This four-part anthology takes its cue from the short fiction of legendary horror writer Edogawa Rampo. It begins with Mars Canal, which sees a naked man collapse at the edge of a lake that descends, seemingly into the bowels of hell itself. Mirror Hell follows a detective following a trail of beautiful female corpses back to a mad mirror maker. The Caterpillar sees a limbless war veteran return home only to be systematically abused by his wife. And in Crawling Bugs, a chauffeur becomes obsessed with his actress employer.
I don't know how many viewers who are gonna be familiar with Edogawa, but solely hearing his pseudonym makes it clear from whom he takes inspiration from; Edgar Allan Poe. But their similarities basically stops there, for this film is steeped in Japanese weirdness and Lars von Trier-esque imagery. I saw this film years ago and it was fighting for my attention, but if you see it for what it isn't half bad actually, plus I'm a big fan of Tadanobu Asano who appears throughout the segments. Rampo Noir is a surreal experience with the stories ranging from straightforward murder mystery to strange, dreamlike body horror. Very far from what westerners usually call horror, but definitely not without its own sense of artistic dread.
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
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