Angel Dust (1994)

We were in the mood for something completely different. Actually Beth was in the mood for covering Asian Serial Killer genre, and our resident sub Vivica Dunlap suggested this deft little title from legendary director Gakuryu Ishii. Long considered one of the godfathers of Cyberpunk cinema with such titles as “Crazy Thunder Road” and “Burst City” Ishii would take a long directorial hiatus between his earliest films to make one of the most sinister depictions of brainwashing and coercive relationships. The serial killer arch is surface mystery. The real depravity unveils about a third of the way through the film, and is deeply unsettling. The film itself is a visual feast, yet more concise. One sequence will have viewers avoiding laundromats after dark for the rest of their lives. Kaho Minami and Takeshi Wakamatsu turn in compelling performances amidst the backdrop of supercharged, ambitious, 90s Tokyo.

Throughout, Ishii maintains his salient narrative of Japanese society. It’s a great watch, and we recommend discovering all of Ishii’s work.

Special note: in the episode we recommended watching the version that is posted on Daily Motion, there is also the original Japanese full film on the Internet Archive.

The link ls posted below.

Episode links:

https://bloodvine.com/angel-dust

“Why you should watch Burst City: https://youtu.be/ZuiiJuyeVZs?si=_7oyQEjWspJ862DH

Movie links: (Japanese versio) https://archive.org/details/angel-dust.-1994.-dvdrip

Dailymotion (English version) Source: Dailymotion https://share.google/OsmJ4dDuCrsck8lhb