After several years of working as an assistant director for Suzuki Seijun, Hasebe Yasuharu finally got the chance to direct his own film with 1966’s Black Tight Killers. While Suzuki’s irreverent whatsit Tokyo Drifter went on to international fame that same year, Hasebe’s debut lurked in relative obscurity outside of Japan. It’s an understandable fate since Suzuki’s relentless abstraction of both narrative and action accounts for much of what still makes it feel vital and fresh nearly six decades later, and Black Tight Killers sticks more tightly to the type of mukokuseki akushon (“borderless action”) film that Nikkatsu Studios had been churning out since the late ’50s.
Still, Black Tight Killers is an immensely stylish film in its own right. And it functions as a fascinating time capsule of a post-war Japan at a time when its youth culture was embracing the spirit of the Swinging ’60s.
Still, Black Tight Killers is an immensely stylish film in its own right. And it functions as a fascinating time capsule of a post-war Japan at a time when its youth culture was embracing the spirit of the Swinging ’60s.
- 2/26/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
As we have mentioned many times before, the documentary format has been improving significantly through the latest years, particularly due to the increased exposure of the category due to both festivals and streaming services. With the main motto here being that ‘reality goes beyond any kind of imagination', the stories presented have been shocking and at the same time, quite entertaining, particularly since a number of Asian countries have started loosening the control over information available and the overall censorship. Even in countries that have not done the same, the result is actually similar, due to the diaspora filmmakers, who, outside the confines of authorities, managed to say all those things they were supposed not to. Lastly, the rise of the mockumentary, which seems to be included in various programs more as documentary rather than fiction, adds even more depth to the category.
Without further ado, here are the best...
Without further ado, here are the best...
- 1/6/2024
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
J-Horror is among the most renowned internationally genres of Asian cinema, with the popularity of titles like “Ringu”, “Ju-on”, “Pulse” and so many others still echoing quite intensely. As such, it is quite interesting, even today, to shed a more thorough look to the roots, the motifs, and the reasons of success of these movies, also because some of the most central directors are still at large.
Check also this article Is J-Horror Coming Back? Six Movies that Suggest So
As such, I have to begin the review by stating that shooting this documentary seems like a colossal endeavor, both for arranging interviews with the likes of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, Teruyoshi Ishii, Joji Iida, Masayuki Ochiai, Shinya Tsukamoto, and Mari Asato, and for tracking down Rie Ino'o, who played Sadako in the first two films, and Takako Fuji, who played Kayako in a number of entries of “Ju-on”. Add...
Check also this article Is J-Horror Coming Back? Six Movies that Suggest So
As such, I have to begin the review by stating that shooting this documentary seems like a colossal endeavor, both for arranging interviews with the likes of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, Teruyoshi Ishii, Joji Iida, Masayuki Ochiai, Shinya Tsukamoto, and Mari Asato, and for tracking down Rie Ino'o, who played Sadako in the first two films, and Takako Fuji, who played Kayako in a number of entries of “Ju-on”. Add...
- 8/29/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The J-Horror Virus
One thing which you can always guarantee about Frightfest is that it will have a good selection of documentary content, and this year’s Pigeon Shrine-sponsored event is no exception. Sarah Appleton has been there before, in 2021, to present The Found Footage Phenomenon, which she made with Phillip Escott. She’s now teamed up with Jasper Sharp to create The J-Horror Virus. As soon as I heard that it would be screening there, I dropped her a line, and we arranged to have a chat about it – Jasper included, of course. She told me that she has been a fan of J-horror for as long as she can remember.
“When I was growing up, I think I watched basically all of the J-horror films,” says Sarah. “When I was really young they scared the shit out of me. I've always watched horror films, so in contrast to.
One thing which you can always guarantee about Frightfest is that it will have a good selection of documentary content, and this year’s Pigeon Shrine-sponsored event is no exception. Sarah Appleton has been there before, in 2021, to present The Found Footage Phenomenon, which she made with Phillip Escott. She’s now teamed up with Jasper Sharp to create The J-Horror Virus. As soon as I heard that it would be screening there, I dropped her a line, and we arranged to have a chat about it – Jasper included, of course. She told me that she has been a fan of J-horror for as long as she can remember.
“When I was growing up, I think I watched basically all of the J-horror films,” says Sarah. “When I was really young they scared the shit out of me. I've always watched horror films, so in contrast to.
- 8/26/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
What is it about Japanese horror? Opening with a beautifully designed montage of pen and ink line drawings and black and white photography, concrete ruins and leafless trees and faces hidden by long black hair, its title scrawled in a scratchy font, Sarah Appleton’s latest documentary, co-directed with Jasper Sharp, explores the small group of films which became a global phenomenon during the 1990s. It screened as part of Frightfest 2023 and will be most appealing to audiences which already have some familiarity with the material, but it’s also a good introduction for beginners, and whoever you are, you’re likely to come way with a sizeable to-watch list at the end.
There have been Japanese horror films for as long as there has been Japanese cinema, but any fan of the genre will recognise the distinctive characteristics of this particular group of films. They frequently involve found footage,...
