Cyclops

David Cronenberg’s battle cry “Long live the New Flesh!” didn’t makes much of a dent in mainstream cinema. But for a select few filmmakers, the director’s unique take on human evolution – or de-evolution, as the case may be – echoed and amplified their own ideas about body horror. Joji Iida’s Cyclops (1987) is a V-cinema showcase of practical effects, teenage telepaths and misunderstood mutants that carries on Cronenberg’s biological revolution into distinctly Japanese territory.

Continuing his mentor’s secret experiments, Tooru Takamori protects his adopted “sister,” Miyuki, from clandestine operatives while caring for his pregnant wife. As Miyuki begins to suspect a larger conspiracy, she becomes the focus of a menacing stranger hiding behind oversized sunglasses. But exactly what he’s hiding behind those shades is only the tip of the evolutionary iceberg.

Cyclops drops viewers into a story that seems to be missing its opening chapters, forcing you to untangle a complicated plot and the characters’ mysterious motivations. At just 52 minutes, that’s no easy task. Still, the suggestion of a long-running war between “normals” and a new breed of mutants hiding in plain sight is fascinating stuff, even if the film never gives you anyone to root for. Iida is really just laying the groundwork for a viscera-soaked climax that plants its flag in the annals of body horror history.

Once the shades come off, Cyclops erupts into skin-splitting, entrail-entangling madness, weaponizing its characters’ bodies in a manga-inspired showdown that borrows from The Thing and The Fly in equal measure. Is all that enough to support an entire feature? Probably not. But Iida, who would go on to helm the original Ringu sequel, 1998’s Spiral, seems to be having so much fun playing around in his half-finished universe that you might not even care.

Another great find from Visual Vengeance, the new 2K transfer is sourced from the original 16mm elements and retains an attractive – and obvious - shot-on-film texture. Extras include two video essays examining the Japanese DTV market and Cyclops itself, audio commentary, Joji Iida interview, image and sketch gallery, mini poster, two sets of liner notes and a slip cover. The English subs are a bit wonky with lots of typos, but it’s not a dealbreaker by any means.