Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Play trailer

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

1989

1h 7m

Horror

Sci-Fi

Animation

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A "metal fetishist" (Shin'ya Tsukamoto), driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he's made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman (Tomorowo Taguchi) and his girlfriend (Kei Fujiwara). The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

Tetsuo and Fetishist's transformation into Iron Man becomes a response to the machinization of the individual in a systematically regimented Japan.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 27, 2001

Full Review

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 4/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

Shinya Tsukamoto's wildly inventive experimental body horror film still astonishes more than 30 years later.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jul 8, 2024

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

A confronting metal soundtrack accompanies this bizarre and compelling nearly dialogue-free odyssey about two men who go from enemies to lovers. The black and white visuals are sumptuous.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 3, 2024

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... Shinya Tsukamoto draws on the marriage of flesh and technology that inspires so much of David Cronenberg’s work and twists it into a manga-influenced cyberpunk vision.

Oct 29, 2022

Full Review

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

...the sound design disturbed me the most.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 9, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Lee G

This is so deranged, so insane but so amazing! It hits you with a ferocious, unnerving speed that keeps you captivated by the beautiful bizarreness that unfolds in front of your eyes. An awesome experimental score by Chu Ishikawa fits perfectly with such an incredible movie! Highly recommended!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/15/25

Full Review

Dani G

Even for a cult movie, this is pure garbage-waste of time. What the hell was that?

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/19/25

Full Review

Teddy B

As wild as it the plot sounds, 'Tetsuo: The Iron Man' is a remarkable work of body horror and twisted sound design.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/02/25

Full Review

Elliot A

A masterpiece that's more trippy than LSD

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/14/24

Full Review

Liam D

Truly one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen but at an hour and 5 minutes it has fantastic practical effects, uncomfortable sound design and well done stop motion

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/11/24

Full Review

Dionisis T

Confusing,but totally amazing!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/28/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Director

Tomorowo Taguchi

Man

Kei Fujiwara

Woman

Nobu Kanaoka

Woman in Glasses

Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Metal Fetishist

Naomasa Musaka

Doctor

12 Unique Depictions of Tokyo in the Movies

Flying Lotus’ Five Favorite Films

View more photos

Synopsis

A "metal fetishist" (Shin'ya Tsukamoto), driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he's made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman (Tomorowo Taguchi) and his girlfriend (Kei Fujiwara). The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron.

Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Producer: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Screenwriter: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Production Co: Palisades Tartan Films
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Animation
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 13, 2015
Runtime: 1h 7m

Most Popular at Home Now