Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

To think that Japanese artistic craziness has limits is really a false belief. Stunningly fascinating, unconventionally disturbing and perfectly made; Tetsuo will either make you fall for it or evidently fall apart.

When reviewing a gory film, I usually start off with warnings so let me put this out. Tetsuo – The Iron Man is certainly not your stereotypical kind of film:
Surrealist: check; it will make you think more than once about its contents.
Bizarre: double check; if you think you saw the entire cinema craziness –think again.
Excessively violent: Triple check; this film belongs to my goriest films’ list and I sure as heck saw a wild bunch of those. It would be an extremely disturbing and trippy watch for gore-haters.
Hidden message: full score check. It’s what makes this picture special in the first place. There was a pinpointed meaning behind the whole mess.

Horror and Sci-Fi aren’t my thing. I don’t like the genres separately and I certainly don’t care for them combined. But I do have a special liking to the underground director Tsukamoto Shinya –a perfect crazily talented Japanese director to add to my favourite bunch.

Horrifically graphic, the film never ceased the use of violence and gore to highlight its events and developments. Even the introduction was brought under the wing of visual grotesque. I wouldn’t deny that brutal violence, dismemberment and bloody chases are to my liking but that’s not the main reason I highly appreciated this. As I said, I am used to gore especially the Japanese type but they rarely have a meaning behind the acts of violence unlike Tetsuo.

Tsukamoto used the incessant gore to imply its vision around deep fears of technology and how far its development can mess a man’s life. He spotlighted the transformation and the resistance in a grabbing visual ceremony of grotesque. Of course, this is an over-the-top pessimistic view of the relationship between humans and the increasing threats of technology. That aside, the surrealistic nature of the film will make you draw your own interpretations as long as you pay attention to the little details.

The choice of the black and white was spot on. It only aggravated the impact of the picture without damaging the brutal gore. It added a striking darker tone to the already pitch black shadowy theme. Moreover, the leads’ acting was obviously matching the choice of colours giving it a monistic feel. However, Tsukamoto Shinya was undeniably the main performer of this picture. He was the one who wrote, directed, edited and even added his own special effects to the film. His camerawork, masterful close angles, engaging cinematography and hard-core choice of music were one of the finest I saw in gory films.

Tetsuo is one of those surrealist crazily bizarre Japanese films. Its heavy load of gore and brutally graphic content is a great mean to ensure its purpose.

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"I don't scare easy" Well, I do sister

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is one of those movies I started without fully realizing what I was getting into. I am not a body horror fan so this film was not at all my jam. This review is for anyone thinking about watching it who also might have concerns about this sort of film. For fans of the genre, they will most likely find many things to enjoy about it.

A metal fetishist who has driven metal into his body runs out in front of a car and is hit. The couple take his body out to the woods to dispose of. The victim takes his revenge on the salaryman by causing metal to begin growing out of his body. That's the simplest explanation.

This film felt like the efforts of someone who had been on a psychedelics bender and brought his horrific hallucinations to life. There were numerous scenes that made it hard to tell if something was really happening and if it was, why it was happening. Was it just a delusion? Much of the action was fast forwarded or stop action which was nausea inducing.

Tsukamoto Shinya who wrote, directed and starred in this film had a penis obsession. Whether mechanical or real, the object of ecstasy or torture, phallic symbols abounded.

Tetsuo is the type of film that is more about the experience than the “plot.” For me, it was not a great experience. A curiosity, yes. Entertaining, not particularly. Again, if you enjoy this horror subgenre, it’s older, but might be one to try. Every time I think I've seen the weirdest movie, there's someone to say, "Hold my motor oil."

16 June 2025
Trigger warnings: Basically, if you have triggers, it would be best to avoid this film. Bugs. Gore. Violence. Sex. Nudity. Penis gore. Sexual assault.

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