Blind Beast (1969) from Tuna
Blind Beast, aka Môju (1969) is the first film I can remember that I would call disturbing. I will be writing a spoiler, so here is the unrevealing summary. A blind sculptor kidnaps a model to sculpt her. They eventually become intimate, and then do ever more extreme things to reach even more extreme tactile sensations. Before the film is over, there is mutilation and more. If this is one you intend to watch, stop here. 

NUDITY REPORT
Mako Midori shows her breasts several times.
 SPOILERS

For those still with me, the sculptor lives with his mother in a studio. The mother helps him kidnap Midori, so he can indulge in the only pleasure. He is interested in -- touch. She tries to escape, but is thwarted. Then she pretends to be interested in her captor to throw him off guard, and to irritate the mother. The two of them end up accidently killing the mother. At that point, the sculptor rapes her repeatedly between sculpting sessions, and she begins to enjoy him. At the same time, she starts going blind due to being in the dark studio 24/7. She becomes hooked on the sense of touch as well, but finds that she needs more and more stimulation each time to keep getting peak sensations. This leads to whipping, biting, bloodsucking, and finally amputation of all four of her limbs at her request.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • bare-bones
Most of the action takes place on enormous nude sculptures that fill the middle of the studio. I am not sure what noted director Yasuzo Masumura was trying for here, but it is a very dark story based on a short story about a serial killer. 
 

The Critics Vote

  • no major reviews

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 8.3! (10 votes) 
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C. For what it is, it is very well done, but would not seem to me to have any crossover appeal.

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