Watcher In The Attic is a mid 70’s Roman porno film set in the 1920s. The period set  Japanese film regards, as its title suggests, a voyeur- weaving in elements of woozy disquiet, dark humour, and unsettling violence/ macabre-ness to its sleazy unfold. Here from 88 Films is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film- bringing together a new HD print, and a few extras

Watcher In The Attic (aka  Edogawa Ranpo Ryôki-kan: Yaneura No Sanposha) is from the year 1976. It was directed by Nagano, Japan-born Noboru Tanaka. He has twenty-six features to his name- these move from the erotic drama Beads From A Petal (1972). Onto ritualistic sex-focused period drama The Hell-Fated Courtesan (1973), violent/ troubling Roman porno Rape and Death Of A Housewife (1978), and true crime drama Village Of Doom (1983).

The film is set in a boarding house- with the watcher being the gangly and rather haunted-looking Saburo (Renji Ishibashi)- he comes from a rich family, so instead of working he spends his nights and days in the crawl space above the boarding house.  Here he watches the likes of a rich woman who rents a room to have secretive sexual pleasures away from her belittling/ obnoxious husband. A touchy/ feely sin-obsessed preacher, and a female artist who paints both canvas and bodies.

The film comes in at a typical Roman Porno runtime of one hour and sixteen minutes. And we get an engaging/ at points unsettling blend of sleazy kink- a muff diving clown, and a man inside a red chair as a body pleasures/ fondles itself on top. Dark humour, wavering disquiet-edged psycho drama, and one or two kinky deaths.

Ishibashi is good as our voyeuristic lead- slipping between being charming, sweaty 'n' creepy, and dementedly perverse. The whole thing has a jarring/ surprising downbeat end, that you really won’t see coming. All in all Watcher In The Attic is another good example of more creative Roman Porno, with some effective touches of horror, dark humour, and the macabre added onto the sleazy formula.

The region B locked disc features a nicely bold and well-defined HD scan. And we get a few extras too. First of these is a commentary track from genre experts  Jasper Sharp & Amber T. They begin by talking about the differences between Pink and Roman Porno films.  We find out the film is very roughly based on a 1925 novel by Rampo Edogawa- which apparently had more of an investigating a crime focus, and sadly no muff munching clown. We find out the film was originally released in June 1976- some five years into Nikkatsu Studios Roman Porno cycle- apparently they were releasing around six films a month at this point. They comment on lead actor Renji Ishibashi- who has a very impressive four hundred and twenty-four acting credits to his name.  They talk about the film's dreamy/ liminal quilty- with its blending of east vs west,  death vs life, and pleasure vs pain. Later on, they discuss the impact on  Nikkatsu - when they switch their focus to just releasing Roman porno- talking about how many of the films were much more than just sex films. And a fair bit of talk about the work of Rampo Edogawa. A very good research/observable commentary track from these two.

Lastly, we have Who’s Watching Who? ( 8.52) interview with director Hisayasu Sato( Love Obsession, Brain Sex). He talks about his first introduction to the Roman porno at the age of sixteen and its impact. Before moving onto touch on some of his favourite title in the genre, including the film to hand. This is ok, but is more focused on the genre in general.  The disc is finished off with a stills gallery & Trailer

Watcher In The Attic is another great addition to 88 Films series of Roman Porno titles. Don’t be put off by the 'P' word- as this is more of a dark/ woozy, at times weird drama/ horror film than an all-out-sex production.