There have been Japanese horror films for as long as there has been Japanese cinema, but any fan of the genre will recognise the distinctive characteristics of this particular group of films. They frequently involve found footage,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Welcome to Give Me the Fear, a new Frightfest 2023 preview series hosted by screenwriter Stuart Wright.
These brief, spoiler-free interviews will – across the entire series – help you to discover the kind of knowledge and experience about how to make indie horror films that they don’t teach at film school.
After looking back at the blood, sweat and tears that went into their creative successes, I ask them one last question: If you could hand pick one person to be in the audience for your Frightfest screening, who would it be and why? I think you going to love the answers this question elicits.
This episode features The Glenerama Tapes (Tony Devlin), The J-Horror Virus (Jasper Sharp) and Transmission (Michael J Hurst)
For more details about Frightfest see https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/index.html
Powered by RedCircle...
These brief, spoiler-free interviews will – across the entire series – help you to discover the kind of knowledge and experience about how to make indie horror films that they don’t teach at film school.
After looking back at the blood, sweat and tears that went into their creative successes, I ask them one last question: If you could hand pick one person to be in the audience for your Frightfest screening, who would it be and why? I think you going to love the answers this question elicits.
This episode features The Glenerama Tapes (Tony Devlin), The J-Horror Virus (Jasper Sharp) and Transmission (Michael J Hurst)
For more details about Frightfest see https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/index.html
Powered by RedCircle...
- 8/21/2023
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
The original horror classic, Hideo Nakata’s Ring (1998) is crawling back to life on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, with the upcoming release just announced this morning.
Here in the United States, you’ll be able to grab Arrow’s Ring 4K Uhd release in two different versions: The Standard 4K Version and the Original Artwork Slipcover 4K Version.
Up for pre-order now, both versions will release on September 19, 2023.
Arrow Video presents Ring, the film that started the J-horror wave, restored from the original negative in glorious 4K and supplemented by a wealth of bonus materials.
In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film’s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators,...
Here in the United States, you’ll be able to grab Arrow’s Ring 4K Uhd release in two different versions: The Standard 4K Version and the Original Artwork Slipcover 4K Version.
Up for pre-order now, both versions will release on September 19, 2023.
Arrow Video presents Ring, the film that started the J-horror wave, restored from the original negative in glorious 4K and supplemented by a wealth of bonus materials.
In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film’s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators,...
- 6/30/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Japanese horror boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, spawned in large part by Hideo Nakata’s Ring, gets the spotlight in the upcoming documentary The J-Horror Virus.
Check out the trailer below, first shared by Fangoria earlier today.
From Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp, The J-Horror Virus is said to be a “feature-length documentary charting the origins, evolution and diffusion across the world of a distinctive brand of made-in-Japan supernatural chillers that seeped into the global consciousness at the turn of the millennium, films featuring vengeful ghosts manifesting themselves through contemporary technology again a backdrop of urban alienation and social decay.”
The synopsis continues, “From its origins in Teruyoshi Ishii’s 1988 fake documentary Psychic Vision: Jaganrei (1988) and Norio Tsuruta’s seminal Scary True Stories (1991/92) straight-to-video series, through such key titles as Hideo Nakata’s Ring (1998), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001) and Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge...
Check out the trailer below, first shared by Fangoria earlier today.
From Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp, The J-Horror Virus is said to be a “feature-length documentary charting the origins, evolution and diffusion across the world of a distinctive brand of made-in-Japan supernatural chillers that seeped into the global consciousness at the turn of the millennium, films featuring vengeful ghosts manifesting themselves through contemporary technology again a backdrop of urban alienation and social decay.”
The synopsis continues, “From its origins in Teruyoshi Ishii’s 1988 fake documentary Psychic Vision: Jaganrei (1988) and Norio Tsuruta’s seminal Scary True Stories (1991/92) straight-to-video series, through such key titles as Hideo Nakata’s Ring (1998), Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001) and Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge...
- 6/20/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Film
I’m trying to remember the title of a movie. There’s a bomber, who puts a device on public transport. If it registers a speed over… ah I forget what the exact marker was, but anyway, that arms the bomb, then if it goes below that speed…Boom! So the cops have to figure out who this guy is, and how to disarm the bomb. I think it was called “The bus that couldn’t slow down”, but it might have been a bit snappier than that.
That aside, 1975’s The Bullet Train definitely bears some striking similarities to, you know, that bus movie. Ken Takahara plays Okita, he’s 40, has lost his company in a bankruptcy and is recently divorced. Recruiting two friends (Kei Yamamoto and Akira Oda) to help set it up, he develops a plan to hold a bullet train with approximately 1500 passengers to...
I’m trying to remember the title of a movie. There’s a bomber, who puts a device on public transport. If it registers a speed over… ah I forget what the exact marker was, but anyway, that arms the bomb, then if it goes below that speed…Boom! So the cops have to figure out who this guy is, and how to disarm the bomb. I think it was called “The bus that couldn’t slow down”, but it might have been a bit snappier than that.
