Visitor Q

Just as I was unable to properly categorize The Teacher, I find myself now unable to properly describe Visitor Q, though for vastly different reasons. Unlike the previous film, which was indescribably lame, this one was so indescribably vile that a normal review pales in comparison to the sheer experience of watching it.

The film, shot on video, is apparently attempting to parody reality TV, and follows a dysfunctional family as their lives are changed by a stranger named Visitor Q, who enters their lives by tagging along with the father after beating him in the head with a rock. Frankly, though, calling the family dysfunctional is a bit of a misnomer. The son is the victim of bullies, and retaliates by regularly beating the hell out of his mother, the mother has resorted to drugs to cope, the father has been raped and has developed a fondness for rape, incest, and murder, and the daughter has become a prostitute.

The directing isn’t as exciting as a normal Takashi Miike film, presumably because it was shot on video instead of film, but he has made up for it by making this the most vile film he possibly could. I watch a lot of offensive films, as regulars to this blog can attest, and this is, to date, the only film I ever watched where I felt like a bad person just for having seen it. Whether it be the rape, the necrophilia, the lactation sex, or what have you, there’s just something about this film that really makes me feel a bit less like a legitimate human being each time I watch it (tonight being my second time). As such, I’m not really sure what kind of rating to give it, so I’m going straight down the middle on it. It’s definitely not one of Miike’s best made films, but for those for are fans of his, or for anyone who’s interested in extreme cinema, it is definitely something to check out.

Rating: ** ½