'Imprint' by Takashi Miike reviewed at Kaiju Shakedown.

I wrote a surprisingly long review on the episode earlier today at my site. I think for everything else the series was comprised of, Miike's was pretty extreme and did actually deserve the controversy surrounding it, but looked at in the world of other Miike films, it's just another notch on his belt; good, but no where near representitive of his best.

The stand out Episodes for the Masters Of Horror series are John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns & now Takashi Miikes true Extreme showpiece Imprint. There are a few other highly enjoyable episodes , such as Lucky McKee's Sick Girl , but without question Miike has pierced the watershed with a visual enema the likes of which has not been broadcast on UK TV perhaps period !. A platter of visceral splashes etched deeply into the psyche of inhuman monstrosity and carved masterfully from Mikes imagination. The Imprint will remain with the viewer long after the Directors filmic fingerprints grab you by the throat. It's not often that a film starring the insanely manic Billy Drago is more unsettling than its lead but without question Imprint is !. A Japanese tale of Terror that passes its horror Audition Miike style.

I'm "getting" it via torrent as we speak, and I can't wait to see it.

I still hold hope for the series, but season one has been hugely disappointing. Most of the episodes just stunk. Carpenter's, Landis', and Gordon's were my favorites.

The only real major flaw with Imprint was the all-English rule, which was a major mistake. I think a mix of Japanese and English would have been a lot smarter and would have been more asthetically pleasing, as well as play to the strenghts of the actors. Poor English aside, (thankfully the leading lady speaks it pretty well), the film is absolutely fantastic, and horrifying. I can see what all the controversy is about, but I think this will definitely become a cult classic, inadvertandly aided by Showtime's decision not to air it.

I agree with hellocruelworld about the horribly distracting phonetic English in this episode. If it had been in Japanese with subtitles it would have been a real masterpiece. Interestingly enough I found the needle torture harder to stomach than the dead fetuses. Maybe, hopefully, there will be a Japanese version released on DVD in Japan. Even a Japanese dub has to be better than what I just had to listen to for an hour. "Fleeeeeek! Fleeeeeeeeek!"

I haven't seen Imprint yet, but I love Grady's take on it as a commentary on Memoirs of a Geisha.

I still say the Argento segment, Jenifer, was top-notch.

Funny how opinions are all over the place with this series. I thought Argento's JENIFER and Dante's HOMECOMING were easily the worst episodes.

I'll watch it tomorrow or monday, now that I've acquired it. I don't feel so bad since this episode was one of the reasons I subscribed to Showtime in the first place. I favorites were Carpenter's, Argento's, McKee's, and I actually enjoyed Malone's. My least favorite was certainly Tobe Hooper's, which was disappointing.

Tobe Hooper's was unbearable. I hated his entry with a passion.

Yeah, Hooper's is bar-none the worst of the series thus far. This is a fact! What a waste of a wonderfully crazy Robert Englund, too.

Hooper's was disappointing, but the only one I've seen that I thought was truly embarassing was Mick Garris's. I guess he's entitled.

Mick Garris should stik to adapting Stephen King stories.

I agree with CrazyBee. The whole series was pretty horrible, with maybe one or two exceptions. And Miike's isn't one of them. Horrible acting, terrible plotting, cheap FX and an entirely "tossed off" look. Sure, it might have helped if it was in Japanese, but that wouldn't have have stopped Billy Drago from chomping the scenery and generally being inadequate.
Masters Of Horror is a great concept. Too bad they can't seem to find any to actually work on the show. Especially in the writing dept.