That aside, 1975’s The Bullet Train definitely bears some striking similarities to, you know, that bus movie. Ken Takahara plays Okita, he’s 40, has lost his company in a bankruptcy and is recently divorced. Recruiting two friends (Kei Yamamoto and Akira Oda) to help set it up, he develops a plan to hold a bullet train with approximately 1500 passengers to...
- 4/27/2023
- by Sam Inglis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
On November 20, 1971, Nikkatsu launched its new Roman Porno line with the double bill of Hayashi Ishao’s “Castle Orgies” and Nishimura Shogoro’s “Apartment Wife: Afternoon Affair”. The following 17-year period saw a grand total of at least 850 titles (another catalogue mentions 1133) released under this new brand name. before the series came to a halt in 1988. The bulk of these, a total of around 710 films, were made in-house by Nikkatsu, with the rest produced under contract by a number of independent pink companies including Shishi Pro and Enk, which meant that one of the three films playing on the triple bills in the Nikkatsu-operated adult theaters would have been made outside of Nikkatsu
Check the review of the book Book Review: Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Cinema (2008) by Jasper Sharp
The films were (in)famously shot under three simple rules, ave a scene of...
Check the review of the book Book Review: Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Cinema (2008) by Jasper Sharp
The films were (in)famously shot under three simple rules, ave a scene of...
- 2/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Announced by Arrow Video this morning, Ju-On: The Grudge Collection is due out this December, featuring a brand new 4K restoration of Japanese classic Ju-On: The Grudge.
This one is a UK Release, headed our way on December 19, 2022.
“Ju-On”: the name given to a deadly curse spawned when someone dies in the grip of a violent rage. All who come into contact with it are doomed… Collected together for the first time, writer-director Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge series represents the flesh-crawling pinnacle of Japanese chillers that swept the globe at the turn of the millennium.
The films introduce the anonymous family house in the suburbs of Tokyo where an unspeakable evil lingers alongside its residents, the ghastly mother-son pairing of Kayoko and Toshio Saeki. Shimizu’s disconcerting approach to plotting, unnerving eye for the uncanny details in the dark corners of the frame and an innate talent...
This one is a UK Release, headed our way on December 19, 2022.
“Ju-On”: the name given to a deadly curse spawned when someone dies in the grip of a violent rage. All who come into contact with it are doomed… Collected together for the first time, writer-director Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge series represents the flesh-crawling pinnacle of Japanese chillers that swept the globe at the turn of the millennium.
The films introduce the anonymous family house in the suburbs of Tokyo where an unspeakable evil lingers alongside its residents, the ghastly mother-son pairing of Kayoko and Toshio Saeki. Shimizu’s disconcerting approach to plotting, unnerving eye for the uncanny details in the dark corners of the frame and an innate talent...
- 9/30/2022
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Hello, everyone! To kick off this month’s horror and sci-fi home media releases, we have an eclectic array of titles coming out this week. In terms of recent genre films, Rlje Films is releasing both Lucky by Natasha Kermani and Simon Barrett’s Seance on Tuesday, and if you’re a fan of the original Transformers movie (like this writer is), Shout! Factory has put together an incredible-looking Steelbook to celebrate the film’s 35th anniversary as well.
Arrow Video is keeping busy with two different sets of genre classics with their Sergio Martino Collection and The Daimajin Trilogy, and Code Red is showing some love to Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker this Tuesday with a special edition Blu-ray release.
Other titles headed home on August 3rd include Night Feeder, Dead Again, It Wants Blood, and Tailgate.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker Aka Night Warning: Special Edition
Terror begins when a...
Arrow Video is keeping busy with two different sets of genre classics with their Sergio Martino Collection and The Daimajin Trilogy, and Code Red is showing some love to Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker this Tuesday with a special edition Blu-ray release.
Other titles headed home on August 3rd include Night Feeder, Dead Again, It Wants Blood, and Tailgate.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker Aka Night Warning: Special Edition
Terror begins when a...
- 8/2/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival announces full programme for Jaeff 2021: Bodies in advance of ticket sales on 22 July. Jaeff 2021: Bodies will be held at The Barbican from 16-19th September, and online from 20th-30th September.
Jaeff 2021: Bodies explores how we interact with other beings, spaces around us, and how expressions of the unutterable become vital means of communication and connection.
This third edition of the Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival considers the body and sensation, and features work from directors Kon Ichikawa, Toshio Matsumoto, Susumu Hani, Chiaki Nagano, Takahiko Iimura, Tatsumi Kumashiro, Shuji Terayama and more.
In a time where words, facts and logic are increasingly ineffectual, powerless and absurd, this year’s programme attempts to make sense of the nonsensical. Finding that sometimes, the most powerful form of expression is often what we feel, rather than what we can say, write, or even think.
Jaeff 2021: Bodies explores how we interact with other beings, spaces around us, and how expressions of the unutterable become vital means of communication and connection.
