Horrors of Malformed Men

Cult director Teruo Ishii's adaptation of the stories of Edogawa Rampo has been branded "the most notorious Japanese horror film ever made" for its surreal journey to a desolate island where a web-fingered madman surgically remakes normal human beings into misshapen monsters (played in the film by an underground performance art troupe relying more on expressionism than special effects). The case proudly proclaims that it was "banned in Japan," but it was more accurately reviled and rejected by audiences and theater owners. The DVD debut of the film features commentary by film critic Mark Schilling, the original 30-minute featurette "Malformed Memories," and a foldout insert with liner notes by Patrick Macias, Tomo Machiyama and Jasper Sharp. Also released this week from Synapse is the 1968 horror "Snake Woman's Curse" from Nobuo Nakagawa ("Jigoku"), also featuring commentary and liner notes.