Lost Paradise: Riding Habit Harakiri (1990) Film Review

Posted on by Jim Cox

Lost Paradise: Riding Habit Harakiri (‘Shitsurakuen’: jôbafuku onna harakiri) is a 1990 extreme horror/Ero Guro short film written and directed by Masami Akita. While best known as one of Japan’s leading noise music composers under the stage name Merzbow, Masami Akita has also directed the similarly themed horror short Bandage Anatomy Woman (1995)—a film often mistaken for a sequel to Romain Slocombe’s 1995 short L’étudiante Blessée (Injured College Girl).

This intense and ultra-gory seppuku film shows a young woman taking her own life by an act of ritual harakiri.

Containing little dialogue and even less narrative, Lost Paradise: Riding Habit Harakiri offers very little beyond a graphic depiction of seppuku. While our main character appears to be wearing military-esc equestrian clothing, the lack of dialogue never fully explains the story elements, allowing the audience to discern the little plot that exists from the environment. Additionally, the film’s pacing is painfully drawn out, yet it works in the film’s favour. Featuring very few cuts, the extended preparation for the impending carnage presents outstanding tension as the inevitable unfolds.

As to be expected, the film is extremely visceral in its depiction of Harakiri. Displaying some impressive practical effects, the disembowelment is harrowingly realistic as the main character’s intestines ooze out of her self-inflicted stomach wound. Furthermore, being performed in front of a single, static camera, the execution of these effects is seamless and undoubtedly produces an uncomfortable validity to the film overall.

Accompanying the overwhelming visuals is an overpowering noise music score created by Masami himself. While the imagery is the film’s main progression, the score undoubtedly creates an oppressive atmosphere prevalent throughout its short 34-minute runtime. The rumbling drones and alternating tempo deliver an inescapable barrage that’s as unnerving as the bloody visuals.

An astounding practical-effects showcase, Lost Paradise: Riding Habit Harakiri certainly achieves what it set out to accomplish—a realistic depiction of ritualistic disembowelling. With its grisly depiction of suicide, disorienting score, and unrelenting tension, the film is a short but rewarding piece of experimental splatter horror that’s sure to entice gorehounds and the morbidly curious alike.

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