Tetsuo II: Body Hammer is a 1992 Japanese science fiction/horror film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. It is a bigger-budget reworking of the same director's 1989 movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man, utilizing similar themes and ideas to the earlier film (a Japanese salaryman, played by cult actor Tomorowo Taguchi, finds his body transforming into a weapon through sheer rage after his son is kidnapped by a gang of violent thugs.) It was not as well received as its predecessor but it did win the Critic's Award at the 3rd Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in February 1992.
If you saw and loved the frantic, bizarre, violent, sexual, metal-fetish nightmare musings about man vs. machine presented in the first film- well chances are you'll find something to enjoy in this one too.
Unfortunately for me, a number of the things that I thought fantastic in the original (which are all as likely to frustrate, or even bore, others) are a bit diluted this time around. Most generally, Body Hammer just doesn't pack the same immediacy and energy and screw-loose creativity of its predecessor.
The fact that it's shot in color doesn't necessarily add much to the proceedings (except help illuminate some evidence of a larger budget) and certain things that should've looked cool or innovative came off as mildly cheesy. But the narrative trails are a bit clearer here, and the thematic material is still fun and interesting in a cult meets B-movie meets David Lynch meets Cronenberg's abandoned story-board sketches kind of way.
