Imprint (2006)

This was pretty much the tamest picture of this movie that I can find (aside from the cover), and still it's making me a little queasy. Imprint was a totally fucked up hour of my life. This episode of Masters of Horror, created by Mick Garris and directed by Takashi Miike, was deemed too graphic by Showtime, and was pulled from the series. Of course, in the current horror landscape of torture porn, it was released with the screaming headline "BANNED FROM TELEVISION" in order to drum up interest.
Imprint tells the story of American journalist Christopher, who is searching the red-light districts of Japan to find Komomo, a prostitute that he had fallen in love with, and promised to return to. In the midst of his journey, he meets a deformed prostitute and drinks sake with her. He asks her about Komomo, and her life as well.
And boy, does this woman have a story to tell. First off, and sadly, Komomo is no longer alive, but the reason she is dead is shocking. The woman reveals that she stole a ring from the mother of the house, and blamed Komomo. For this indiscretion, Komomo was hung upside down (pictured above) and stuck full of needles until she confessed. The woman, under the guise of bringing her water, kills Komomo. She explains that all of the girls were jealous of Komomo, as she made the most money and attracted the most men. Not to mention she was waiting for a handsome (relatively speaking, I guess) American man to take her away from prostitution.
But, oh no, even this fucked up story is not enough for this lady. It turns out (!) that her mother and father were brother and sister. Because of this (duh) they were exiled from their town and forced to move from place to place. But fortuantely for job security (insert sarcasm), her mother was an abortionist and didn't seem to short of work. Additionally, after the mother would give birth, she would toss the babies into the river (great parenting) But strangely, one that was thrown in the water (the prostitute running this movie) survived for two days so the mom decided to keep her (glad to know she earned it) Eventually she becomes the apprentice to abortion and consequently a prostitute.
This was not really a horror movie. It was a messed up little story with one death (not counting babies), and certainly no madmen running around. I watched this whole movie with my mouth open -- I was gross, disturbing, and I guess, effective but not what I would call a typical horror movie.
Grade: C- (Apt Pupil, shocking and gripping, but too much disturbing social content to be "enjoyed")