This Japanese gore epic is not the first such film. Japanese gore films have been around since the late eighties with films like EVIL DEAD TRAP, ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN, and THE GUINEA PIG series. But this tired genre now has a shot in the arm courtesy of Kei Fujiwara, who demonstrates the filmmaking techniques she learned from being involved with the cult classic TETSUO: THE IRON MAN. Fujiwara and her associates star in the film, as well as all chipping in to handle the production chores (Fujiwara herself acted as cinematographer). The film was released to Japanese theaters amidst a cloud of controversy, and the film had to be cut of several moments of gruesome footage. Enter Don May’s Synapse films; they have been looking into starting an Asian Cult Cinema line of DVD titles and promptly secured ORGAN for an uncut North American debut (even in Japan they do not have this version). The DVD was delayed for several months, but I believe it was worth the wait.

Numata and Tosaka are police officers involved in a sting operation, where they are about to gather evidence that will convict a body organ ring that provides body parts on the black market. As they interrupt a human operation, the one-eyed ring leader Yoko (played by Fujiwara herself) is tipped off to Numata and Tosaka’s presence. During a scuffle, the ring members incapacitate Numata and capture Tosaka and Yoko’s demented brother (called ‘The Doctor’) promptly performs surgery on him. Numata witnesses the horror and is mentally scarred for life. Because of his instability, Numata loses his position on the police force, and roams the streets in an alcoholic stupor.

Meanwhile, the organ-selling Doctor works by day (as an entomologist) at a local girls school. The Doctor amputates Tosaka and keeps him alive in a hidden garden like a plant. When the Doctor is not terrorizing Tosaka, he molests and mutilates some female students. (one girl is failing a class and offers to sleep with the him). He also suffers from a bad case of green acme.

The final act has Yoko’s black market operation run afoul of the local Yakuza. Numata regains his senses and goes after Yoko. After he tracks her down and confronts her, Numata gleans the whereabouts of her brother the Doctor and his missing partner Tosaka. Numata travels to the girls school, determined to put an end to the Doctor and to discover whether his partner is still alive.

Besides having a distinct straightforward plot (along with some sub plots), ORGAN is one wild, hallucinatory film. The title doesn't necessarily point to the organ-selling plot; it turns out that the Doctor and his sister were horribly abused by their mother (naturally) and he was left with some kind of enlarged and lethal ‘organ’ (do I have to spell it out for you?) Not only that, he either imagines himself (or in reality is) suffering from some kind of malady which affects his entire body. All the characters wander into and out of madness that it is hard to tell what is reality and what is real (as in the TETSUO films).

Check out this violence and imagery:

An insane mother uses a scalpel to remove her son's genitals (offscreen).

A mad woman urinates on the floor of her apartment in full view of the camera.

A man hallucinates that a giant cocoon bursts open revealing a female humanoid insect.

A madman has sex with a woman, causing her to bleed all over the floor.

A man has a plant-like growth all over his body; the growth spews geysers of green blood high into the air.

SIGHT

ORGAN is presented in a full frame 1.33.1 transfer. That’s the way it was filmed, and no picture information is missing. ORGAN is not a big budget film, and does not have a Hollywood-style luster. Director Kei Fujiwara acted as Director of Photography and filmed ORGAN herself. Kei presents the visuals with purposely-muted fading color and a non-sharp image. This approach works great and stays true to the tone of the film. Except for the make-up effects scenes, there are no scenes in the movie where vibrant colors are glimpsed. Yet the make-up effects are colorful and full of detail (though the rest of the film has a definite lack of detail). The exteriors were filmed at dusk, at night, or during a cloudy day. This simple shooting restriction contributes highly to the dark, somber tone of the film. The dream and hallucinatory scenes uses the same dark color scheme to achieve the desired effect. Remember, this ‘dulling’ of the cinematography is intended by the director to enhance the atmosphere and claustrophobia of the film. Synapse does a commendable job with the limited 16mm source prints, and presents the image free of scratches and speckles. Grain was the only problem I noticed. The color schemes were appropriately rendered, with the predominate colors being blue, grey, green, and brown. There were no instances of edge enhancement, chroma noise, halo effects, artifacts or other DVD mastering deficiencies. A very good job by the folks at Synapse.

SOUND

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack is nicely produced. The Japanese dialog, sound effects, and synthesized score come through nicely. The mix has no dropouts, pops, or other anomalies. The film is dialog driven with the original Japanese dialog emanating from the center speaker. The mix is very crisp and provides for a powerful sound presentation. At increased volume levels, the soundtrack did not distort. The bass was present when needed, but never overpowering. My only complaint is that sound field has virtually no directionality. Thematically, Kei Fujiwara’s soundtrack and score is just as bizarre as the subject matter, and perfectly completes the surreal imagery. The synth/techno score is excellent, and the tempo changes with the tone and mood of the film. The sound mix is a nice surprise because when ORGAN was announced, it was listed as mono sound only (so I really cannot complain).

FEATURES

The only extra is a documentary on the making of ORGAN 2. The documentary is full frame, Dolby Digital 2.0, and runs 22 minutes. Director Kei Fujiwara narrates the documentary (in surprisingly good English, I might add). She provides some good insight into the making of the films and the characters. The sequel looks bigger budgeted and may turn out to be a big hit, since Japan is going through a horror boom right now. There is no trailer for ORGAN.

CONCLUSION

Some modern Japanese films are a cry for help from a society that is desperately bound by its increasing population, economic upheaval, and a mounting garbage problem (i.e., recycling=re-use of human organs). But more than that, under the beauty of the kimono and self-demeaning customs, there is a rage and frustration that wants to come out and you can see it in such films such as ORGAN. This is savage, brutal, and yes, sick film-making. But there is a certain beauty and brilliance to it as well. See it for yourself and you decide. Synapse’s kick-off release in their Asian Cult Cinema DVD sub-line is a strong one that is sure to make some waves. This DVD does justice to the director’s bizarre vision. Synapse’s sophomore effort in this sub-line is Toshiharu Ikeda’s excellent EVIL DEAD TRAP, which we all anxiously await. Synapse is doing a great job of presenting Asian genre films to an audience that they were never meant for. I don’t believe Elite or Anchor Bay would ever attempt to do a DVD such as this; only Synapse has the guts.

ORGAN is available at DVDEmpire

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