Blind Beast

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Blind Beast
Original Japanese release poster
Directed by	Yasuzo Masumura
Screenplay by	Yoshio Shirasoka[1]
Based on	Moju by Rampo Edogawa
Produced by	Kazumasa Nakano[1]
Starring	Eiji Funakoshi Mako Midori Noriko Sengoku
Cinematography	Setsuo Kobayashi[1]
Music by	Hikaru Hayashi[1]
Production company	Daiei Film[1]
Release date	25 January 1969 (1969-01-25) (Japan)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Blind Beast (盲獣, Mōjū), aka Moju the Blind Beast^[1] is a 1969 Japanese film directed by Yasuzo Masumura. It is based on a novel by Edogawa Rampo.^[2]

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Young aspiring model Aki Shima is kidnapped by a mysterious blind man and taken to his home in a warehouse, which is filled with sculptures of human body parts and female figures. The blind man, Michio Sofu, is a sculptor who wishes to use Aki as an unwilling muse for his greatest work. As her time in captivity wears on, Aki soon becomes enraptured by her captor and the two become lovers, beginning a series of sadomasochistic games. In the end, Aki professes that she wants to become more than just the inspiration for his artwork and instead wishes to become the piece itself, to which Michio agrees. After killing and dismembering Aki, Michio "sculpts" her corpse into a macabre work of art. Having completed his life's work, Michio commits suicide.

• Eiji Funakoshi as Michio Sofu
• Mako Midori as Aki Shima
• Noriko Sengoku as Shino, Michio's mother

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Blind Beast was released in Japan on January 25, 1969.^[1][3] The film was released by Daiei International Film with English subtitles in April 1969.^[1] It was reissued by Roninfilm under the title Warehouse in February 1974.^[1] It was released to Blu-ray in the United States from Arrow Films on August 24, 2021. ^[4]

In a contemporary review, Variety praised the cinematography and Shigeo Mano's art direction, while noting that his previous films dealt with sexuality such as Daini no Seo and Manji but "these are kindergarten material compared with The Blind Beast...it's a sick film."^[5]

Retrospective reviews include critic Jasper Sharp calling it "One of the most fascinatingly freakish of all the big screen adaptations of the works of Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo".^[6] Tom Vick of AllMovie compared the film to The Collector and opined that "Masumura, a master of dark humor and macabre psychodrama, strikes an odd balance between silliness and horror throughout the film. One of the nuttier entries in his oeuvre, Blind Beast is a delicious guilty pleasure."^[7] Sight & Sound referred to the film as a "fascinating curiosity" with "bizarre production design, tendency towards outlandish symbolism and eccentric performances, it seems at least partly tongue in cheek even at its most extreme."^[8]

• List of Japanese films of 1969

• Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
• Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.

• Blind Beast at IMDb

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