The Last Supper (2005)

Dr. Yuji Kotorida (Masaya Kato) is a ‘Godsend’ of plastic surgery. He is well-respected by both the medical community and the media but what no one knows is that he is a vicious and cannibalistic serial killer. In an anonymous blog, Dr. Kotorida describes the act of eating human flesh as the equivalent of making love. When his horrible secret is discovered by an insane detective (Hiroki Matsukata), Kotorida devises a plan to make himself famous as well as to escape from the police.

Finally, cannibalism is sexy again! Directed by Osamu Fukutani (The Suicide Manual), The Last Supper sports a menacing soundtrack and a somber (and sometimes chilling) mood. This shot-on-video cannibal horror flick may look cheap but it got my stomach churning (not an easy thing to do). The plot doesn’t get too bogged down in ‘realism’ like some of the CAT III Hong Kong gross-out flicks (Human Pork Chop, in particular).

The cast of The Last Supper may be somewhat stiff but all in all manage to turn in some decent performances. Horror actress Hitomi Miwa (Ju-On, Embalming) is excellent and I really liked newcomer Hibiki Takumi. Chinese actress Zuki Lee is quite good as Dr. Kotorida’s Hong Kong fling (and meal). Of course, it’s Masaya Kato’s show and he definitely goes the distance in one hell of a sick role. The award for the strangest performance in the film goes to Hiroki Matsukata (The Yakuza Papers). His detective character is one sick (very, very sick) bastard.

The only thing that keeps this movie from being a splatter cannibal classic is its low production values. Cheap sets and digital photography are perfectly acceptable for this trash film lover but when you skimp on the gore effects, now that’s an entirely different story. The severed heads suffer the most and are clearly mannequin heads with wigs tacked on. Also, the film’s fleshy finale isn’t exactly impressive but hey, the effort is there.

So my theories about cannibal nightclubs in Hong Kong have proven to be true. The idea that devouring a person’s flesh is a sexual act really sleazes up this one. Some of the flesh-eating is pretty dang gross (wait, when isn’t it?) and there’s a whole lot of blood and bargain-priced gore. The Last Supper is somewhat disappointing but a few nauseous and shocking surprises make it a worthy entry in the cannibal movie canon.