10 surprising movies to watch that inspired Chainsaw Man

If there’s one thing that Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto loves, it’s movies. Fans of Fujimoto’s work will know the author is an enthusiastic cinephile, incorporating references from his favorite movies in all his series to date, from his 2016 manga series Fire Punch to 2022’s Goodbye, Eri. This is particularly notable in the opening title credits of studio MAPPA’s Chainsaw ManThe anime has visual references to popular movies like Pulp Fiction, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Fight ClubFind out more.

Back in July, Japanese magazine SWITCH published a (near-complete) listFujimoto has referenced every TV series, movie and anime. Fire PunchAnd Chainsaw Man Interviews as sources of inspiration for his work. Among the movies mentioned are visual allusions in the manga, Fujimoto’s reference points are an eclectic bunch. So we’ve combed through and cherry-picked a handful of unexpected films to consider, along with an explanation of how the influence of these movies can be seen in the manga itself.

We’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum as much as possible, but if you haven’t already read the first part of the manga in its entirety yet, tread lightly.

[Ed. note: This post contains light spoilers for the Chainsaw Man anime and manga.]

Psycho Goreman

Image: RLJE Films/Shudder

Let’s not mince words here: Chainsaw ManNames that are so ridiculously absurd they seem to be impossible to pronounce. Yet, it manages to become an amazing name by virtue of the raw power of its descriptive powers. This could also be applied to Psycho GoremanSteven Kostanski directs the Sci-Fi Action Horror-Comedy, entitled.

This film is a parody in Troma style of Japanese tokusatsu programs (e.g. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), following the story of a sister and brother who accidentally come into possession of an amulet that gives them command over a fearsome alien warlord from the planet Gigax. Psycho GoremanIt is cheeky and sarcastic, mocking more Amblin-like Fares like E.T. Extra-Terrestrial and 1997’s Star KidThe same enthusiasm that Chainsaw ManExpectations continue to be surpassed while Psycho Goreman continues to exceed them. At one point Psycho Goreman wields a sword made out of an enemy’s spine and bodily viscera, which should sound… well, familiar to anyone who’s been keeping up with the most recent arc of Chainsaw Man.

Fujimoto enjoyed Psycho Goreman so much, he drew a piece of fan art depicting protagonist Mimi controlling the titular alien warlord in 2021 and went so far as to call it “the funniest movie I’ve seen this year! The best and worst ending!”

Psycho GoremanYou can stream it on Shake.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Denji Chainsaw Man and the eponymous protagonist of Edgar Wright’s 2010 romantic action comedy (and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s original comic) have a lot in common, in that they are both young men who are down so bad they are willing to repeatedly thrust themselves into mortal peril just to have the chance to talk to their respective crushes. Similar. Chainsaw Man, Scott Pilgrim vs. The WorldThis story is about a young adult that is confronted with his past and forced to face it. He becomes a maturer, perhaps even better person.

If nothing else, this is the perfect time to re-acquaint yourself with Scott Pilgrim, in comic or film form. Science SARU has a brand new adaptation of Scott Pilgrim’s anime.Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Devilman CrybabyIn the very near future, ) will premiere on Netflix.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The WorldAvailable to Rent Amazon, ApplePlease see the following: Vudu.

Frankenstein’s Army

Image: MPI/Dark Sky Films

Richard Raaphrost’s 2013 found-footage horror film follows a squad of Soviet troops on the Eastern Front of WWII who stumble upon a series of horrific human-machine creatures created by a mad scientist with a penchant for lobotomies. The fans of Chainsaw ManThey will enjoy especially the creatures designs with their lumbering bodies, and terrifying surgical appendages.

Half an hour into the film Dr. Frankenstein captures a Soviet cameraman, forces him to record his horror workshop in meticulous detail and is almost like walking through a haunted home at a fair. If you enjoyed The Overlord or Timo Tjahjanto’s action horror short “The Subject” from V/H/S/94, you’ll dig this one.

Frankenstein’s ArmyIt is free to stream with advertisements VuduTubi. FreeveePrime Video.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Bryanston Distributing Company

What other film is more inseparable from the image of a chainsaw in the popular imagination than Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher classic? There is a connection between Texas Chain Saw MassacreAnd Chainsaw Man is so elemental and apparent it’s spelled out right there, plain as day, in their respective names.

As Fujimoto stated in the opening chapter of the first volume of the manga, “I love chainsaws!” It really doesn’t get much more cut and dried than that.

