IMPRINT (2006) Scare Score | Movie Recap
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00:00 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Horror Mine.
00:03 My name is Vic Shai, and this is The Scare Score,
00:06 where I break down horror movies and rate them on how scary I think they are.
00:10 In part two of our Month of Mikey special,
00:13 I'll be covering Takashi Mikey's 2006 controversial horror film, Imprint.
00:18 Imprint tells the story of an American journalist returning to a mysterious island in Japan
00:23 to find and rescue his lost love at a brothel.
00:26 I'll be covering the events that take place throughout the film while our Scare Score goes up or down
00:31 based on how effective the scares are or attempt to be.
00:34 Imprint was the 13th episode of the first season of Masters of Horror,
00:38 a horror anthology TV series that aired on Showtime.
00:41 Each episode was directed by a different director, and Takashi Mikey was the mastermind behind Imprint.
00:47 However, the film was deemed too disturbing by Showtime and was never aired on television.
00:52 But how scary is it?
00:53 Sit back and relax and join me as we explore the disturbing world of Imprint and tally up The Scare Score.
01:01 Our movie begins on a boat ride along a dark river somewhere in Japan.
01:10 We meet our main character, Christopher, an American journalist portrayed by Billy Drago.
01:15 They come across the body of a dead pregnant woman,
01:17 which would be the only thing I needed to see before turning the boat back around.
01:21 They arrive on a mysterious island ready for sex because the main attraction is a brothel.
01:27 The island has a very unique atmosphere to it.
01:29 I can only describe it as a mix between dreamlike and circusy.
01:33 All of the prostitutes are dressed in red and have red hair.
01:41 All of them are lined up along a wooden cage trying to entice their potential customers,
01:45 all except for one woman sitting alone in the dark.
01:49 The madam comes in and yells at the woman and tells her to get to work.
01:52 He is greeted by a little person who for some reason has part of his nose bitten off.
01:56 Why are you moaning?
01:58 What is done here is better in the dark.
02:02 Christopher says he's looking for a specific girl named Komomo.
02:06 The little man says he's never heard of that name and lies less convincingly
02:10 than when my mom tells me that I am in fact handsome.
02:16 He tells Christopher that there are no more boats until morning
02:18 and entices him to spend the night for a great value price.
02:22 We briefly see the shadow of a little girl creepily walking past a dark hallway.
02:26 This is a deceptive scare.
02:33 Trust me, the real horrors have yet to come.
02:35 As Christopher gets comfortable, the brothel worker hilariously tells him
02:39 "Bon appétit" possibly thinking he's French.
02:42 Christopher begins narrating his love story with Komomo
02:45 and Billy Drago is a surprisingly effective narrator.
02:48 Once upon a time, I held a woman named Komomo in my arms.
02:54 Christopher met Komomo at a brothel years ago
02:56 and promised that he would come back for her and take her back to America.
03:00 Upon returning to the brothel, Komomo had been sold off
03:03 and he has been searching for her ever since.
03:05 He notices the same pinwheel in the room that Komomo was holding in his memory of her.
03:10 The mysterious woman finally walks in and reveals that half of her face is disfigured.
03:15 Tonight...
03:17 I am yours.
03:20 The woman is never named, so I'll call her Blue
03:22 as her blue hair is her other distinctive feature.
03:25 We get a fake-out jump scare where she pulls the classic
03:28 "there's a ghost behind you" trick on Christopher.
03:30 She's either got a weak sense of humor or is a little crazy.
03:34 Blue says that she's been like this since birth
03:36 and that she feels closer to the dead than the living.
03:39 Christopher states that in his experience,
03:42 the living can cause so much more damage than the dead.
03:45 Blue bears the unfortunate news that Komomo recently passed away.
03:49 She took her own life because she couldn't bear to wait for Christopher any longer.
03:53 Christopher becomes enraged and accuses Blue of lying,
03:56 saying Komomo would never do that.
03:58 She assures him that she is telling the truth
04:00 as we see Komomo's corpse being tossed into a river.
04:03 He tries to leave, but she says the island is not of the human world and full of demons.
04:08 The film has done a good job establishing an intriguing premise
04:11 set in an isolated, otherworldly setting.
04:14 From this point, Takashi Miike takes a hold of the viewer
04:17 and doesn't let go until the very last frame.
04:20 She asks what he loved about Komomo
04:22 and he said that she reminded him of his dead little sister.
04:25 She offers him some sake, saying it's the best way to forget.
04:29 Although, Tom Cruise might state otherwise.
04:35 We again see a little girl wandering the dark halls of the brothel.
04:39 While Blue fans him, Christopher sees a ghostly face directly behind her.
04:43 This is something I never noticed until rewatching this film for the Scare Score
04:50 and it really caught me off guard.
04:52 Especially since the ghost looks almost identical to Kayako Saeki.
