ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN
ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
If
you a hardcore gore hound that likes their diet sweetened with soft-core
sex, then Synapse Films have the perfect entrees for your diet. ENTRAILS
OF A VIRGIN ($25) and ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ($25) are
certainly unique Japanese motion pictures that appeal to discriminating
tastes the way few other movies can. Those put off by a combination of sex
and gore will find that these movies have few redeeming qualities, but
die-hard genre fans are going to eat up these two releases under Synapse’s
Asian Cult Cinema Collection banner. As for myself, I’ll take a detached
view of these two offerings- seeing them as decidedly strange cinematic
exercises.
Both
films feature the very slightest of plots, more or less a skeleton on a
story that moves them from one sex scene to the next, or from one gore
scene to the next. ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN follows some models and
photographers on a soft-core photo shoot. A thick fog rolls in during the
evening, which forces the company to take refuge in a house on the
outskirts of the woods. Right on cue, a mud caked, well endowed
man/monster rises up out of the forest, who kills off the men in bloody
fashion, and has sex with the women before they too meet a grisly end. ENTRAILS
OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN finds a beautiful doctor infiltrating the Yakuza
with a plan to avenge a young girl who was gang raped and then committed
suicide in her clinic. Some deaths and dismemberments occur before a
horrifying creature appears- giving rise to even more gore and sexual
mayhem.
Synapse
Films has made ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN and ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL
WOMAN available on DVD in 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 wide screen presentations
that have been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. Kudos to Synapse
for pulling two fine looking transfers out of their hat! Both movies
display a sharp and nicely defined image (except where foggy Japanese
censorship has been applied to certain portions of the image). Colors
appear pretty strong and don’t display any evidence of noise of
fuzziness. Blacks are accurate, whites are solid and contrast is good.
Some darker scenes in VIRGIN seem a bit nondescript in places, but
otherwise both movies produce pretty good shadow detail. The film elements
for each film demonstrate few blemishes and little grain. Digital
compression artifacts are never a concern. The Japanese Dolby Digital
monaural audio tracks sound clean and are free of distortions. Optional
English subtitles are provided for those that don’t speak Japanese.
.
.
Full motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's
interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as a couple of extras on each film.
Each movie features its own theatrical trailer, and half of an on camera
interview with director Gaira. A printed essay on the Japanese Film
Fogging Controversy accompanies each release.
.
. ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN and ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN are
the kind of horror movies that are not easily forgotten, or easily
digested by certain audiences. However, if you have a taste for this
combination of soft-core imagery and gore you’ll be lapping up these two
releases from Synapse Films.
If
you a hardcore gore hound that likes their diet sweetened with soft-core
sex, then Synapse Films have the perfect entrees for your diet. ENTRAILS
OF A VIRGIN ($25) and ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ($25) are
certainly unique Japanese motion pictures that appeal to discriminating
tastes the way few other movies can. Those put off by a combination of sex
and gore will find that these movies have few redeeming qualities, but
die-hard genre fans are going to eat up these two releases under Synapse’s
Asian Cult Cinema Collection banner. As for myself, I’ll take a detached
view of these two offerings- seeing them as decidedly strange cinematic
exercises.
Both
films feature the very slightest of plots, more or less a skeleton on a
story that moves them from one sex scene to the next, or from one gore
scene to the next. ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN follows some models and
photographers on a soft-core photo shoot. A thick fog rolls in during the
evening, which forces the company to take refuge in a house on the
outskirts of the woods. Right on cue, a mud caked, well endowed
man/monster rises up out of the forest, who kills off the men in bloody
fashion, and has sex with the women before they too meet a grisly end. ENTRAILS
OF A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN finds a beautiful doctor infiltrating the Yakuza
with a plan to avenge a young girl who was gang raped and then committed
suicide in her clinic. Some deaths and dismemberments occur before a
horrifying creature appears- giving rise to even more gore and sexual
mayhem.
Synapse
Films has made ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN and ENTRAILS OF A BEAUTIFUL
WOMAN available on DVD in 1.78:1 and 1.85:1 wide screen presentations
that have been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. Kudos to Synapse
for pulling two fine looking transfers out of their hat! Both movies
display a sharp and nicely defined image (except where foggy Japanese
censorship has been applied to certain portions of the image). Colors
appear pretty strong and don’t display any evidence of noise of
fuzziness. Blacks are accurate, whites are solid and contrast is good.
Some darker scenes in VIRGIN seem a bit nondescript in places, but
otherwise both movies produce pretty good shadow detail. The film elements
for each film demonstrate few blemishes and little grain. Digital
compression artifacts are never a concern. The Japanese Dolby Digital
monaural audio tracks sound clean and are free of distortions. Optional
English subtitles are provided for those that don’t speak Japanese.
.
.
