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Ishii Teruo: King of Cult

Horror of a deformed man

Ishii Teruo

Japan1969 99min 35mm Color

Synopsis

Horror of a Deformed Man is, in no doubt, the most controversial Isshi film among his works on abnormal sexual love and has become an instant legend since its release. Use of insult and vulgarity to human body and rule-breaking developments of the scenes and plots have made it practically impossible to be released in DVDs. For the same reason, it is rarely shown even to the Japanese public as well as the international audience. Probably PiFan 2006 will be the only way the Korean audience could ever see it.

Diretor

Ishii Teruo

More vital than most men half his age, eighty-year-old Teruo Ishii continues to make films that witness their creator's colourful personality. Still best known for his series of Edo-era torture films from the late 60s, Ishii has worked in a vast range of genres in the course of his six-decade long career. From his early Super Giants films for Shin Toho, through his gang and biker films for Toei and his recent independently made ero-gro spectacles, his work has remained as youthful in spirit as the man who made them. Midnight Eye met up with Ishii at the Étrange Festival in Paris, which paid tribute to the man who is referred to at home as the King of Cult.