A defibrillator to the brain, with slutty sumo wrestlers and rolling hills to boot.

| Jul 2, 2022

This is a film that, even in an oeuvre that includes works as disparate as gross out shocker Visitor Q and the kid friendly The Great Yokai War, is pure unpredictable insanity that baffles as much as it entertains.

| Oct 27, 2020

At times, it's almost as if Miike said to himself 'What haven't I done in a film?' Then, he does it.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 10, 2020

"The Happiness of the Katakuris" is a film almost solely addressed to fans of cult, while Miike proves, once more, the reason he is considered as one of the most unique filmmakers alive.

| Oct 20, 2019

Palatable in small doses, "The Happiness of the Katakuris" just doesn't have enough to be wholly satisfying to cult film fans. This surreal horror-comedy tries very hard, but ultimately grates on your nerves.

| Original Score: C- | Jun 30, 2015

Love it or hate it, such a feat of highly demented cinematic imagination simply must be seen.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 2, 2009

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 1, 2004

The Katakuris may not be your typical innkeepers, but the family that sings together and buries dead bodies together, stays together...this is hilarious, macabre, and entertaining.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 7, 2003

It's shot and acted in a way that's hastily, amateurishly theatrical, through digital photography that tries to look beautiful but just plain can't.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 6, 2003

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 6, 2003

It's weirdly -- and often wonderfully -- entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 17, 2003

...for all the black humor of this deliriously bizarre fantasy Happiness is a warmhearted film about sacrifice, support and four generations of family togetherness in face of mounting corpses.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 16, 2003

It's freakishly interesting and even outright hilarious at times, but, then again, so are most funerals.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 8, 2002

By the second hour, Miike's story fails to punctuate its powerful setup, and the work, much like the family itself, ends up a tangled mess.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 5, 2002

There are so many moments in Happiness of the Katakuris that beg us to walk out on the movie, it's hard to pick just one.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Nov 27, 2002

A kind of strange, existentialist comedy.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 25, 2002

An amusing scenario, until even Miike seems to lose his taste for the oddly sweet concoction and allows the film to drift aimlessly to a rainbow-hued finale.

| Oct 25, 2002

It's a ball when it works, which is why fans of Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, Francois Ozon's 8 Women, and other darkly inspired, genre-bending musical fusions must introduce themselves to the Katakuris.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 25, 2002

Miike is also counting on the fact that even if you've seen his other films, they won't help you one whit.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 25, 2002