This third edition of the Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival considers the body and sensation, and features work from directors Kon Ichikawa, Toshio Matsumoto, Susumu Hani, Chiaki Nagano, Takahiko Iimura, Tatsumi Kumashiro, Shuji Terayama and more.
In a time where words, facts and logic are increasingly ineffectual, powerless and absurd, this year’s programme attempts to make sense of the nonsensical. Finding that sometimes, the most powerful form of expression is often what we feel, rather than what we can say, write, or even think.
- 7/19/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Considered one of the best films in Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno series and voted as one of the 100 Best Japanese films of the 20th century by Kinema Junpo, “Ichijo’s Wet Lust” focuses on the life of the famous real-life stripper Sayuri Ichijo, who appears in the movie under her own name. Sayuri became famous in 1970, when she pioneered the tokudashi or ‘open stage’ style of striptease, with her allowing the customers to inspect her private parts with a magnifying glass, a tactic however, who had her charged for breaking obscenity laws and jailed for a short period that year. (source: Jasper Sharp’s Behind the Pink Curtain)
The film is based on Sayuri’s real life but follows a fictional narrative, although the protagonist is actually Hiroko Isayama, who plays Harumi, a girl who also works as a stripper in the same parlor as her more famous colleague, and...
The film is based on Sayuri’s real life but follows a fictional narrative, although the protagonist is actually Hiroko Isayama, who plays Harumi, a girl who also works as a stripper in the same parlor as her more famous colleague, and...
- 4/11/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Book Review: Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Cinema (2008) by Jasper Sharp
Allow me to begin this review with a personal note. Among the plethora of books about (Asian) cinema I have read, this one is definitely one of the better ones, if not the best. The combination of research and context (just mentioning all the topics Jasper Sharp examines here would fill a small book), the quality of personal comments, the language, and the overall illustration of the Fab Press edition, which is filled with film stills, posters etc, including a rather impressive middle section as much as great front and back covers, are all top-notch, to the point that one would have to dig really deep to find any flaw in the book. Let us take things from the beginning though.
The book begins ideally, as Sharp starts his narration by dealing with the history of nudity on film, the differences between art and pornography, the differences between Western and Japanese pornography,...
The book begins ideally, as Sharp starts his narration by dealing with the history of nudity on film, the differences between art and pornography, the differences between Western and Japanese pornography,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
We have an eclectic array of home media offerings coming out this week, led by the latest from Neil Marshall, The Reckoning. Shadow in the Cloud, featuring Chloë Grace Moretz, is also headed to Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, and if you missed the previous release of the Shinya Tsukamoto set from Arrow, they are releasing a standard Special Edition version of Solid Metal Nightmares as well.
Other Blu and DVD releases making their debut on April 6th include Doors, Sleepless, Dawn of the Beast, Lurking in the Woods, and Killer Karaoke.
The Reckoning
After losing her husband during the Great Plague, Grace Haverstock (Charlotte Kirk) is unjustly accused of being a witch and placed in the custody of England’s most ruthless witch-hunter, Judge Moorcroft (Sean Pertwee). Forced to endure physical and emotional torture while steadfastly maintaining her innocence, Grace must face her own inner demons as the Devil...
Other Blu and DVD releases making their debut on April 6th include Doors, Sleepless, Dawn of the Beast, Lurking in the Woods, and Killer Karaoke.
The Reckoning
After losing her husband during the Great Plague, Grace Haverstock (Charlotte Kirk) is unjustly accused of being a witch and placed in the custody of England’s most ruthless witch-hunter, Judge Moorcroft (Sean Pertwee). Forced to endure physical and emotional torture while steadfastly maintaining her innocence, Grace must face her own inner demons as the Devil...
- 4/5/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
As was the case with many of Wakamatsu’s works, “Secrets Behind the Wall” was surrounded by intense controversy. Being the first release of his own production company, Wakamatsu Pro, it was backed financially by Kokuei, whose people though, received a completely different script than what the cunning director ended up with, in a rather risky move, which paid off completely though. The movie was a commercial success and became one of the first pinku films to screen outside of Japan, on the 15th Berlinale. However, the Japanese authorities, the majority of the critics and in general a number of people who watched the movie reacted quite intently, particularly due to the introductory scene, where a woman has sex with a communist man, who carries an atrocious scar caused by the atomic bombing, with the whole scene taking place under the portrait of Stalin. Even more so, she mutters to him,...
- 4/4/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Teruo Ishii’s Shogun’S Joy Of Torture (1968) will be available on Blu-ray February 23rd from Arrow Video
From the outrageous imagination of cult director Teruo Ishii comes this infamous omnibus of three shocking tales of crime and punishment based on true-life documented cases set during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate.
The first tale sees the beautiful Mitsu (Masumi Tachibana) going to horrifying lengths to tend to her older brother Shinz (Teruo Yoshida), a carpenter injured in a work accident, but the law catches up on them and metes out a terrifying retribution after they violate the ultimate taboo. In the second, unfettered passions in a Buddhist nunnery are not allowed to go unpunished after abbess Reih (Yukie Kagawa) and her attendant Rintoku (Naomi Shiraishi) encounter a virile young monk from a neighboring temple. In the closing segment, a sadistic torturer (Fumio Watanabe) attempts to show a tattoo artist (Asao Koike...
