11 Cult Musicals You NEED To See

Prolific Japanese director Takeshi Miike is arguably best known for his critically acclaimed 13 Assassins, his terrifyingly twisted horror Audition, and off-the-wall grindhouse Ichi The Killer. But one of his films that may have passed you by is The Happiness Of The Katakuris – and it’s exactly as crazy as you’d expect a Miike musical to be.

A loose adaptation of the South Korean film The Quiet Family, The Katakuris follows the titular family set up a small inn in the middle of nowhere. However, when the small number of guests who do visit their humble establishment all die in mysterious circumstances, the family start to conceal the bodies as even stranger events start to occur around them.

Starring Japanese music icons Kenji Sawata and Kiyoshiro Imawana, this film is an amalgamation of various filmmaking and musical styles. Jumping from surreal claymation sequences to an over-the-top parody of karaoke videos with everything from J-Pop and samba colouring the diverse musical score, there’s never a dull moment to be had when you’re with the Katakuris.

A treat for anyone who watches it, there’s nothing else out there that can compare with this Japanese cult musical.