Overview: A man wakes in an asylum with no memory. Dr Wakabayashi helps him to recall his past in which he killed his bride on their wedding day. Part of his memory becomes linked to another doctor, Dr Masaki, and a manuscript, Dogra Magra.

As the two doctors treat him, reality and fantasy become blurred and the patient becomes unsure of his identity or his doctors’ experiments. The final feature film by Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral Parade of Roses) is an adaptation of the celebrated novel by Kyusaku Yumeno, a period set gothic tale with a sense of dreamy dread that recalls Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure and the locked room mystery of Shutter Island.

A stunningly shot phantasmagoria by Tatsuo Suzuki (Pastoral: To Die in the Country), Dogra Magra is presented on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Japan.

Blu-ray Verdict: While this movie is definitely not horror (barring maybe the final 10 minutes), it is surrealistic and abstract to it’s very chilling core. Mind-bending imagery and a purposefully loose plot make it so we must be on our toes for the entirety of the runtime, which I personally adore.

Trying to decipher each scene for a deeper meaning, while putting the pieces of the larger puzzle together, Matsumoto wields an experimental, avant-garde touch in this one. Creating a film that feels like it has a unique identity, it is an exploration of the human psyche, presented as a mystery of sorts.

So, yeah, it’s an interesting film, even if I had my fair share of problems with it, with my personal biggest issues being on the technical side of things. The cinematography and set design are rather bland (outside of a few scenes), and the pacing makes the film feel like it drags through a good portion of the runtime.

Then we have the performances, which range from decent to completely questionable, and so it genuinely makes it hard to take some of the more stoic scenes seriously at times. But it is true to say that the finale brought me back a little, solidified the gripping genre a lot more for me, so I was very happy in how it concluded.

In conclusion, if you’re thinking about watching this one as part of the infamous Top 250 Horror List, I recommend preparing yourself for something other than horror. Maybe then you’ll be able to enjoy it as I eventually found myself to do.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
High-Definition digital transfer supervised by director of photography Tatsuo Suzuki and producer Shuji Shibata
Audio commentary by director Toshio Matsumoto (2003)
Interview with Toshio Matsumoto (2003, 21 mins)
A visual essay by programmer and curator Julian Ross (2024)
Instructions on Ahodara Sutra (a popular Japanese chant delivered by Dr. Masaki in the film) by legendary street performer Hiroshi Sakano (16 mins)
Trailer
New and improved English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Hirofumi Sakamoto, president of the Postwar Japan Moving Image Archive and author Jasper Sharp on screenwriter Atsushi Yamatoya plus an interview with producer Shuji Shibata and Matsumoto’s director’s statement
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

www.radiancefilms.co.uk