Texas Chain Saw MassacreYou can stream it on Paramount Plus.

The Sharknado series

Image Syfy

SharknadoThis is another movie on our list. Its entire concept, however, reminds us of Chainsaw ManIts title can summarize it. The first in a series of made-for-television sci-fi comedy disaster movies directed by Thunder Levin, the Sharknado films rode the wave of Shark Week’s popularity to cult classic status among DTV connoisseurs.

Fujimoto is a creative person who has never taken himself too seriously. Sharknado’s influence on Chainsaw Man seems explicit in the character of Beam, a “Shark Devil” fiend who works alongside Denji and co. as a Public Service Devil Hunter. There’s also the fact that nearly every entry in the Sharknado series at one point or another involves someone using a chainsaw to kill a massive shark. ’Nuff said.

SharknadoYou can stream the video on Prime Video.

Vanilla Sky

Image: Paramount Home Entertainment

If there’s one thing fans of Chainsaw Man know, it’s to brace themselves for tragedy whenever things are going just a little You can alsoDenji and his friend are well. David Aames Jr. (Tom Cruise), the protagonist of Cameron Crowe’s romantic psychological thriller Vanilla SkyThis in common with Chainsaw Man.

After a terrible car accident, David’s privileged life as a womanizing publisher magnate is thrown into turmoil when he awakens to discover that he has been implicated in the murder of his ex-love. As David attempts to recount the story of the events that led up to his incarceration and move forward with his life, he soon realizes that his own life isn’t the only thing that’s changed in this strange new world.

Fujimoto loves Vanilla SkyIt was so important that he included reference to it in his debut manga from 2016. Fire PunchThe author went so far as changing the title of Chapter 92. Chainsaw Man manga — one of the major turning points of the series — from “Zombie, Blood, Chainsaw” to “Vanilla Sky” for its release in the 11th volume of the series.

Vanilla SkyYou can stream it on Prime VideoAnd Paramount Plus.

Un Chien Andalou

Image: Kino Video

Directed by Luis Buñuel in 1929 and co-written by acclaimed painter Salvador Dalí, this 16-minute silent short is commonly credited as one of the earliest examples of surrealism in modern cinema. Un Chien Andalou (or “An Andalusian Dog”) is by far the strangest entry on this list, infamously featuring a shot of a man slitting open a woman’s eye with a barber’s razor, as well as a scene of a dead horse being pulled along the top of a piano.

Un Chien Andalou is one of a few visible inspirations for Chainsaw Man conspicuously absent from SWITCH’s list. You can see and feel its influence in Chapters 63-64 of the manga. This chapter is where Denji, along with his co., are transported to another dimension. This scene begins with Denji and his friends examining a dismembered hand hidden in grass. The scene is a reference to an identical scene that was shown on the set of “The Last Stand.” Un Chien Andalou. Saying any more would spoil the surprise, but needless to say, the imagery seen in this frightening new world owes a huge debt to Buñuel and Dalí’s avant-garde masterpiece.

Un Chien AndalouTubi offers streaming of the film.

Trilogy of the Kizumonogatari

Image: Shaft/Aniplex

Beautifully animated, unapologetically horny and gratuitously gory, the Kizumonogatari trilogy is probably the most similar anime to The Last Airbender. Chainsaw Man manga prior to the existence of studio MAPPA’s own anime adaptation.

Co-directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Tatsuya Oishi and produced by studio Shaft, the trilogy of films is set before the events of the 2009’s BakemonogatariThe story follows Koyomi Aaragi (high schooler), who turns into a vamp after she is sired by Kiss Shot Acerola Orion, an older vampire at the brink of his death. Becoming her new minion, Araragi is forced to battle a trio of vampire hunters to win back Heart-Under-Blade’s severed body parts in exchange for being transformed back into a human, all while protecting his doting love interest, Tsubasa Hanekawa.

Fujimoto specifically mentions the finale of the Trilogy’s third and final film, Kizumonogatari Part 3: ReiketsuThis is the inspiration for the final battle in the Public Security Arc of the Chainsaw Man manga. Saying anything more would spoil fans new to the series, but suffice it to say — if you love Chainsaw ManThese films are worth a look. It also doesn’t hurt that several key animators that worked on KizumonogatariThey now continue to work on the Chainsaw Man anime!

Rent the Kizumonogatari trilogy Prime Video.