Gory greetings horroryearbook alumni! Welcome to another edition of IT CAME FROM THE MAILBOX, an exciting column where your old pal Brain Hammer reviews whatever random crap the good folks at horroryearbook decide to throw my way.

No crap this time around. I was lucky enough to have been sent the Bone House Asia dvd release of Go Shibata’s 2004 film LATE BLOOMER. Critics ranging from Roger Ebert to The Horror Geek Mike Bracken have given this flick rave reviews over the last few months, and I was anxious to finally get to check it out.

LATE BLOOMER is the sad story of Sumida-san (Masakiyo Sumida), a man who suffers from the crippling effects of Muscular Dystrophy. Largely bound to an electric wheelchair, Sumida cannot speak and has to communicate with his care givers through a computerized voice machine. Despite his disability, Sumida still enjoys a full life of hardcore porn, endless beer binges, and going to noisy punk rock shows. (Sounds like most of the hyb staff!)

Sumida has two care givers in his life, an older woman who prepares his meals and his best friend Take. Take (Naozo Hotta) encourages Sumida-san’s alcoholism and takes him out for nights on the town. Sumida’s life changes forever when he is assigned a new helper – a pretty young college girl named Nobuko. Nobuko (Mari Torli) is a nice girl who takes the position on her aunt’s recommendation, but she has no real desire to become a cherished and vital part of Sumida’s life. She videotapes Sumida’s rather pathetic life and later shows the tapes to her friends at school.

It doesn’t take long for Sumida to become infatuated with the lovely Nobuko. Sumida tells one of his handicapped friends about his feelings of desire and is warned that nothing good will come of the situation. This proves to be sadly correct. After spurning Sumida’s crude advances, Nobuko begins spending her spare time with Take. This rejection causes Sumida-san to fume with jealousy. The frustration eventually turns deadly and Sumida begins to turn his twisted fantasies of revenge and murder into reality.

I was greatly impressed with this disturbing picture. LATE BLOOMER is largely being marketed as a horror film, which is not really accurate. There are violent deaths and splashy throat slittings, but the film never feels like cheap exploitation. Go Shibata has created a film that manages to be both beautiful and disgusting. Frightening and moving. Shot entirely in black and white, the film often uses an erratic hand held camera to help present the perspective of the disabled star. It often feels like a documentary, which makes the film more disturbing. Music is another key element to the film’s success. Violent punk rock blends into white noise, and then into a moving score. In a director’s greeting included on the dvd release, Shibata encourages the viewer to turn up the volume and really feel this movie.

Masakiyo Sumida does a remarkable job starring in this film. He completely immerses himself in the role of a sad and lonely man who struggles with his desires for acceptance and love and his appetite for self destruction. It would be all too easy to make jokes and say that Masakiyo is not acting because he is disabled, but that would be an insult to his captivating performance in this film. You spend the majority of the film with Sumida and it is to his credit that the film is so emotionally effective. His loneliness, frustration, and rage are completely believable.

This was not an easy film to sit through. LATE BLOOMER was clearly not meant to be a crowd pleaser and I have to give much credit to Go Shibata for making such an uncompromising work of art. It alternates between being sweet and shocking. There are no easy answers to Sumida’s problems, and there is no happy ending to the story. This sad realism makes the film much more believable. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a highly effective and unusual story of isolation and despair.

LATE BLOOMER is currently available on dvd from Bone House Asia. The special features include a director’s greeting, interviews with the director and cast, and the theatrical trailer. Brain Hammer approved and worth a look.

KEEP THE BLOOD FLOWING!!!