Interviews
[Interview] Takashi Miike Looks Back on His Controversial “Masters of Horror” Episode, “Imprint”
On the anniversary of Takashi Miike’s controversial ‘Masters of Horror’ episode, the director looks back on what he considers to be his scariest work.
Takashi Miike is not only one of the most prolific directors that is currently working, but he’s made a strong name for himself in terms of delivering uniquely frightening and unexplainable visuals. Even his movies that aren’t specifically part of the horror genre still contain macabre sequences. It certainly seems like Miike has a mastery over the genre, which makes it so interesting that he’s actually pretty susceptible to becoming its prey.
“I’m actually quite a scaredy cat, myself. Since a child I’ve been this way,” admits Miike. “I’m even a little afraid of the dark. If I’m alone in the dark I’ll sometimes feel that there’s a presence behind me and I’ll even be afraid to turn around. But then if I do get the courage to turn around, I’ll just be scared that whatever was there has just jumped over to the other side of me.”
Miike elaborates on this fear and how it’s impacted his appreciation of the horror genre. “This sounds really silly, but as a child I’ve always been a bit of a coward so I don’t watch many horrors films myself. I personally don’t want to pay money to go to a theater to get horribly frightened!” Miike’s own works aren’t even exempt to this fear. He explains, “Even after I finish making horror films, I usually don’t go to a theater to watch them myself.”
Miike has crafted some truly frightening works with Audition at the forefront of the pack, but it’s actually Miike’s contribution to Showtime’s Masters of Horror series that’s stuck with him the most. “The scariest of the projects that I’ve worked on is ‘Imprint,’” says Miike. “Everyone kept telling me that America’s a free country and that I could really do whatever I wanted. It’s cable TV, so don’t hold back at all and make it as scary as possible. So I did that and then when I showed it to the producers in Japan, they were like, ‘I know we told you that you can do anything, but this is going too far. This is way too far.’”
“Imprint” tells a highly disturbing story that sets in 1800s Japan and involves a man checking in on a prostitute who he left behind many years ago. Needless to say, the prostitute’s life has fallen onto terribly harsh times and the end product isn’t just traumatic; it was too much for the network. Showtime shelved Miike’s episode, only to eventually release it much later on DVD.
“We even had to publish this article in the New York Times apologizing that said that this was supposed to be a 13-episode series, but an episode’s been cut because it was too scary, so now it’s just twelve episodes,” remembers Miike. “’Imprint’ was definitely the scariest project that I’ve worked on.”
With it now the anniversary of one of Takashi Miike’s most extreme and interesting works, why not find the time to revisit this eerie installment of television and see just what all of the fuss was about. All of these years later, “Imprint” still makes for an extremely unsettling experience.
“Imprint” is currently available to stream on Tubi and Amazon Prime.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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