From the outrageous imagination of cult director Teruo Ishii comes this infamous omnibus of three shocking tales of crime and punishment based on true-life documented cases set during the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate.
The first tale sees the beautiful Mitsu (Masumi Tachibana) going to horrifying lengths to tend to her older brother Shinz (Teruo Yoshida), a carpenter injured in a work accident, but the law catches up on them and metes out a terrifying retribution after they violate the ultimate taboo. In the second, unfettered passions in a Buddhist nunnery are not allowed to go unpunished after abbess Reih (Yukie Kagawa) and her attendant Rintoku (Naomi Shiraishi) encounter a virile young monk from a neighboring temple. In the closing segment, a sadistic torturer (Fumio Watanabe) attempts to show a tattoo artist (Asao Koike...
- 2/22/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
For the second week of September, we don’t have a ton of horror and sci-fi headed home on Blu-ray and DVD, but there are a few releases genre fans are definitely going to want to pick up. This Tuesday’s biggest release is the new Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection in 4K from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, which includes the uncut version of Psycho, and Psycho is also getting its own stand alone release for its 60th anniversary as well.
Arrow Video has put together a Limited Edition set for Graveyards of Honor which features both filmic versions, and both Saw and Candyman are getting a re-release too. Other titles arriving on September 8th include A Deadly Legend and Evil Boy.
The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection
Universally recognized as the Master of Suspense, the legendary Alfred Hitchcock directed some of cinema's most thrilling and unforgettable classics. The Alfred Hitchcock Classics...
Arrow Video has put together a Limited Edition set for Graveyards of Honor which features both filmic versions, and both Saw and Candyman are getting a re-release too. Other titles arriving on September 8th include A Deadly Legend and Evil Boy.
The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection
Universally recognized as the Master of Suspense, the legendary Alfred Hitchcock directed some of cinema's most thrilling and unforgettable classics. The Alfred Hitchcock Classics...
- 9/7/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Kinji Fukasaku’s Graveyard Of Honor (1975) and Takashi Miike’s 2002 Remake will be available together on Blu-ray September 8th from Arrow Video
Two peerless masters of Japanese cinema Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike present their own distinctive adaptations of yakuza expert Goro Fujita s gangster novel Graveyard of Honor, each tapping into the zeitgeist of a distinct period of Japanese history.
Set during the turbulent post-war years, Fukasaku s original 1975 film charts the rise and fall of real-life gangster Rikio Ishikawa. Shot through with the same stark realism and quasi-documentarian approach as Fukasaku s earlier Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Fukasaku nonetheless breaks new ground through his portrayal of a gangster utterly without honor or ethics, surviving by any means necessary in a world of brutal criminality.
Meanwhile, Miike s 2002 retelling transplants the story to Tokyo at the turn of the millennium. Less a direct remake of Fukasku s film...
Two peerless masters of Japanese cinema Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike present their own distinctive adaptations of yakuza expert Goro Fujita s gangster novel Graveyard of Honor, each tapping into the zeitgeist of a distinct period of Japanese history.
Set during the turbulent post-war years, Fukasaku s original 1975 film charts the rise and fall of real-life gangster Rikio Ishikawa. Shot through with the same stark realism and quasi-documentarian approach as Fukasaku s earlier Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Fukasaku nonetheless breaks new ground through his portrayal of a gangster utterly without honor or ethics, surviving by any means necessary in a world of brutal criminality.
Meanwhile, Miike s 2002 retelling transplants the story to Tokyo at the turn of the millennium. Less a direct remake of Fukasku s film...
- 9/7/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Eureka Entertainment’s November lineup was announced yeterday and will feature a classic Japanese monster movie that introduced us to one of the most unique creatures ever seen on film; and two influential sci-fi epics from one of Japan’s inimitable filmmakers.
Mothra (Limited Edition Box Set) (Blu-ray)
Synopsis
One of the most iconic Japanese kaiju, Mothra has appeared in over a dozen feature films. Presented here is her debut, a gloriously vibrant piece of filmmaking that forever changed how kaiju eiga would be produced in Japan.
Following reports of human life on Infant Island, the supposedly deserted site of atomic bomb tests, an international expedition to the heavily-radiated island discovers a native tribe and tiny twin female fairies called “Shobijin” who guard a sacred egg. The overzealous expedition leader kidnaps the Shobijin to exhibit in a Tokyo stage show but soon they summon their protector, hatching...
Mothra (Limited Edition Box Set) (Blu-ray)
Synopsis
One of the most iconic Japanese kaiju, Mothra has appeared in over a dozen feature films. Presented here is her debut, a gloriously vibrant piece of filmmaking that forever changed how kaiju eiga would be produced in Japan.
