The Embryo Hunts in Secret : Plot summary, Cast, Legacy, Notes Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Embryo Hunts in Secret

1966 Japanese film

Hatsuo Yamaya
Miharu Shima

CinematographyHideo ItōDistributed byWakamatsu Productions

Release date

July 1966 (1966-07)

Running time

72 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapanese

The Embryo Hunts In Secret (胎児が密猟する時, Taiji ga Mitsuryō Suru Toki), released in July 1966, is the first film made by Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu independently of any movie studio.^[1] It was released just months after he had left Nikkatsu and formed his own company, Wakamatsu Productions. At the time of its release Wakamatsu was quoted as saying "For me, violence, the body and sex are an integral part of life"^[2] which would predict the outcome and plot of the film.

Plot summary

A mentally unstable man keeps his girlfriend tied up in his small apartment and tortures her. He prefers to keep her naked, and she is subjected to various types of bondage, whipped, and tortured with a razor blade. He also brushes her hair, and applies make-up on her, though, and as the film goes on he continues to have a mental breakdown due to his deteriorating sanity. In the end the girl gets free and has her revenge against him.

Cast

Hatsuo Yamaya (山谷初男)
Miharu Shima (志摩みはる)

Legacy

The film is said to be one of the "early examples of the stalker film".^[3]

Notes

^ Inuhiko, Yomota (2019-04-16). What Is Japanese Cinema?: A History. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-54948-6.
^ Hunter, Jack (1998). Eros In Hell: Sex, Blood And Violence In Japanese Cinema. U.K.: Creation Books. p. 37. ISBN 1-871592-93-3.
^ Balmain, Colette (2008-10-14). Introduction to Japanese Horror Film. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3059-2.

References

Hunter, Jack (1998). Eros In Hell: Sex, Blood And Violence In Japanese Cinema. U.K.: Creation Books. pp. 37–39. ISBN 1-871592-93-3.
胎児が密猟する時 (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-02-21.