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tetsuo 3 - 5/10
Well, I just got done with it, and I don't really know what to think. It was certainly a well-made film, way more entertaining than those Nightmare Detective films, and I think I even like it better than Haze... but I dunno. It just didn't feel quite right -- I can't put my finger on it, exactly, but it just felt like something was missing. I found parts of it enjoyable and was glad it was only a little over an hour long; it was certainly strange and fucked-up and so on. The acting was hilariously bad yet really enjoyable (in a very very awkward way). I tried to keep an open mind about it and approach it as if I'd never seen another Tetsuo movie before, and tried to form an opinion based on its own merits.. but man, the previous two films, in my opinion, just blow this thing out of the water in almost every way, so I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I will say that I was surprised at how decent the effects looked (I'd read that the makeup was horrible, but it actually looked impressive), and Tsukamoto certainly got some interesting looking stuff with his HD camera.
I guess I felt the whole thing was sorta silly, and there are all sorts of homages to the other Tetsuo films -- and those are the best part of this film. So, really, I didn't feel that it brought anything new to the table, and it kinda felt unnecessary. But, really, I don't mean to be harsh: it was actually a really fun timewaster, and if any other person had made this movie, it would be regarded as a new, exciting, visually explosive technical masterpiece. It's just, again, that Tsukamoto has already made two Tetsuo films -- and some other great films, to boot -- and this didn't really live up to my expectations, as a fan, which isn't Tsukamoto's fault I guess. I just felt that, perhaps, shooting it in America wasn't the best idea -- Tsukamoto's overdubbed lines and all the American actors, again, jsut felt silly and completely ridiculous; as ridiculous as the Tetsuo films were before, I still managed to take them somewhat seriously. A drill dick is honestly kinda disturbing, no matter how you slice it, even if it's silly. I laughed through most of this film.
Part of me knows it's completely disappointing in every way, but most of me is just glad they kept it short and not completely embarassing.
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