身毒丸少年丧母，他终日沉浸在怀念母亲的悲痛之中。父亲为了家庭，从妓院买回来妓女抚子担任孩子们的继母，抚子带着领养的孩子千代一起进入了这个家庭。抚子努力维系这个家，然身毒丸过于执迷过去，对这个继母始终心怀敌意，母子之间的隔阂 逐渐加深。最终，忍无可忍的抚子通过诅咒弄瞎了身毒丸的双眼，而逃出家门的身毒丸为了报复继母，杀害了无血缘关系的弟弟千代。父亲因无法承受巨大的打击而去世。家破人亡后，身毒丸悔不当初，最终与继母冰释前嫌，以恋人的身份生活下去。

The smallpox virus has created its own unique atmosphere in Terayama’s film where the skin of a bandaged adolescent and the surface of the filmic image are subjected to a bizarre ‘disturbance’ as snails cross the screen and nails are hammered into the skull of the ailing patient. Illness in this film is as much a psychic entity as a physical one and manifests itself in an array of theatrical tableaux from grotesque women rigorously brushing their teeth to a snooker game where the players in white face makeup behave like automata. A Tale of Smallpox uses a medical theme to chart the traumatic dream life of Terayama’s times, evincing deep-rooted concerns in the Japanese national psyche that hark back to the upheaval of Meiji modernisation and the devastation of World War Two.

A dreamlike portrayal of a hangover after a decadent party.

An experimental short featuring people and nails.

Three showgirls playfully mock the audience for attending a projection of an art film.