Tumbling Doll of Flesh (Niku Daruma) Review!
Niku Daruma (肉だるま), or as it is more commonly known outside of Japan, Tumbling Doll of Flesh or Psycho: The Snuff Reels, is arguably one of the most notorious films to come out of the latest wave of hardcore Japanese exploitation films. The film follows the “faux snuff film” formula that was popularized in Japan by the Guinea Pig films in the mid to late ‘80s.
Since the entire film is in Japanese with no subtitles, I cannot accurately describe to you what exactly is going on in the film, but as anyone who has ever seen a film in the faux snuff sub-genre knows, plot and dialogue have little to no importance.
I’ll be honest; the majority of this film is pretty boring. We start things off with a couple of guys who are casting women to be in their homemade porno. They track down a lady, interview her, fuck her, stick a pink dildo in her ass, and eat some sushi (typical everyday bullshit). The REAL fun starts about 40 minutes into the film. As the young actress goes into to bathroom, we see a hidden camera type shot where one of the cameramen follows her in and knocks her out with a bat. This is where the shit really hits the fan.
While one man has sex with the woman once again, another man helps out by sawing her foot off. Suddenly, someone runs to the kitchen to grab what appears to be a potato peeler and gets to work on her tongue. Now, I’ve seen a lot of shit in my day, but I kid you not, this tongue mutilation scene is one of, if not THE most realistic looking effects I’ve ever seen. They continue torturing the “doll of flesh” by cutting her stomach open, pulling out her intestines, and fucking the wound. As if that weren’t enough, we are treated to a very weird blood/semen cumshot, after which the actor is quickly killed by the director (I guess he didn’t feel he was right for the part!) You have to admire someone that is willing to literally have sex with fake blood and organs just so he can add a little extra spice to an already disturbing film. After hacking the rest of her limbs off, they finally put her out of her misery, violently with a machete to the face. The film ends as the director gets on his cell phone, presumably setting things up for his next film.
What Tumbling Doll of Flesh lacks in plot and content, it sure as hell makes up for in gore and pure shock value. The special effects by Mr. Anaru are some of the most impressive I have seen in a long time. Even re-watching this film for reviewing purposes had me feeling sick to my stomach more than a few times. Yes, the majority of the film is pretty much unwatchable unless you speak Japanese, but the ending is well worth the price of admission. Tumbling Doll of Flesh is definitely a must have for lovers of J-Sploitation or faux snuff films. There is an overwhelming amount of great hardcore Japanese horror and gore out there and Tumbling Doll of Flesh is a great place to start. A lot of movies get praised as being the sickest or most disturbing film ever, and they don’t really live up to their expectations. Tumbling Doll of Flesh doesn’t just live up to its hype, it surpasses it. Hopefully, someone like Unearthed Films, who has been releasing a lot of extreme Japanese horror lately, will pick this film up so it can have a proper DVD release (since original publication of this review Massacre Video has released an official DVD). If you want to see something that will have you asking, “What the hell is wrong with me, why am I watching this??” then Tumbling Doll of Flesh is for you!
AKA: 肉だるま, Niku Daruma, Psycho: The Snuff Reels, Psycho: The Snuff Files, Psycho, Judge for Yourself
Directed by: Tamakichi Anaru
Written by: Tamakichi Anaru
Produced by: Psycho
Editing by: Hai Mega Pinoko
Special Effects by: Tamakichi Anaru, Shino Setsuna
Music by: Baromu Wan
Cast: Kanako Ooba, Kikurin, Tamakichi Anaru, Yuuji Kitano
Year: 1998
Country: Japan
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 9m
Language: Japanese (English Subtitles)
Distributor: Aroma Planning, Massacre Video
