Recently, I have been binging on films adapted from the writings of Edogawa Rampo, Japan's answer to both Edgar Allan Poe and Dashiell Hammett. Released in 1998, Akio Jissoji's The D-Slope Murder Case in many ways represented an end to the highly stylized, colorful, and erotic horror that had defined Japanese horror films for the past several decades. In The D-Slope Murder Case, a young art forger is hired by the serpentine wife of a used book salesman to make copies of the erotic bondage artwork of Ue Shundei (a name Rampo also used in Beast in the Shadows). But the art forger finds himself increasingly aroused by the resemblance he bears to the woman in the pictures, and becomes obsessed with "replacing" her with himself. When he finds out his client was Shundei's model, his mind snaps and he kills her. Enter Japan's number one detective, Akechi, and his young ward Yoshio Kobayashi (who is played by Hitomi Miwa in drag). What follows is a game of cat and mouse, as Akechi tries to slip the young art forger up, and get him to admit his crime. However, despite the trappings of gumshoe fiction, The D-Slope Murder Case spends very little time on the more traditional elements of the plot, and instead focuses on the complex psychosexual motivations of the characters. Much of the film also consists of watching the actual artistic process, but these scenes are so sumptuous and sensual, one hardly cares that very little is actually "going on". The world Jissoji has built in this film is heavily populated by symbolism of a rather Jungian variety. However, some of the symbolism is left undeveloped, the most prominent being the role of Akechi's ward, who makes a very powerful impression. There are so many ideas on display here, one cannot help but wonder if Jissoji was just too ambitious here. However, this is such an inventive and lush and stunning work, that what is here really shines.
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