Crazy Lips (2000)
6/10
Only from Japan.
25 June 2009
When Michio Kurahashi is suspected of being a serial killer and goes on the run, his pretty sister Satomi hires a psychic in a desperate bid to prove his innocence. And precisely what happens after that is anyone's guess...

I usually jot down notes whilst watching a film to help make life easier for me when it comes to writing a comment, but about half an hour into Crazy Lips I put down my pen and paper, for accurately summarising the plot to this insane movie was clearly going to be impossible and all the scribbling in the world wouldn't help me to express my feelings about it.

So I'm going to wing it, sans notation; bear with me...

In a world where most mainstream cinema has become dull and predictable, I can always find time for the completely demented and bizarre, and Crazy Lips is just that—a depraved, off-the-wall piece of Japanese cinema that defies simple categorisation. Supernatural horror, mystery, music, soft porn, and martial arts are combined by director Hirohisa Sasakito to produce a messed up piece of work reminiscent of movie maverick Takashi Miike's offbeat output, only one lacking that director's unique narrative skills, sense of style and intelligence.

But although Sasaki might not be a real threat to Miike when it comes to confrontational cinema (Takashi still holds the title 'King of Japanese Weirdness' for producing monumentally effed up movies like Visitor Q and Fudoh), Crazy Lips is still the only film I have ever seen to feature the wandering spirits of decapitated girls, a pair of FBI agents who keep an eye on proceedings through the screen of a television set, a scalping during intercourse, and a woman being forcefully double teamed by an evil psychic's assistant and a hanging corpse with a hard-on.

All of which must surely count for something.
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