Terrified of falling asleep, Takashi desperately gulps caffeine drinks and seduces every woman in sight. To heal him, his nephew Haruo must go on a trip to the underworld, guided by giant squid... Imaoka balances the subtle portrayal of human relationships with a crackling firework of feverish absurdity.

"One of my personal missions with Fantastic Fest is to bring you the most delightfully absurd films that can ONLY come out of Japan. Strangely enough, many of these films stem from the low-budget pinku (softcore sex) genre. Akin to last year's charming GLAMOROUS LIFE OF SACHIKO HANAI, UNCLE'S PARADISE is chockerblock full of perfect head-scratching moments: giant squids and spiders, sexual assault against a snake, and a battle in hell for the soul of two men decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors and a soul kiss. Despite all these nuggets of pure Japanese wonder, and enough sex scenes to almost kill the main characters (literally), the lean, mean, 64-minute UNCLE'S PARADISE still manages to richly develop the friendship bonds of the three lead actors. Perhaps because of this element to his films, Imaoka has a large following in Japan with young women (in addition to the usual gang of pervs and weirdos). If Imaoka was in charge of producing all the world's softcore sex movies, this planet would be a much happier place. Special thanks to Blake Ethridge for scouring the globe and bringing this gem to the festival." (Tim)