Following reports of human life on Infant Island, the supposedly deserted site of atomic bomb tests, an international expedition to the heavily-radiated island discovers a native tribe and tiny twin female fairies called “Shobijin” who guard a sacred egg. The overzealous expedition leader kidnaps the Shobijin to exhibit in a Tokyo stage show but soon they summon their protector, hatching...
- 8/29/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Japanese cinema’s earliest attempt to depict the full impact of the 1945 atom-bomb attack is one of the best anti-Nuke movies ever… yet it somehow stayed under the radar of American awareness for decades. The bombing is seen from only eight years’ distance, when the nation was seemingly resisting coming to terms with its social and political implications; Hideo Sekigawa’s account includes some subtle commentary on the indifferent political response to the plight of the victims… even in 1953. Arrow’s extras include a Jasper Sharp video essay that fills in a lot of blank cinema history between Enola Gay and Godzilla. The impressive music score will seem familiar; it’s by Akira Ifukube.
Hiroshima
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat / 104 85 min. / Street Date July 14, 2020 / 24.99
Starring: Eiji Okada, Yumeji Tsukioka, Yoshi Katô, Masayuki Tsukida, Takashi Kanda, Isuzu Yamada.
Cinematography: Shunichirô Nakao, Susumu Urashima
Film Editor: Akikazu Kôno
Original Music:...
Hiroshima
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat / 104 85 min. / Street Date July 14, 2020 / 24.99
Starring: Eiji Okada, Yumeji Tsukioka, Yoshi Katô, Masayuki Tsukida, Takashi Kanda, Isuzu Yamada.
Cinematography: Shunichirô Nakao, Susumu Urashima
Film Editor: Akikazu Kôno
Original Music:...
- 8/22/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: Lori Loughlin, Shannon Presby, James Spader, John Philbin, David H. MacDonald, Vince Grant, Theron Montgomery, Eddie Jones, Lucy Martin, Eric Stoltz, Paige Price, Court Miller, Tom Atkins | Written by Stephen Gyllenhaal | Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
Director Sean S. Cunningham is widely known for the classic 1980 slasher Friday the 13th, a movie we know and love that spawned a whole series of sequels and eventually a remake. Still, he’s done plenty of other things, and one of those things is the 1985 thriller, The New Kids. With a screenplay by Stephen Gyllenhaal who also wrote the story alongside Brian Taggert, The New Kids finally comes out on Blu-ray in the UK thanks to 101 Films and their excellent Black Label.
The story itself follows two American teenagers – Loren (Shannon Presby) and Abby (Lori Loughlin) – who, when their parents are killed in a car accident, move to Florida to live with their Uncle.
Director Sean S. Cunningham is widely known for the classic 1980 slasher Friday the 13th, a movie we know and love that spawned a whole series of sequels and eventually a remake. Still, he’s done plenty of other things, and one of those things is the 1985 thriller, The New Kids. With a screenplay by Stephen Gyllenhaal who also wrote the story alongside Brian Taggert, The New Kids finally comes out on Blu-ray in the UK thanks to 101 Films and their excellent Black Label.
The story itself follows two American teenagers – Loren (Shannon Presby) and Abby (Lori Loughlin) – who, when their parents are killed in a car accident, move to Florida to live with their Uncle.
- 6/26/2020
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
Teruo Ishii’s Inferno Of Torture will be available on Blu-ray From Arrow Video July 7th
Exploitation legend Teruo Ishii delivers one of his most extreme visions of violent eroticism in this, the sixth in his abnormal love series. Tattoos and torture await women forced into servitude in Ishii’s Inferno of Torture.
Unable to repay a local lender, Yumi (Yumika Katayama) takes up an offer to serve as a geisha for two years with a promise of freedom once her debt is repaid. She quickly realizes that this is less a house of geishas than an extremely cruel brothel specializing in supplying western visitors with tattooed playthings. Taken under the wing of one of the leading tattoo artists vying for a coveted spot in the Shogun’s good graces through his work, Yumi’s body becomes a battleground as a rival artist becomes determined not to lose his spot at the top.
Exploitation legend Teruo Ishii delivers one of his most extreme visions of violent eroticism in this, the sixth in his abnormal love series. Tattoos and torture await women forced into servitude in Ishii’s Inferno of Torture.
Unable to repay a local lender, Yumi (Yumika Katayama) takes up an offer to serve as a geisha for two years with a promise of freedom once her debt is repaid. She quickly realizes that this is less a house of geishas than an extremely cruel brothel specializing in supplying western visitors with tattooed playthings. Taken under the wing of one of the leading tattoo artists vying for a coveted spot in the Shogun’s good graces through his work, Yumi’s body becomes a battleground as a rival artist becomes determined not to lose his spot at the top.
- 6/8/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Tomu Uchida’s Mad Fox (1962) is currently available on Blu-ray From Arrow Academy
In stark contrast to the monochrome naturalism of his earlier masterwork Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, visionary master director Tomu Uchida took inspiration from Bunraku and kabuki theater for arguably his strangest and most lavishly cinematic film, The Mad Fox.
