The Japanese director Takashi Miike’s latest film, Lumberjack the Monster, has been released on Netflix with little to no fanfare). Producing over 100 theatrical releases since his debut in 1991, the film sees Miike return to the horror genre for the first time in over a decade – a genre he was renowned for in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In this latest offering, a psychotic lawyer survives an attack by a serial killer. While concealing his own murderous tendencies, he tries to get revenge on his assailant.
True to Miike’s standard horror form, this is a violent take on the police procedural drama. He revels in the horrific, blood-spattered details and presenting morally ambiguous characters.
