"Masters of Horror" Imprint (2006)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
Daisuke Tengan (teleplay)
(more)

TV Series:

"Masters of Horror" (2005)

Original Air Date:

25 February 2006 (Season 1, Episode 13)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

In the Nineteenth Century, in Japan, the American journalist Christopher is traveling through the country searching Komomo...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Brothel | Buddhist Monk | Midwife | Childbirth

Cast

Youki Kudoh	...	The Woman
Michié	...	Komomo (as Michie)
Toshie Negishi	...	Madam of the House
Billy Drago	...	Christopher
Shiho Harumi	...	Laborer #1
Magy	...	Laborer #2
Shin'ichi Tokuhara	...	Laborer #3
Takao Handa	...	Yoshi, Laborer #4
Hiroshi Kuze	...	Boatman
Miyuki Konno	...	Dead Woman
Yutaka Matsuzaki	...	Gate Keeper #1
Hiroshi Fujita	...	Gate Keeper #2
Sachiko Matsuura	...	Shamisen Player
Noriko Eguchi	...	Whore #1
Megumu Takada	...	Whore #2
Yuno	...	Whore #3
Miho Harita	...	Whore #4
Mame Yamada	...	Touter
Tokitoshi Shiota	...	Elderly Woman
Risa Uehara	...	Girl with Blue Eyes
Kumiko Imai	...	The Mother
Houka Kinoshita	...	The Father
Miho Ninagawa	...	Pregnant Woman
Suzuno Nomura	...	Girl in Woman's Flashback
Seriyu Ichino	...	Buddist Priest
Shinichi Tanaka	...	Pimp
Yasushi Tomobe	...	Woman's Customer
Shimako Iwai	...	The Torturer
Katsuyuki Shimosugi	...	Boy #1
Haruo Fukuhara	...	Boy #2
Keita Murase	...	Boy #3
Dong Wook Min	...	Prison Guard #1
Takumi Matsumoto	...	Prison Guard #2

Directed by
Takashi Miike

Writing credits
Mick Garris		(creator)
Daisuke Tengan		(teleplay)
Shimako Iwai		(novel "Bokkê, kyôtê")

Produced by
Keith Addis	....	executive producer
Bo Altherr	....	producer: special materials
Rie Arikawa	....	associate producer
Morris Berger	....	executive producer
Ben Browning	....	co-producer
Stephen R. Brown	....	executive producer (as Steve Brown)
Andrew Deane	....	executive producer
Mick Garris	....	executive producer
Adam Goldworm	....	co-producer
John W. Hyde	....	executive producer
Fumio Inoue	....	producer
Takeo Kodera	....	associate producer
Elizabeth Kushman	....	associate producer
Jennie Lew Tugend	....	producer
Yosuke Nakamura	....	co-producer
Danielle Reardon	....	associate producer
Lisa Richardson	....	producer
Tom Rowe	....	producer
Lauren Weissman	....	producer (as Lauren C. Weissman)
Akira Yamamoto	....	line producer

Original Music by
Kôji Endô		(as Kozy Endo Jr.)

Cinematography by
Toyomichi Kurita		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Yasushi Shimamura

Casting by
Nancy Nayor		(as Nancy Nayor Battino)
Tsuyoshi Sugino
Kelly Wagner		(as Kelly Martin Wagner)

Production Design by
Takashi Sasaki
Hisashi Sasaki		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Michiko Kitamura

Production Management
Margo Coughlin Zimmerman	....	production manager: IDT Entertainment (as Margo Zimmerman)
Tatsuya Mouri	....	production manager
Marie Norton	....	administrative manager: IDT Entertainment
Zaida Rodriguez	....	assistant manager: IDT Entertainment
Stacey Jade Smart	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shinjiro Nishimura	....	third assistant director
Trevor Ralph	....	assistant director
Masato Tanno	....	first assistant director
Yoshitaka Yamaguchi	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Youji Daitoku	....	set constructor
Shinsuke Kojima	....	art designer
Kazuta Matsunaga	....	property master
Hitomi Nimura	....	set dresser
Satoko Saito	....	art designer
Regan Steele	....	set dresser
Jun Tsukane	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Anke Bakker	....	sound supervisor
Yukido Hotozuka	....	boom operator
Masaki Ikeda	....	boom operator
Minako Imai	....	cable person
Kenji Shibazaki	....	sound effects editor
Joshua Stevenson	....	assistant dialogue editor
Hitoshi Tsurumaki	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Yûichi Matsui	....	special effects makeup (as Yuichi Matsui)
Akira Sakamoto	....	gun effects

Visual Effects by
Mladen Miholjcic	....	senior CGI artist: Anthem Visual Effects
Misako Saka	....	CGI producer

Stunts
Lauro Chartrand	....	additional stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Cove	....	second assistant camera
Toshiki Fukase	....	third assistant camera
Seth Hettrick	....	key rigging grip
Michiaki Kamochi	....	electrician
Masao Kanazawa	....	gaffer
Masato Kaneko	....	first assistant camera
Kosuke Kasai	....	second assistant camera
Kohei Kato	....	fourth assistant camera
Daisuke Komada	....	electrician
Hidenori Nagate	....	best boy electric
Akihiro Shimura	....	electrician
Yoshinori Ueno	....	key grip