Amidst a mythically-depicted medieval Japan, a court astrologer foretells a great disturbance that threatens to split the realm in two. His bitter and treacherous wife conspires to have the astrologer killed, as well as their adopted daughter, Sakaki. The astrologer s master apprentice, Yasuna, who was in love with Sakaki, is driven mad with grief and escapes to the countryside. There, he encounters Sakaki s long-lost twin, Kuzunoha, and the pair meet a pack of ancient fox spirits in the woods, whose presence may be the key to restoring Yasuna s sanity, and in turn bringing peace to the fracturing nation.
In stark contrast to the monochrome naturalism of his earlier masterwork Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji, visionary master director Tomu Uchida took inspiration from Bunraku and kabuki theater for arguably his strangest and most lavishly cinematic film, The Mad Fox.
Amidst a mythically-depicted medieval Japan, a court astrologer foretells a great disturbance that threatens to split the realm in two. His bitter and treacherous wife conspires to have the astrologer killed, as well as their adopted daughter, Sakaki. The astrologer s master apprentice, Yasuna, who was in love with Sakaki, is driven mad with grief and escapes to the countryside. There, he encounters Sakaki s long-lost twin, Kuzunoha, and the pair meet a pack of ancient fox spirits in the woods, whose presence may be the key to restoring Yasuna s sanity, and in turn bringing peace to the fracturing nation.
- 6/7/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This June, 101 Films will release Sean S. Cunningham’s tense and violent horror-thriller The New Kids (1985), previously released on VHS as Striking Back in 1988 and never making the transition to DVD here in the UK, as part of the companies “Black Label” line.
After their parents die in a car crash, two all-American teens, Loren (Shannon Presby) and Abby (Lori Loughlin) go to live with relatives in a small Florida town. But trouble begins when members of a vicious gang, led by Dutra (James Spader), bet on who’ll be the first to seduce the innocent Abby. When she spurns their obscene advances, the thugs embark on a sadistic campaign of vandalism, arson and assault. The savagery escalates until Loren must defend himself and his sister in a brutal fight to the death in a carnival midway. It’s The New Kids… trying to make it in this town just might kill them!
After their parents die in a car crash, two all-American teens, Loren (Shannon Presby) and Abby (Lori Loughlin) go to live with relatives in a small Florida town. But trouble begins when members of a vicious gang, led by Dutra (James Spader), bet on who’ll be the first to seduce the innocent Abby. When she spurns their obscene advances, the thugs embark on a sadistic campaign of vandalism, arson and assault. The savagery escalates until Loren must defend himself and his sister in a brutal fight to the death in a carnival midway. It’s The New Kids… trying to make it in this town just might kill them!
- 5/22/2020
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
“Zombie for Sale“
Synopsis:
An infectiously funny slice of modern Korean cinema where Train to Busan, The Quiet Family and Warm Bodies collide to create a memorable rom-zom-com from first time director Lee Min-jae.
When the illegal human experiments of Korea’s biggest Pharmaceutical company go wrong, one of their “undead” test subjects escapes and ends up in a shabby gas station owned by the Park family – a band of misfits spanning three generations who hustle passers-by to make ends meet. When the Park family uncover their undead visitor, he bites the head of their household, who instead of transforming into an undead ghoul becomes revitalised and full of life! The family then hatch a plan to exploit this unexpected fountain of youth, allowing locals to pay to be bitten too, until things go wrong…
With a cabbage-munching zombie who prefers ketchup over blood, and a dysfunctional family that gives...
Synopsis:
An infectiously funny slice of modern Korean cinema where Train to Busan, The Quiet Family and Warm Bodies collide to create a memorable rom-zom-com from first time director Lee Min-jae.
When the illegal human experiments of Korea’s biggest Pharmaceutical company go wrong, one of their “undead” test subjects escapes and ends up in a shabby gas station owned by the Park family – a band of misfits spanning three generations who hustle passers-by to make ends meet. When the Park family uncover their undead visitor, he bites the head of their household, who instead of transforming into an undead ghoul becomes revitalised and full of life! The family then hatch a plan to exploit this unexpected fountain of youth, allowing locals to pay to be bitten too, until things go wrong…
With a cabbage-munching zombie who prefers ketchup over blood, and a dysfunctional family that gives...
- 4/26/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
As part of their release slates for the months June and July 2020 Arrow Academy will release the classic Nagisa Oshima “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” starring David Bowie and Hideo Sekigawa’s powerful documentary “Hiroshima”
Synopsis for “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence”
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a Pow camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers’ stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp’s new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major,...
Synopsis for “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence”
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 Palme d’Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II.
In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a Pow camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers’ stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp’s new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major,...
- 4/18/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Jasper Sharp is a writer, curator and filmmaker specialising in Japanese cinema, and co-founder of the Japanese film website Midnighteye.com. His book publications include The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film (2003), joint-written with Tom Mes, Behind the Pink Curtain (2008) and The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Film (2011). He is the co-director of The Creeping Garden (2014), alongside Tim Grabham, a documentary about plasmodial slime moulds. He has programmed a number of high profile seasons and retrospectives with organisations including the British Film Institute, Deutches Filmmuseum, Austin Fantastic Fest, the Cinematheque Quebecois and Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
We spoke with Jasper no longer after his talk – in recent, more social times – on Ero Guro for the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies in London, and we discussed about how he got sucked into the wild side of Japanese Cinema, the years of Midnight Eye, his latest passions and more.
