I definitely get a kick out of anthology flicks. They’re generally a fun diversion, and if one segment sucks, you know it won’t last too long and you’ll be on to the next pretty soon. The horror anthology in Japan can be traced back all the way to Masaki Kobayashi’s masterpiece Kwaidan, but thanks to the success of the multi-country anthologies Three and Three…Extremes, and J-horror in general, there’s a new one coming out every time you turn around it seems. These are usually direct-to-video affairs, like Tales of Terror from Tokyo, Kazuo Umezu’s Horror Theater, and Prayer Beads. The latest one to cross my path, Unholy Women, is really no different. From the title, I suppose you can surmise it’s about evil women, not something exactly new for the J-horror genre. While the film as a whole isn’t much more than average, there’s a reason you HAVE to see this. Read on to find out why.

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First up we have “Rattle, Rattle”, directed by Keita Amemiya. It centers on a young woman named Kanako who on her way home is struck by something falling from an apartment complex. After treating her wounds at her apartment, she gets a call from her fiancé telling her that he was just attacked by his ex-wife and that he’s on his way over. Strange things begin happening, and a woman dressed in red with a knife shows up. Fearing for her life, she tosses a flower vase at the woman and cracks her head wide open. Unfortunately for her, the woman pops right back up as if nothing happened and the chase begins. Looks like this isn’t the ex-wife…

Going into the film, this was the segment I was most looking forward to, as I’m a fan of Keita Amemiya. He’s made some awesome sci-fi / monster flicks, such as Zeiram and Mechanical Violator Hakaider. I was interested in seeing what he would bring to a standard J-horror tale. Unfortunately, it’s not much. This is your average, played-out ghost-chases-girl short with a lame twist that you could see coming from a mile away. It’s full of awful CGI, which annoys me more here than it would with an unknown director, as Amemiya is known for working with amazing-looking practical FX. It’s a shame he didn’t use them here. I’ll give him points though for the woman in red looking quite insane. I could see a non-seasoned J-horror vet being a bit creeped out by her. A decent, if stale short.

Next up is “Hagane”, directed by Takuji Suzuki. Takahashi runs a car shop with one lone employee, Sekiguchi. Sekiguchi is a bit of a nerd, so Takahashi decides to help him out and asks if he’d like to take his sister, Hagane, out for a date. Sekiguchi takes him up on the offer after seeing a picture of Hagane. When he arrives for the date however, all isn’t as it initially seemed, as Hagane is wearing a burlap sack that covers her from the waist up. Sekiguchi, being the shy type, can’t find the words to ask about this, and takes Hagane on the date. What ensues is one of the most bizarre love affairs ever filmed.

What a surprise this little ditty was! Hagane is a completely original and absurd black comedy that really needs to be seen to be believed. First off, it earns points for being something completely different. It’s refreshing to see something without long-haired ghosts and creepy children. Secondly, this is one of those “weird” Japanese stories that actually work due to its tongue-in-cheek nature. It completely revels in the strangeness, and is a total blast. Alone, this film would easily get an 8/10. I hope Takuji Suzuki continues to work his way up the film chain, as I’d love to see more from him.

Finally, we have “The Inheritance”, directed by Keisuke Toyoshima and supervised by Takashi Shimizu. Saeko brings her son Michio back to the house where she grew up to take care of her mother. While there, Michio sees a young boy that seems to be lurking around the house. He comes to find out it’s his mother’s brother Masahiko, who disappeared when he was seven and thought to be dead. After finding a chest in a shed behind the house, Saeko begins remembering things from the past, and her mother realizes that Michio could be in danger because of it.

After the last segment, I was sure this would be a disappointment, and it was, but more so because it doesn’t explore some of its themes very well at all. This could have been rather deep and touching, as under the surface, it dealt with child abuse and mental fragility, but instead of going deeper into those themes, the director decided to go more for scare tactics and foreshadowing, and because of that, this turns out to be the weakest segment of the film. It didn’t help much that it moved at a snails pace either. When a 30 minute segment feels like an hour, you’re in trouble.

Because of the weak bookend segments here, the film averages out to being just a bit above average. But the middle segment, Hagane, really makes this worth seeking out. It’s a wildly entertaining tale that connoisseurs of the bizarre will get a complete kick out of. The film deserves your attention for that segment alone.