is also a masterpiece, if you can find it on cd, i highly recommend it.
Over all Tetsuo: The Iron Man is one of the most beautiful films to have been made, it is pure and it is rust.
Full of itself, but ultimately unfulfilling
A Customer Review by William P. Powers
I bought this DVD on heavy recommendations... and must now go beat my friends unmercifully. This film illuminates a classic truth: "Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do something". The director goes crazy with the stop-motion and wire effects... and ends up with a boring compilation of one mess after another. I do mean "mess". If this achieved "cult" status, then all I can say is that would-be cultists are scraping by on some lean fare!
I'm sure the director is trying to say something here... and perhaps the subtitles didn't help any... but this was simply his love affair with (SUPREMELY dated) special effects work. Nothing more. I swear, I don't even think this was very good EFX work for the time period in which it was made. I remember amatuer stop motion work from the 70s on public access channels that looked more interesting than this stuff.
Oh, and I don't think I've ever seen a Japanese man's mouth open wide in a rictus of shock/horror/fear so often in a movie before. This was the actor trying to emote, obviously, but ended up looking nothing more than ridiculous.
After all the urgings I received to get this movie, I thought it might well become a gem of my library. Instead it goes to the bottom of the barrel.
Yes, I "got it" alright. I simply didn't think "it" was worth much at all.
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