The Guard From Underground 
地獄の警備員 「Jigoku no Keibin」
Release Date: June 13th, 1992
UK Release Date: September 25th, 2023 (via Third Window Films)
Running Time: 97 mins.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Writer: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Kunihiko Tomioka (Screenplay),
Starring: Makiko Kuno, Yutaka Matsushige, Hatsunori Hasegawa, Ren Osugi, Taro Suwa, Kanta Ogata, Yoshiko Yura, Hiroyuki Tanabe, Yoriko Doguchi,
The Guard from Underground is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 1992 slasher film set in a Tokyo high rise whose occupants are terrorised by a murderous sumo wrestler turned building security guard. Shot in three weeks and made with a low budget, this silly-sounding film is quite serious in execution as it successfully overlays the infamously bloody horror subgenre onto the world of corporate Japan and finds time to lightly satirise and critique office culture in a dread atmosphere.
One of the targets of the aforementioned psychotic sumo is Akiko Narushima (Makiko Kuno), a gallery curator who is a new hire at Akebono Corporation where she will advise on commercial art purchases.
Drive-by exposition from a radio broadcast and the driver on her taxi ride to her new job sets up the threat of her foe, the tall and mighty Fujimaru (Yutaka Matsushige), a former sumo wrestler responsible for the murder of his lover and her lover, another sumo wrestler… Unbelievably, he was released due to being declared insane but police are on his tail again just as he has started working at the Akebono building which is where he will trap and stalk Akiko and her colleagues.
Unnerving, shocking, grimly amusing at points – not least the absurd set-up, this is a tight and focussed exercise in atmospherics and bone-crunching blows that works as a slasher. The antagonist is physically implacable in a Michael Myers way, his victims almost like archetypes and fit for the slaughter, the building itself turned into a maze-like gauntlet that they try to escape, each attempt raising the viewer’s hopes before Fujimaru powers in to brutally snuff them out with some wince-inducing kills.
It feels like a rather brute-force work compared to Kurosawa’s later dreamlike titles that offer more of the abstract and philosophical and less of the bloodily violent.
Indeed, this film presents an earthy and direct story of murder and mayhem in a workaday setting, all told in a very dry matter-of-fact manner. However, even in the simplicity of its story and setting there is depth in its visualisation and examples of workplace woes, repeated motifs of which help set a dark tone of estrangement that viewers will quickly identify and that adds depth and powers a lot of the character motivations, atmospherics, and eventual carnage.
The alienation begins with Kurosawa presenting the physical space as a hostile place. As Akiko explores the office tower, she traverses cold and clinical corridors, dilapidated and dirty document rooms, and decrepit dingy basements. There is low-lighting and voluminous shadows, the overall colour scheme is dingy. Corridors are lined with ominous metal doors and opaque plastic sheeting for the killer to spring from behind and attack victims!
The psychic space is also hostile for Akiko. Her male co-workers are satirical examples of office mismanagement as they display power and sexual harassment. The only source of solidarity inevitably comes from a fellow woman. Despite this, they defy being archetypes. There are moments when characters will surprise viewers with bravery or cowardice making each interaction just that little bit more unpredictable. Through the subplots of internecine office struggles, they gain some definition and the actors are skilled at fleshing them out and making them sympathetic which makes Fujimaru’s pursuits more involving and their gory conclusions a little more affecting. One highlight is reliable actor Ren Osugi who plays a lecherous manager named Kurume with such gusto that his presence, though creepy, is enjoyable to watch.
All of this means that the simple story has enough of a dark current carrying charismatic-enough characters to keep viewers interested. We become invested in the plight of the characters and the stalking becomes high-tension events that ends with office stationary and furniture forming the grim – and sometimes blackly comic – manner of deaths for Akiko’s coteries of colleagues and co-workers. A locker makes for a particularly nasty and memorable end for one person.
As the main antagonist, Yutaka Matsushige makes for a surprising sumo, his tall and lean figure undercutting audience expectations and yet he is terrifying to witness. A lot of it comes from how he is framed by the camera – often from low-angle shots, obscured by shadows or presented as an ominous shadow himself, sometimes only a thick glove seen in the foreground. The tight space of the corridors help accentuate his presence. He looks intimidating, a tower of merciless muscle and his actions are jarringly violent, their ferocity allowing a level of fear to punch through the screen even if the kills are uninventive.