04:56 He chalks it up to having drank too much sake.
05:02 Christopher reveals he is a journalist and asks to hear Blue's story.
05:06 She was born in a poor village somewhere in the mountains.
05:09 Her father was sick and her mother was a midwife who helped the village women give birth.
05:13 She was hated by everyone in town because of her face
05:16 except for a Buddhist priest who was the only one to show her kindness.
05:20 He shows her a disturbing painting of hell
05:23 and says that she must do all good things to avoid going there.
05:26 One day, her father became too sick and didn't want to burden the family.
05:30 He walked off into the nearby river and died quietly.
05:33 Her mother couldn't take care of her alone and gave her away to a traveling performer.
05:37 She spent the rest of her life being sold and bought until she wound up on the island.
05:42 This is where she met Komomo, one of the only people to ever show her kindness.
05:46 While Komomo tells Blue about Christopher, the other ladies mock her for being so delusional.
05:56 Komomo was the most beautiful and popular woman at the brothel
06:00 making the other women extremely jealous of her.
06:02 One day, the madam's jade ring is stolen and she finds Komomo's hairpin on the floor in her room.
06:08 Obviously framed, the other girls quickly turn on her and lie to the madam.
06:12 Blue tries defending her but is pushed away.
06:14 And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the scene that Imprint is infamously remembered for
06:19 and why it was banned from originally airing.
06:22 Komomo is bound, gagged and brutally tortured by the other women.
06:26 In Chakushinari, Takashi Miike showed us someone nail cutting a little too deep.
06:31 In Imprint, he goes three steps further and goes full nail penetration.
06:35 It's genuinely one of the most disturbing torture scenes I have ever seen
06:40 especially because Miike really pushed the boundary for what was acceptable to be shown on TV.
06:44 Clearly, some people thought that it wasn't.
06:47 It's really hard to watch and I can't show it here for obvious reasons
06:50 but this scene alone deserves 10 scare points.
06:53 I can, however, show the deranged little liar watching the torture take place
06:58 while making weird noises expressing his approval and pleasure.
07:01 [Komomo screaming]
07:04 The women torture Komomo with such malice and pleasure
07:07 that you can't help but wonder how long they've wanted to do this to her.
07:10 Komomo's screams of agony are absolutely tragic and make it that much harder to sit through this scene.
07:16 Not even her gums are safe.
07:18 Ouch.
07:18 She is then hung upside down and urinates on herself which is a depressing sight to see.
07:23 Komomo admits to taking the ring hoping the torture will end but doesn't know where it's at.
07:28 She calls out to Christopher one last time before tragically taking her own life.
07:33 You're a liar.
07:37 Christopher still doesn't believe Blue's story and begs her to tell him the truth.
07:42 Komomo's dead body can still be seen moving in the background which was extremely creepy.
07:47 In a really clever display of imagery, Blue asks Christopher if he really wants to know the truth.
07:52 Her face is divided by a see-through cloth which seems to eerily display two personalities.
07:57 Blue reveals that she is the one who stole the ring and framed Komomo.
08:01 She then goes a step further and kills Komomo by strangling her with the rope.
08:06 She uses the weak excuse that it was a mercy kill and that she helped Komomo get to heaven
08:10 which is a pretty bogus excuse.
08:12 It's clear that out of all the women, Blue was the most jealous of Komomo.
08:17 This scene highlights that Komomo and Blue were polar opposites right down to the blue and red hair.
08:22 Komomo is kind and down to earth while Blue is selfish and evil.
08:26 Christopher is rightfully disgusted by the revelation.
08:29 As Blue explains her reasoning for what she did, she doesn't express a single ounce of remorse.
08:34 Just when you thought it couldn't get more disturbing, it does.
08:38 Right...
08:40 ...sis?
08:43 Blue's facial expression turns completely sinister and makes her look horrifying.
08:47 While getting strangled, Komomo yanks on Blue's hair revealing something we don't quite get to see yet.
08:53 Christopher knows Blue is still leaving something out and begs her to tell him the truth.
08:57 Tell him the truth.
08:59 Another voice tells Blue to tell him the truth and she falls to the ground in pain.
09:07 Blue finally decides to tell him the real story.
09:10 Her parents were homeless and wandered the land begging for money.
09:13 They eventually found a place to live in the poorest village in the region.
09:17 Blue's mother wasn't a midwife that helped deliver babies but a specialist in aborting them.
09:22 Her father was an extremely abusive alcoholic that would constantly beat on the mother.
09:27 Sake.
09:32 Sake.
09:35 When she gave birth to Blue, she immediately dumped her in the river.
09:38 However, after two whole days, Blue survived and the mother decided to raise her.
09:43 Blue would help her mother with the abortions that she would perform with what looks like lotus roots.
09:48 She reveals that the Buddhist priest wasn't really nice and would sexually abuse her.
