The Japanese, though a notoriously reserved people, also seem to regard sexuality in some of the more extreme terms. From glorifying cannibal murderers to fetishizing teen girls, the Japanese view of sexuality is akin to a transgender gimp locked in a dark closet waiting to spring out and be gang raped by a pack of wild boars.

Close Your Eyes and Hold Me (1996) is very much in the tradition of the Japanese roman porno film, the less extreme version of the dirtier and to the point pinku films. Businessman Amane (Kazuya Takahashi) is involved with a co-worker, Juri (Natsue yoshimura), however he is reticent to take the relationship further while she anxiously wants things to speed up towards full commitment and marriage. Then, one day while driving home from work, Amane hits a woman, Hanabusa (Kumiko Takeda). He visits her in the hospital and apologizes, but she surprisingly replies, "Run me over again. I wish you'd finished me off."

Amane becomes obsessed with her and tracks her down after she he disappears from the hospital. He finds her singing in a nightclub, a transsexual nightclub at that, and he is shocked to find out that she is, in fact, a man. This doesn't dissuade him, though, and soon the two embark on an affair. But, Amane isn't the only one finding a new world, Juri confronts her ex's new lover and is also seduced by the enegmatic Hanabusa.

It is no big surprise director Itsumichi Isomura comes from a blue film background. Close Your Eyes and Hold Me doesn't really try to make any realistic logical analysis of its weird triangle. No, it very much plays straight for the weird and titillating factor. The material is handled is a melodramatic, soap opera way, which suggests that they banked on the oddity and wanted to draw a crowd for both the flash baring and the freakiness. It would make a good double bill with Black Rose Mansion. Honestly, if it would have been handled any other way, I would have run form the room screaming. So, it is a weird one. Soft core Skinemax sex scenes and a Jerry Springer worthy plot. What do you do when your boyfriend/girlfriend, lounge singer, chick with a dick has a three way with your ex-girlfriend and doesn't want to meet your parents?

The DVD: Wea Corp/Asian Pulp Cinema

Picture: Non-anamorphic Widescreen. Pretty weak image. A very cold and stark pallette was obviously intentional on the film makers part, but I think this transfer is a bit too muted. The color details could be a tad more vivid, separating the blues and grays, and deepening the pallor of the skin tones. The print also exhibits high grain levels and softness.

Sound: DD 2.0 Stereo, Japanese or English language tracks with optional Enlgish subtitles. Very straightforward audio. Really worth noting is the Enlgish dub which gives the film extra camp appeal. I mean, it is already dangerously laughable material, though, the Japanese actors approached it seriously. However, in the hands of the English dubbers (oh, how I wish I could have seen the smiles on their unexpecting faces when they first sat through the film) it becomes a real riot.

Extras: Kumiko Takeda profile— preview trailers for other Asian Pulp Cinema releases.

Conclusion: I know you're out there... slobbering... wringing your oily hands... just waiting to get your hands on this kind of flick. The quality isn't top notch, but the price is very low and the material is such a niche markey that I gotta' recommend it for you dirty monkey out there looking for a pseudo-arty–dramatic-freaky-sex foreign film.