I visited Chinatown earlier this week, to catch up on my Korean cinema. The women behind the counter went through my movies as she always does, checking that they have subtitles in English. One of my selections, the Japanese fantasy martial arts extravaganza Dororo, did not have subtitles. Here is trailer for it, to give you and idea of the movie I was looking for.



In a rush, as I was suppose to meet Jason at Starbucks, I scanned the shelf, trying to find a replacement movie to complete my selection of 10. I poured over the Japanese shelf, looking for something. Anything. Should I get Devilman or Cutie Honey. Or try my luck with Nana. Before I could decide, the woman behind the counter stepped out and grabbed something from the shelf.

"This is new and very popular" she told me as she handed me the DVD. I grabbed it from her and paid my money, thanking her for the help. It wasn't until I got into the van to head home that I glanced at the DVD.

It was Blind Beast.

Here is a good review of Blind Beast over at Kung Fu Cinema.

http://www.kfccinema.com/reviews/horror/blindbeast/blindbeast.html

Now, I was of course still excited about what I got, because frankly I had wanted to see it, especially after recently watching Flower and Snake and Nampo Noir. What struck me as odd is why the woman at the DVD store thought that I would like this movie. Did she really thing that Blind Beast was a good substitute for anyone wanting to see Dororo? Does she always offer this movie to 30 something white males? Did she remember I bought Flower and Snake from her months ago? Could she sense that I was into something artistically perverse?

Whatever her reason, I thank her, and will shop there again soon. Well, maybe not too soon. I think I need to spend time watching the pile of movies I have still haven't watched.