09:52 We also get a scene where three boys call Blue a freak and a baby killer.
09:56 They toss a rock at her head making her drop the bucket with a fetus which scares the bullies into running away.
10:02 If you thought that her abusive father couldn't be worse of a person, think again.
10:06 After putting the absolute beatdown on her mom, the father turned his attention to Blue and sexually abused her.
10:12 The entirety of her upbringing is absolutely depressing and disturbing.
10:16 The exact same can be said about this entire film.
10:20 It's really hard to watch at times and you can't help but to feel bad for Blue a little.
10:24 One day, Blue decides that she's had enough of her sake-drinking abusive father and kills him.
10:35 This is where the film's real disturbing truth is finally revealed.
10:39 A bloody hand with eyes and a mouth emerges from Blue's head, revealed to be her twin sister.
10:44 No wonder she's so good at her job, she's got an extra hand.
10:53 That thing is an absolute monstrosity and deserves five points all on its own.
10:58 One point for each finger.
10:59 The twin spits out the jade ring and starts biting Blue's head.
11:02 The twin on her head is the reason that their mother tossed Blue in the river at birth.
11:06 But sire, there must be a reason for such a monstrosity.
11:11 That's right folks, let's add the cherry on top of the disturbing cake.
11:24 Incest.
11:25 We then get a sort of sweet but not quite scene where Blue's twin is singing her a lullaby.
11:30 Close your eyes.
11:34 Blue's hair color is absolutely beautiful here.
11:39 On one side is a beautiful young girl with a tragic upbringing.
11:42 On the other is the sinister monstrosity that she is forced to live with.
11:46 Blue's twin has been the evil voice inside of her head, forcing her to do bad things.
11:51 If Blue refused, the twin would bite down on her head and repeatedly torment her.
11:55 She made Blue kill her dad and steal the ring.
11:57 However, Blue's decision to kill Komomo was completely her own.
12:01 I waited and waited for you Christopher.
12:05 Komomo?
12:06 Seeing the twin mimic Komomo's voice and then immediately seeing her face like that was
12:11 something I was not ready for.
12:13 That was a brilliant scare.
12:15 The twin tells Christopher that she knows what he did back in America.
12:18 She starts mimicking his little sister's voice and we learn that Christopher killed his little
12:23 sister.
12:24 The little boy says "I did what you asked" and I'm sure we can all read between the lines
12:28 as to what that means.
12:30 Christopher mentioned his sister once before when he said that Komomo reminded him of her.
12:34 His sister was seen a couple of times earlier and has been haunting him the entire film.
12:38 Christopher decides he's seen enough and shoots Blue in the chest.
12:42 She tells him that he cannot kill them and the twin laughs diabolically.
12:45 He shoots her in the head and they take the form of Komomo.
12:48 With just 4 minutes left of this hour-long film, Takashi Miike decided he wanted it filled
12:54 to the brim with disturbing sequences until the very end.
12:58 Komomo grabs the back of her open head wound and pulls out pieces of her brain.
13:02 Christopher is now in prison for Blue's murder.
13:04 The guard says that they are going to have fun with him and that death will not come
13:08 soon.
13:09 "Mrs. Park, it's us!"
13:11 Christopher dines on his 3 Michelin star meal before drinking water from a bucket.
13:16 The bucket heavily resembles the one Blue would carry during her mother's abortions.
13:20 In one final stroke of disturbingness, we see a fetus inside of the bucket.
13:24 In the film's final scene, Christopher cradles the bucket and hums to it, having undoubtedly
13:29 lost his mind.
13:30 The ghost of his little sister and Komomo stand behind him, as a reminder of his past
13:35 that will always haunt and torment him as the movie ends.
13:45 And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Imprint.
13:48 I think I've said the word "disturbing" about 12 times and I'll say it one more time since
13:53 this is the 13th episode.
13:55 This film is disturbing.
13:57 Takashi Miike really pushed the boundaries on this film and I can see why the execs over
14:01 at Showtime were a little nervous to release it.
14:04 However, I think that makes for great press and adds to this film's lore and mystique.
14:09 With that said, the film as a whole isn't very scary.
14:13 And that's fine because I don't think that's what Miike was going for here.
14:16 I think it's pretty obvious that the main goal of the film was to disturb and shock
14:20 audiences, and with that, it succeeds, earning Imprint a Middle of the Road Scare score of
14:26 47%.
14:27 The scariest scene in the film was hands down Komomo's torture scene.
14:31 What was done to her was horrifying and the image of her hanging upside down with needles
14:35 sticking out of her mouth is going to stick with me for a long time.
14:39 No sticky pun intended.
14:40 But as always, I hope you all enjoyed the video.
14:43 Thank you all for tuning in and I cannot wait to see y'all right back here in the Horror
14:47 Mine.