The Tetsuo Trilogy

The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Our October horror series continues as Byrd, Tom, Lux and Kevin discuss Shinya Tsukamoto's cult classic Tetsuo trilogy! Tsukamoto burst onto the Japanese indie scene with the first film in 1989, cementing him as a master of surrealist outsider cinema, putting his name alongside directors like Sogo Ishii, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg, and also becoming an icon of the emerging Japanese cyberpunk scene. Tetsuo The Iron Man told the story of a Japanese salaryman slowly transforming into a mass of flesh, steel and raging libido. 1992's The Body Hammer took a less surrealistic approach to the material with a more straightforward narrative about a Japanese man who is tricked into murdering his son and his rage manifests in the form of guns and metal. 2009's The Bullet Man was an attempt to appeal to an American audience, with an English speaking cast and delving into the lore of the Tetsuo cyborg monster. Although Tsukamoto's films are NOT for the faint of heart, they've managed to be extremely influential on genre cinema the world over. In addition to the movies, we also discuss Tsukamoto's career, the definition of "cyberpunk," some of his famous fans and collaborators (including Martin Scorsese, Takashi Miike, Nine Inch Nails, and Quentin Tarantino), and how Tsukamoto's themes of destruction, sexuality, and man's merging with technology continue to be thought provoking years after his debut. Sit back and enjoy the show! Together, we can turn this world into rust!