Editorial Department
Yuriko Hosono	....	assistant editor

Music Department
James Fogel	....	assistant score engineer
Jennifer Ross	....	music supervisor
Ed Shearmur	....	composer: theme music (as Edward Shearmur)

Transportation Department
Duane Shearer	....	office driver

Other crew
Alan Abrams	....	legal counsel
Kristi Blicharski	....	publicist
Kristin Harris	....	production coordinator: IDT Entertainment
Allison Mella Strina	....	business and legal affairs (as Allison J. Mella)
Golan Ramras	....	director of development: Kadokawa Pictures, USA
Christian Storms	....	on-set interpreter
Christian Storms	....	screenplay translator
Nadia Venesse	....	dialect coach

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mick Garris		creator

Makeup Department
Grady Holder	....	dental prosthetics: K.N.B. EFX Group
Leanne Rae Podavin	....	special makeup effects artist
Sherry Van Gool	....	additional assistant makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Raj Uppal	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Martin P. Blaine	....	lead carpenter
Bill Morrill	....	lead carpenter

Sound Department
Kris Casavant	....	assistant sound editor
Dario DiSanto	....	foley editor
Talvinder Gill	....	assistant sound editor
Shawn Miller	....	sound mixer: second unit

Special Effects by
Ozzy Alvarez	....	lab technician: K.N.B. EFX Group
Jenny Wallace	....	special effects runner

Stunts
Byron Briscoe	....	stunt double
Clint Carleton	....	stunt double: Ethan Embry
Janina Dall	....	stunt double
Jim Dunn	....	stunt coordinator (12 episodes)
Ashlea Earl	....	stunt double: Bree Turner
Lani Gelera	....	stunt double
Jon Kralt	....	stunt rider
James Ralph	....	stunt double: William Forsythe
Jeff Sanca	....	stunt driver
Sharon Simms	....	stunt double
Eli Zagoudakis	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
John Brown	....	rigging lamp operator
Jeff Cassidy	....	second assistant camera
T.C. Chapman	....	rigging gaffer
Glen A. Dickson	....	camera operator: "b" camera (episode: "Deer Woman")
David Gray	....	still photographer
Gary Stamford	....	gaffer: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dawn Grey	....	dresser

Music Department
Amanda Sobeck	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
John Sorenson	....	driver
Larry Tardif	....	driver: camera car and process trailer

Other crew
Ron Buck	....	technical advisor: military
Simon Chin	....	extras wrangler
Andrzej Dec	....	assistant location manager (odd episodes)
Krista Johnston	....	clearance
Darron Leiren-Young	....	assistant production coordinator
Nathan Lomax	....	key set production assistant (season 2)
Nathan Lomax	....	office production assistant (season 2)
Pancho Mansfield	....	network executive
Sandra Montgomery	....	script supervisor: second unit
Rainer Scheelisch	....	special equipment
Stephen Sobisky	....	interactive designer
Ryan Steacy	....	armorer

Production Companies

• IDT Entertainment
• Industry Entertainment
• Kadokawa Herald Pictures
• Kadokawa Pictures
• Nice Guy Productions
• Reunion Pictures

Distributors

• Kadokawa Herald Pictures (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bravo Television (2006) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• IDT Home Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Paris Filmes (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• SBP (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Costa Abrams & Coate  legal counsel

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Hong Kong:III | France:-16 | USA:TV-MA | Australia:MA | Australia:R (2007) (DVD rating) | Italy:VM14 (DVD release) | Argentina:18

Filming Locations:

Ashiocho, Tochigi, Japan

Company:

IDT Entertainment

Trivia:

Shimako Iwai, the author of the novel on which the film is based, appears as the sadistic torturer.

Quotes:

The Woman: This island isn't in the human world; demons and whores are the only ones living here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Imprinting: The Making of 'Imprint' (2006) (V)

A Living Hell

In the Nineteenth Century, in Japan, the American journalist Christopher (Billy Drago) is traveling through the country searching Komomo (Michie), the missing love of his life that he had abandoned years ago promising to come back to her later. He arrives in a shadowy island inhabited by whores and caftans, where he has an encounter with a deformed prostitute that tells that his beloved Komomo had passed away. He drinks sake with her and later he asks the woman to tell the story of her life. The prostitute discloses a dark and cruel story about her life and the sad fate of Komomo.

The macabre "Imprint" is another disturbing and brutal movie of Takashi Miike. Using magnificent camera-work and impressive make-up in an awesome atmosphere, "Imprint" approaches gruesome and gore theme like abortion, fetus, incest, torture, perversions and abuse along 63 minutes running time of pure and sick horror with many twists. I confess that I felt uncomfortable and disturbed with the sadistic sequence of the torture of Komomo. Takashi Miike really honors the title of this series, being a Master of Horror. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Marcas do Terror" ("Marks of the Terror")