Hiruko the goblin.
Tsukamoto steps in front of the camera once again. Here he plays an archaeologist who goes to investigate the disappearance of his brother-in-law who claims to have discovered an ancient tomb. He soon discovers an ancient evil has been awakened and must work with students from the local school to stop it.
While Tsukamoto is working more as a director for hire adapting someone else's material, he's a horror movie fan and lifts from his favourites to make this film work. The primary influence is clearly Sam Raimi as the film has a strong Evil Dead feel to proceedings. We also get plenty of strange imagery and some of Tsukamoto's own fixations including transformations of the human body. Overall a solid horror movie and a great introduction to newcomers to the directors work.
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