Film Review: TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN

It’ s been 17 years since director Shinya Tsukamoto delved into the world of “Tetsuo” and he opens up a whole new world in the latest chapter in the series “Tetsuo: The Bullet Man.” This entry strives to be a little more mainstream by having the main character Anthony (Eric Bossick), the son of an American father and Japanese mother, live with his Japanese wife Yuriko (Akiko Mono) and son Tom in Japan. He’s your typical businessman who likes to walk his son to school every day but on one day while he is on the phone with Yuriko his son is run down through hit and run by a Guy (Shinya Tsukamoto). Having heard the whole incident over the phone Yuriko starts to spiral into madness seeking only revenge for the death of her son. This causes Anthony to release a lot of violent and hidden emotions that manifests themselves eternally through the gradual transformation of his body into iron. When the Guy that killed his son reappears, Anthony mutates into a human weapon fueled by his need for revenge.

Tsukamoto’s techno-body-horror remains intact in this film from the previous two films but with a bigger budget he’s able to expand on the cinematography, makeup, visual effects, and story like never before. Whereas with the original “Tetsuo,” which used a lot of close-ups and fast cuts to give the film a very cramped and claustrophobic feel this film has a lot more wide angles (and not so many scenes appear chaotic and frenetic). This new film feels very controlled and precise and shows off Tsukamoto’s technical skills learned in the 17 years in between films.

Fans of the original will not be disappointed. Even though this is a remake/re-imagination of the original film (ala “The Evil Dead 2”) Tsukamoto uses his signature style of the original film and transplants it to this film so even though this film has a larger budget and a broader audience appeal than the previous films it may still turn off those who only know him from his work in “Vital” and the “Nightmare Detective” films (which are more mainstream).