For fans of body horror, the 1987 short film Cyclops may just hit the spot. Even for those who are not overly big on the genre, the movie is an interesting little gem that is worth a watch at least once. Even without the blood and gore that eventually spill onto the screen, it is a captivating feature that, while somewhat strange and a little confusing, holds your attention from start to finish simply because you’re wondering where it is all going.

The fact that the story is a little perplexing is slightly charming, a bit exciting and rather frustrating, all at the same time. As far as can be discerned, the film concerns mutants, people born not with extraordinary abilities like the X-Men, but monsters experimented on before they are even born. Why is their DNA messed with? So that they might adapt and overcome whatever might happen next upon this earth, the next step on the evolutionary scale. Stuff happens, though why it happens is hard to discern, but there is a young pregnant woman who is about to give birth, a shady doctor and an enforcer of some kind, who also happens to be a mutant and the titular cyclops of the movie.

There is a lot to like about this affair, whether it be the hard-to-follow events, the acting or the practical effects, which are frankly quite incredible. For the most part, the film is pretty tame, yet when it reaches the last act, the last twenty or so minutes, things pick up dramatically, and for those that are looking for horror, this is where most of it all takes place. Violence erupts, and the mutants are out in full, transforming from their fairly normal human forms to monsters of revolting design. Blood, gore and nightmares made flesh are on display for all to see, and the movie definitely ends better than how it began.

Directed by Jōji Iida with some fine cinematography by Toshihiko Uryu, the movie looks good for the most part, but again, it is in that final act where it all comes together and really rewards its audience for watching. It is hard to say what a stronger script might have brought to the picture and if it would have been longer as a result. It would have been nice to see where this story of mutants would have gone with a different writer, and whether a bigger budget would have made a difference. As it is, Cyclops is a true, underrated Japanese oddity that works more than it does not.

3 out of 5