Does anyone know? Because it sounds more like one of his director-for-hire projects than following on from the way his films have been progressing lately (that's not a criticism, because Gemini in particular was extremely good).
shareYes, it's a 100% Tsukamoto originated work.
share[deleted]
I agree. It's visually ravishing, but such a disappointment as a whole. The characterization is really terrible. Coming after such great films as "Snake of June", this is a put-down.
http://imageartz.blogspot.com/
[deleted]
I thought this one was a total side step after Haze and especially after Vital. Those two showed Tsukamoto evolving into a fantastic new place. And while Nightmare Detective has a lot of his trademark elements going for it, it never achieves the levels of total success most of his prior work has. When it's good (the dream sequences, obviously, the finale sequence) it's great but when it's mediocre and clunky I just kind of found it unacceptable after how great he'd been leading up to this one. That's kind of why I figured this was kind of like Gemini - a hire job that Tsukamoto didn't necessarily initiate but nonethelesw ended up taking over every aspect of the production. As one of Tsukamoto's monster movies it gets the job done, and in many ways it's the anti-Tetsuo, but it left me wanting more so I guess it's a good thing he's already got the sequel in the can. Hopefully it's got a little more going for it in total, since the premise is so rich with potential.
shareWell, I've just finished watching it, and while it's definitely a sidestep into a more conventional area, I enjoyed it immensely - Tsukamoto brought enough of himself into it to make it work. I wonder if the other credited screenwriter could have had anything to do with the slight dilution of his style? A lesser film for Tsukamoto, maybe, but from pretty much anybody else it would be a major triumph. I'm definitely eager to see the sequel.
Latest film seen: Nightmare Detective (2006) 4/5
looked like one of these crappy live action movies based on an anime to me
share