A lot of the threat comes from smart use of sound effects and cut-aways to horrified reaction shots of characters because most of the carnage is obscured by shadows but the blood still flows and bones can be heard snapping and so when Fujimaru goes on the rampage, it becomes a dread inducing chill amped up by the ominous sound of his walk and viewers will undoubtedly be urging Akiko to survive his onslaught with their hearts in their mouths. And on a final note, even Fujimaru is also afflicted by alienation, one that sounds familiar from the empty ghosts of Kurosawa’s 2001 film Pulse.
Indeed, what is very interesting about this film, beyond brutal horror and great mise-en-scene/framing is seeing the nascent Kurosawa style. Yes, it features visual cues inspired by American horror films, much like the Poltergeist-like horror film Sweet Home (1989), but Guard features early stylistic techniques and thematic threads that occur and grow in his later works, from the use of long takes and tactically used pans/dolly shots to the aforementioned plastic sheeting and the actors who would go on to populate his V-Cinema and mainstream theatrical works. Seeing the origins of everything is just the cherry on top of a good horror film.
EXTRAS
This is a Region B release and it features:
• New digital remaster from the original negatives
• New audio commentary by Tom Mes
• Interview with producer Takashi Ikoma
• Kiyoshi Kurosawa talk at the premiere of the new master
• Trailer
• Slipcase with artwork from Gokaiju
• ‘Directors Company’ edition featuring insert by Jasper Sharp – limited to 2000 copies
The film was given a new lease of life thanks to a digital remaster that was carried out under the supervision of cinematographer Kenichi Negishi. It appeared in mini theatres in Japan and was screened at Tokyo International Film Festival 2022.
This Blu-ray is the next best thing to a cinema screening,
The film is now presented with a crisp and clean visuals. That means more legible visuals for numerous scenes shot in dark and shadowy places. Indeed, the full gamut of details from set dressing and locations are clearly visible making this a massive upgrade over a previously released version via the Arts Magic DVD.
Beyond the upgraded visuals there are extras that add to the experience of the film.
The interview with Kiyoshi Kurosawa and the interview with producer Takashi Ikoma gives context to the making of the film – the last work made by Director’s Company. It is fascinating and amusing to listen to eyebrow-raising anecdotes of the production, particularly the situation with the studio and its parlous finances and the creative ways around them as the film was being completed. A particular rich vein of information is the insight given into the revolving door nature Director’s Company roster of talent. Viewers will learn that numerous soon-to-be influential directors and film people were involved in this low-budget horror movie, both in front of and behind the camera. Hearing their stories is interesting and involving – almost like being there.
The audio commentary done by Tom Mes adds immensely to this background. He delivers shrewd and insightful comments on the aesthetics of the movie and suggested influences. At times, I felt myself nodding in agreement and even giving an appreciative “ahhh” as he made me see the film anew and appreciate the development of the horror genre in Japan. Particularly enjoyable is how he gives succinct summations of the careers and works of various people involved in the film, the links between horror, pink films and mainstream movies.
You get the whole scope of what the industry was like at the time while also zeroing in on granular details.
I genuinely felt like I had learned a lot and I have been into Japanese films for decades at this point.
These extras and the digital remaster make this an essential purchase for fans of Kurosawa, Japanese films, and horror films because they deliver one of Japan’s first slasher movies in fantastic condition and with so much information.
As mentioned previously in a preview for this release…
This is the first release coming from Third Window Films’ newly established range of titles known as Director’s Company Collection. This is a line-up of films based on the output of the production outfit Directors Company (1982-1992), many of which are getting remastered and re-released (just last weekend, Typhoon Club was released on the mini theatre circuit).
Aside from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, works from other big names involved in Directors Company include Shinji Somai’s Typhoon Club and Banmei Takahashi’s Door 1 and 2. Expect more underknown films given shiny new digital remasters with plenty of extras, and great covers courtesy of Third Window Films.