Comfort Film Halloween Series Presents:
THE ART OF MURDER :
Blind Beast (1969)
Plot:
With the help of his own mother (Noriko Sengoku), sightless sculptor Michio (Eiji Funakoshi) abducts gorgeous model Aki (Mako Midori) and brings her back to his lair -- a warehouse populated by demented art objects that mimic female bodies. There he forces the young beauty to endure a series of sadomasochistic mind games. But, as the weeks wear on, Aki becomes deeply immersed in the erotic torment she's put through, and she and Michio descend into animalistic depths of pleasure and pain.
Directed by Yasuzo Masumura
Starring
Eiji Funakoshi
Mako Midori
Noriko Sengoku
Media: Digital Projection
Runtime: 86 minutes
Rated R
Nudity, themes of kidnapping and sexual violence.
THE ART OF SCULPTURE
Forget 50 shades, we're going 50,000 shades of grey! J-Horror does not get much darker and demented than the intimate intensity of Blind Beast. When a sightless sculptor captures his ultimate muse and secrets her away in what can only be described as a madman's studio, the film explodes into an unrestrained space of carnality, insanity, and lust. As her time in captivity wears on, erotic model Aki soon becomes enraptured by her blind captor's artistic obsession with touch, eventually becoming his lover and soon descending into a morass of psychological torture, sexual indulgence, and sadomasochistic games. Resonating with the pain of Japan's post-war economic boom and massive social upheavals, Blind Beast asks, what is the body if not the ultimate sculpture, crafted by hands that can both soothe and seduce, comfort and kill -- an inquiry only THE ART OF MURDER can attempt to answer!
THE ART OF MURDER series
An exploration of the intoxicating intersection of art and murder, this four-film series explores international horror from the 60s/70s in which art and artists are a major element of the plot.
Refracted through the lens of the creative process, and, often, the art of filmmaking itself, this collection of films explore Italy and Japan's post-war sexual and social anxieties through illustration, sculpture, photography, and composition.
Whether preserved in a picture, captured on a canvas, or acted out through illustration, "The Art of Murder" violently celebrates the ineffable beauty of inevitable death.
THE ART OF MURDER is curated by local programmer, event producer, and Eurohorror enthusiast Stephanie "La Gialloholique" Sack, who will be introducing the first two films of the series.
Programmed for Comfort Station by Raul Benitez, Emily Perez, Mat Tapey and Luna Lux.
Free