Based on Edogawa Rampo's famous pulp novel, as well as Yukio Mishima's stage adaptation (Mishima makes a cameo in the movie), Black Lizard is certainly one of the most bizarre films from late-1960s Japan. The whole affair is about Japan's number one private detective, Akechi, squaring off against the serpentine seductress Black Lizard, who is a jewel thief and serial killer. Black Lizard desires to kill the beautiful daughter of the jeweler Sanae, and turn her into one of her "dolls", but Akechi is determined to foil her. This is camp at its highest apex, our dastardly villain is actually played by Akihiro Miwa, one of Japan's most famous drag queens. Fukasaki brings the film to life in bright pop art colors and odd angles; there are car chases, daring escapes, surreal comedy, dancing midgets, necrophilia, and a rockin' jazzy electronic soundtrack. But for all the antics, Black Lizard is not an especially engaging film as it falls victim to style over substance, or rather, almost all style and very little substance. It is very much a product of its era, but its ambiguous depictions of sexuality and gender bending are still refreshingly modern.
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