If Ichi The Killer stressed the extreme nature of Takashi Miike's cinematic sensibility, Gozu hammers it home - with a blood-spattered mallet. Miike splices the yakuza genre with horror, and the result is a narrative as hard to decipher as hieroglyphics - a bizarre blend of a skewed Oedipal complex, homosexuality, misogyny and, in particular, a dislike of childbirth.
Thankfully, the twisted tale is tempered by Miike's vivid backdrop, the highlight being the death of Minami's yakuza boss, involving a ladle inserted somewhere dark and unpleasant.