Four filmmakers from completely different backgrounds bring their radically personal takes to the stories of Japan’s celebrated master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo (Horrors of Malformed Men, Blind Beast).

In “Mars’s Canal”, by music video director and visual artist Suguru Takeuchi, a lone man encounters the other side of his psyche beyond the reflective surface of a circular pond set in a desolate landscape. Japanese New Wave auteur and longtime director of the Ultraman series Akio Jissoji (This Transient Life, Mandala) harnesses his distinctive stylistic sheen in his story of a mad mirror maker, “Mirror Hell”. “Caterpillar” sees the singular vision of cult director Hisayasu Sato (The Bedroom, Naked Blood) at its most grotesque, in his portrait of a wounded war veteran who returns from the frontline as little more than a bloody torso, helpless to defend himself against the increasingly perverted caprices of an embittered wife. Finally, a famous actor is subjected to the obsessive attentions of her limo driver in “Crawling Bugs”, the directorial debut of internationally acclaimed manga artist Atsushi Kaneko (Bambi and Her Pink Gun).

Produced by the same team behind Ichi the Killer and Uzumaki, and with a cast featuring some of Japan’s top stars, including Tadanobu Asano (Maboroshi, Silence) and Ryuhei Matsuda (Blue Spring, Gohatto), Rampo Noir is a stylistic tour-de-force that vividly evokes the “erotic grotesque” worlds created by Japan’s pioneering proponent of horror and mystery fiction.

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Video Quality

Rampo Noir arrives on Blu-Ray courtesy of Arrow Video with a 1080p transfer in its original 1.85:1 from an HD master supplied by Kadokawa. While not particularly jaw-dropping, the film maintains a consistently strong appearance. The exterior scenes with dazzling landscapes fare the best when it comes to unleashing detail. The film grain retains an organic appearance which largely resolves well outside of minor fluctuations that spike or become clumpy.

The transfer features lush color saturation throughout with dynamic hues in the production design and distinct lighting standing out. Compression artifacts in the darker moments are not a significant issue, and there is a decent amount of detail in the shadows. There are moments when crush becomes an issue, but these times are fleeting. This title also showcases a light amount of wear and tear, but nothing that ruins the viewing experience. We always prefer when Arrow Video can remaster the source themselves, but this holds up well enough in spite of everything.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the film with an LPCM 2.0 stereo track in the original Japanese with optional English subtitles. The dialogue emanates clearly and the atmospheric sound effects have a significant presence in the mix while staying starkly delineated. The score maintains a lovely fidelity with no shortcomings in terms of age-related wear and tear. The low end has some texture yet doesn’t show off in a major way. The audio is effective for what this is trying to accomplish. It should be noted that the first several minutes of the film are completely silent as intended, so don’t think there is something wrong with your system like I did.

Special Features

The first pressing of the Arrow Video Blu-Ray of Rampo Noir includes a 28-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by Eugene Thacker and Seth Jacobowitz. These provide great insights into the film, the source material, the creatives, and the genre at large in a thoughtfully written style. The release also comes with a double-sided foldout poster. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Japanese film experts Jasper Sharp and Alexander Zahlten provide a commentary track in which they discuss the background of the titular author, how this film functions as an adaptation, the background of the talent involved, the themes of the feature, and more.

Cast and Crew Interviews: A collection of new interviews are conducted with the talent in which they discuss their experiences making the film.

- Another World – Interview with Suguru Takeuchi, Director of “Mars’s Canal” (14:04)

- A Moving Transformation – Interview with Hisayasu Sato, Director of “Caterpillar” (25:07)

- Butterfly Queen – Interview with Atsushi Kaneko, Manga Artist and Director of “Crawling Bugs” (13:49)

- Hall Of Mirrors – Interview with Cinematographer Masao Nakabori About Working with Akio Jissoji and “Mirror Hell” (25:19)

- The Butterfly Effect – Interview with Akiko Ashizawa, the Cinematographer of “Caterpillar” (15:47)

- Looking In The Mirror – Interview with Actor Yumi Yoshiyuki About “Mirror Hell” (13:58)

Stage Greeting: A 15-minute archival piece from 2005 in which the creative team introduces the film at its Japanese premiere.

Cross The Lens: A 76-minute archival making-of documentary by Tatsuya Fukushima that gives a rich exploration of the creation of this film.

Image Galleries: A collection of stills from Main Stills, Mars’s Canal, Mirror Hell, Caterpillar, and Crawling Bugs.

Final Thoughts

Rampo Noir is like many anthology films in that there is a variable level of quality from short to short. Unfortunately, the shorts that do not work as well are the longest ones in the film, and even the better shorts fall short of the best we want from Japanese horror films. The film is not without its positive aspects, but it is one that will appeal to a more niche audience than many films from the label. Arrow Video has released a Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation and some worthwhile supplements. If you are a fan of the film, this is a worthy release.

Rampo Noir is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.