Village Of Doom — Village Of Doom(Blu Ray)
Village Of Doom is an early 80’s Japanese crime drama based on one of the country's worst spree kills- The Tsuyama Massacre. It occurred in a small rural village in 1938, with thirty villages being killed by a twenty-one-year-old Mutsuo Toi - who had once showed so much promise. Much of the film’s one hour and forty minute five runtime regards the build-up to the massacre- so the film is best seen as a character study- come psychological unfolding, though we do get brutally bloody resolve. Here from Unearthed Films, is a Blu-Ray release of this lesser-known Asian true crime film- with a commentary track and a few other things.
Village of Doom (aka Ushimitsu No Mura) is from the year 1983- been directed by Nagano-born Noboru Tanaka. Between the late ’70s and early 2000s, he had twenty-six feature lengthy credits to his name. These move from bondage & torture-centred pink film Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture! (1977), through to disco-meets-wife swapping drama Hard Scandal: Sex Drifter (1980). Onto the dead messaging through computer horror Youjo Densetsu '88(1988).
The film opens up with a soldier being sent on a train- his fellow villages are raising flags, singing songs, and generally celebrating his departure. Here we meet our lead character- Tsugio(Masato Furuoya) who is hanging onto the train as it leaves- he’s so keen to go to war, but he’s too young- I’m guessing he’s meant to be in his mid-teens.
Tsugio lives in a small river-side village with his grandma who thinks he can do no wrong. He’s rather looked up to in the village, as he’s very studious- and it looks like he will be a teacher. But the rather lanky/ skinny teen just wants to serve his country above all else. There is one slight issue he has a persistent cough, but is told it will go away.
As the film unfolds we get somewhat of a sexual coming-of-age drama- as Tsugio gets some dirty pictures from a friend, which gets him rather heated- so he ends up sleeping with a selection of the village women, as of course all the men of age are at war.
The days/ weeks tick on, and Tsugio is finally called up for a medical to go off & severe- he still has a cough, and the army doctor declares he has TB- this of course devastated him, and from here his sanity/ reason starts to waver. First, he’s barking at dogs, liberally milking neighbours' goats without permission!, and starting to get a little too pushy/ aggressive with the village women. With his grandma getting more & more concerned.
There is something somewhat off about the village- as groups of men seem to track down people late at night, with sometimes these turning up dead. The local short & moustached policeman seems oblivious to it- though Tsugio has seen some things.
The first hour and ten minutes or so of the film very much plays like drama- charting Tsugio's slow unfolding, with some female nudity, a few confrontations, and hints at what is to come.
The ‘kill-spree’ elements are very much in the last quarter of the film- with some of this being fairly tense/ shocking with pump action shootings, sword, and knife deaths- as Tsugio ties flash-lights to his head, and starts his spree- though that said it’s on your fairly normal exploitation level- so don’t let Unearthed release make you think this is very extreme, as it’s not.
Acting-wise Furuoya plays well the character arc of Tsugio- as he moves from a very promising young man, to a rather used/ abused character, though to someone unfolding. The surrounding cast is fine too. I’d say the only real issue here is the score, which isn't- it consists of seemingly random electro beats & wonky synth tones, as a few forays into off-colour muzak/easy-listening jazz- though it's only on one or two occasions it truly ruins scenes.
I’d say if you are interested in true crime- with a focus on the drama/character side of things then Village Of Doom will appeal. But If you are coming here for a gory/ unsettling true crime film, you may feel rather underwhelmed/ bored- though as mentioned things do turn nasty/ taut enough in its last quarter, before a very downbeat resolve.
The region-free Blu-ray features a good enough quality print- I'm not sure if it’s been remastered, but it looks clean/ well-balanced throughout. On the new extras side, we have a commentary track with Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder- this is excellent crammed with facts, observations, and entertaining banter- I‘ve played a few of this pair's tracks now, and they never disappoint. They begin by talking about the film was released on the 15th of January 1983- which was seen as a very positive time in the country's history, unlike the period the film is set in- so the best & worst time situation. They touch on the real case the films based on- Mutsuo Toi came from a Samurai family, hence why his family was the richest in the village. We find out he suffered from pleurisy, and he was rather conned out of his family's fortune- as his uncle pushed him to go & live with his grandma. They chat about traditional Japanese houses- how you can buy them very cheap now, though they suffer from Termites. They talk about the film's lead actor who was most prolific, though years later he committed suicide by hanging himself- touch other notable films he was in, a few of these being pink films. They point out bit part actors- also giving bios/ mention notable films. Later on, they discuss the flashlights on the head set-up the killer has, and a few moments where the character breaks the fourth wall. Talk about the soundtrack, its creator, and much more. I’ll most certainly be returning to this track down the road.
On the archive side, we have Dark Asia with Megan: Case #57( 15.03) which is a true-crime doc about the real case, and this gives us some more interesting details about the case, as well of course of pictures of the killer. Lastly, on the disc, we have a promotional gallery & theatrical trailer.
This release of Village Of Doom, follows on from Unearthed's recent release of Confessions Of A Serial Killer- which was based around the Herny Lee Lucus case. So it certainly is great to see the label reissue these lost/lesser-known true crime films like these two…lets hope they've got similar releases in the works.