964 Pinocchio

964 Pinocchio
Japanese theatrical release poster
Kanji	ピノキオ√964
Directed by	Shozin Fukui
Screenplay by	Shozin Fukui Makoto Hamaguchi Naoshi Gôda
Story by	Shozin Fukui
Starring	Haji Suzuki Onn-chan
Cinematography	Kazunori Hirasawa
Edited by	Shozin Fukui
Music by	Hiroyuki Nagashima
Release date	14 September 1991 (1991-09-14) (Japan)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

964 Pinocchio (Japanese: ピノキオ√964 (ピノキオ [ルート] 964), literal transliteration: Pinokio√964 (Pinokio [Ruuto] (Rū-to) 964), literal translation: Pinocchio√964 (Pinocchio [Root] 964)), released in the United Kingdom as Screams of Blasphemy, is a 1991 Japanese cyberpunk-horror film directed by Shozin Fukui.

It deals with the theme of brain-modified sex-slaves as well as mental breakdowns in a hallucinogenic thrill-ride.

Plot

964 Pinocchio is a memory-wiped sex-slave cyborg who is disposed of by his owners for failure to maintain an erection. It is unclear in what ways he has been modified beyond having no memory and being unable to communicate.

He is discovered by Himiko, a homeless girl, while wandering aimlessly through the city. Himiko has also been memory-wiped, possibly by the same company that "produced" Pinocchio, but she is fully functional. Himiko spends her days drawing maps of the city, to aid other memory-wiped people.

Himiko takes Pinocchio home and tries to teach him to speak. After much effort, he has a breakthrough and finally becomes aware of his situation. Himiko and Pinocchio kiss and become physically intimate, triggering something in both of them. Pinocchio's body erupts in an inexplicable metamorphosis and it becomes clear that his modifications were much more involved and esoteric than simple memory loss. Lots of blood, pus, vomit ensues from both and Himiko's memories eventually return. Meanwhile, Pinocchio’s head director, companied with his female companion who spits out cherries into a bowl which he eats from, plotting to kill him.

Himiko pretends to help Pinocchio post-metamorphosis, but betrays Pinocchio after struggling to feed him noodles but instead forcefeeds him trash before shackling him to a pyramidal concrete block where she tortures him back at her place, companied with a partner (who was tasked by the head director to find Pinocchio). Pinocchio’s memories eventually return and he escapes, running through the streets at high-speed as crowds of horrified onlookers watch on.

Meanwhile, Himiko teams up with Pinocchio's developers in attempt to put an end on his destructive reign. However, Pinocchio reaches to the factory outside, confronts his developers after the head director shouts him to die, grabbing the three while running through the fields at high speed before killing him by disembowelment and running off, leaving his horrified companion and partner behind where she starts convulsing afterwards due to the horror they've experienced. Later, Pinocchio finds Himiko who she demands Pinocchio's death, commanding him to "tear off your face", but she tears off her face instead, revealing a large stone-ish head. In a blind rage, Pinocchio attacks her, ripping her head off from her shoulders and placing it over his own. The film concludes as Pinocchio is free from his prolonged agony and the two are hybridized into one.

Production

964 Pinocchio was created on a low-budget using guerrilla-filmmaking techniques, with scenes in Tokyo utilizing real crowds of people rather than professional actors. The team had to get permits for most of the scenes filmed on the streets.

The actress who played Himiko was initially just a crew member until she was cast a week before filming started. She is credited in the movie as Onn-chan, which was a pseudonym created for the film. 964 Pinocchio was the only movie she ever acted in. Due to the limited budget, some improvisations had to be made during filming. Director Shozin Fukui stated in a 2007 interview which was included as a bonus feature in the DVD release of the film that they used an old wheelchair as a makeshift dolly. Both filming and editing took place over the span of 6 months each.

Fukui cited Blade Runner as a big influence for his work.

Release

Unearthed Films released the film on DVD in the United States in 2007.

The film was released in a single edition DVD and in the Cyberpunk Collection alongside Fukui's Rubber's Lover.

964 Pinocchio was re-issued on Blu-Ray on February 7, 2023.

Reception

A HorrorNews.net review states that "its hard to call it a good film. It better to call it a unique film and something different".

A 2022 retrospective article by Collider described it as "an uncommon and unparalleled riff on the timeless fairy-tale".

External links

• 964 Pinocchio at IMDb
• 964 Pinocchio at Rotten Tomatoes
• 964 Pinocchio at Horrordrome
• "ピノキオ ［ルート］９６４ (Pinokio［Ruuto］ 964)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.