Inferno of Torture Review

4 stars of truly horrifying Japanese torture fest.

Inferno of Torture is a Japanese exploitation horror from legendary director Teruo Ishii (An Outlaw, Yakuza Law). Originally released in 1969, is is presented here in High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) with the original uncompressed mono audio and English subtitles, courtesy of Arrow Video.

“You look surprised. I assume you must be a virgin. If so, I can remedy that for you. It’s bound to happen some time anyway.”

Yumi (Yumiko Katayama – Bullet Train) is a young woman who has fallen foul of a local money lender. In order to pay her debt, she agrees to work as a geisha for two years. However, she soon realises that this is more a brothel than a geisha house.

Run by the tyrannical madam Otatsu (Mieko Fujimoto – Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees) and her cruel partner in crime Samejima (Haruo Tanaka – Flames of Blood), the girls are tattooed and sold as playthings to European buyers, led by the creepy Clayton (Yusuf Hoffman). They are also brutally raped and tortured by Genzo (Shin’ichirô Hayashi – Sex and Fury), a rogue employee.

It’s not long before Yumi becomes the subject of attention for the two rival tattoo artists employed by the brothel. There is an upcoming competition to be judged by the Shogun which will determine who will succeed the current top tattooist. Horihide (Teruo Yoshida – Red Mist, Orgies of Edo) and Horitatsu (Asao Koike – Throne of Blood) are both vying for the title, which also carries the added prize of the hand in marriage of Osuzu (Masumi Tachibana – Mankiller).

With her body becoming a battleground and an increasingly tortuous existence, how will Yumi survive this ordeal.

Inferno of Torture is a totally bewildering onslaught on the senses which depicts Japan’s Edo period in way that only Ishii could. There are acres of tattooed naked female flesh and miles of ropes, not to mention the countless breasts. Almost every scene features a naked woman tied up, or hanging from the ceiling upside down, those that don’t boast instead gallons of blood.

This film is most certainly not for the faint hearted, it’s super violent and extremely sexually explicit yet it’s an amazing vision of violent eroticism, beautifully remastered and well worth adding to your collection if you enjoy the genre.

“Your skill lies in your eyes and hands working in harmony. I now understand how beautiful your work is.”

Inferno of Torture is available to buy now on Blu-ray.