Maki Tomoda ~repack~

Directed by Hisayasu Satō, this is perhaps the most famous film associated with Tomoda. Set in a near-future dystopia, a scientist creates a pain-killing virus that mutates into a pleasure-for-pain switch. Tomoda plays "Leila," a cynical hostess who becomes immune to pain. In a shocking sequence that has been debated by film scholars for decades, Tomoda cooks and eats her own flesh. While the special effects are practical, Tomoda’s performance—the look of ecstatic release on her face—turns the stomach not because of the gore, but because of her conviction.

Despite her retreat, the ghost of haunts modern cinema. You see her DNA in the Western arthouse hit The Raw (2016) and in French New Extremity films. The current wave of "elevated horror" directors—such as Robert Eggers and Rose Glass—cite Japanese underground cinema as a reference, and Tomoda is the silent pillar of that reference. maki tomoda