Hi Jasper. In...
We spoke with Jasper no longer after his talk – in recent, more social times – on Ero Guro for the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies in London, and we discussed about how he got sucked into the wild side of Japanese Cinema, the years of Midnight Eye, his latest passions and more.
Hi Jasper. In...
- 4/17/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
After his infamous legal dispute with production company Nikkatsu, Japanese director Seijun Suzuki would return to the world of film with his 1977 movie “A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness”, ten years after “Branded to Kill” got him fired by Nikkatsu’s president Kyusaku Hori. While the film’s reception was rather poor upon release, its take on the world of fame and sports is perhaps one of the most bitter works of the director, combining his visual style and concept of how a popular icon is received in today’s world as well as the darkness that follows immense fame.
“A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness” is screening at Japan Society
At the center of the story we find Reiko (Yoko Shiraki), a professional model, who signs a contract with the editor of a golfing fashion magazine who wants to boost his company’s sales. In order to make her...
“A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness” is screening at Japan Society
At the center of the story we find Reiko (Yoko Shiraki), a professional model, who signs a contract with the editor of a golfing fashion magazine who wants to boost his company’s sales. In order to make her...
- 3/24/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The 1st edition of Inlandimensions Interdisciplinary Arts Festival has been established to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Polish-Japanese diplomatic relations in 2019. Inlandimensions is being organized in three major Polish cities: Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan in cooperation with three major cultural and educational partner institutions: The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, The Grotowski Institute in Wroclaw and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan linked by Bridges Foundation. The Festival is looking forward to promote Eurasian culture in order to build bridges and form attachments with various European festivals which might lead to further exchange and cooperation. The aim is not only to strengthen the relations and further exchange of artistic ideas, but also to investigate ties between different lands of the Eurasian output.
The program of the first edition of the Inlandimensions Festival, under the motto “misemono no fukken” (restoration of the spectacles), includes not merely theater performances, but also film projections, literary meetings,...
The program of the first edition of the Inlandimensions Festival, under the motto “misemono no fukken” (restoration of the spectacles), includes not merely theater performances, but also film projections, literary meetings,...
- 10/5/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Ring Collection 3-Disc Special Edition Set wll be available on Blu-ray October 29th From Arrow Video
n 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.
A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko, a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone...
n 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.
A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko, a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone...
- 10/2/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With our opening night just days away, we are very excited for all of the attention Nation has received. Starting this Friday 20th and running through Sunday 22nd at the Barbican, Close-Up and MetFilm School, this year we examine national identity, cultural memory and perceptions of history in Japan with a programme of five feature-length films paired with seven short-form pieces, a panel discussion and a free filmmakers’ workshop.
Friday 20th September 2019
Barbican Cinema 3 – Opening night screening 18:00:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters by Paul Schrader, 1985 + Patriotism (Yūkoku) by Yukio Mishima, 1966.
With intro by Damian Flanagan.
Saturday 21st September
Close-Up Cinema – 20:30 screening:
Fighting Elegy (Kenka erejii) by Seijun Suzuki, 1966 +
Bright Beyond Bearing by Monika Uchiyama, 2017 +
How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been by Mizuki Toriya, 2017 +
Chiyo by Chiemi Shimada, 2019.
With intro by Jasper Sharp.
Sunday 22nd September
Barbican...
Friday 20th September 2019
Barbican Cinema 3 – Opening night screening 18:00:
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters by Paul Schrader, 1985 + Patriotism (Yūkoku) by Yukio Mishima, 1966.
With intro by Damian Flanagan.
Saturday 21st September
Close-Up Cinema – 20:30 screening:
Fighting Elegy (Kenka erejii) by Seijun Suzuki, 1966 +
Bright Beyond Bearing by Monika Uchiyama, 2017 +
How Can You Know Where to Go If You Do Not Know Where You Have Been by Mizuki Toriya, 2017 +
Chiyo by Chiemi Shimada, 2019.
With intro by Jasper Sharp.
Sunday 22nd September
Barbican...
- 9/17/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Teruo Ishii’s action classic Yakuza Law (1969) will be available on Blu-ray May 14th From Arrow Video
Director Teruo Ishii, the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (Aka Yakuza s Law: Lynching) a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and bringing to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised.
In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set...
Director Teruo Ishii, the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (Aka Yakuza s Law: Lynching) a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and bringing to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised.
In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set...
- 4/22/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Director Teruo Ishii, the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (Aka Yakuza’s Law: Lynching) – a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and bringing to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised.
In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day 60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii’s Orgies of Edo...
In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day 60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii’s Orgies of Edo...
- 2/24/2019
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
[The following essay contains major spoilers.]
“I firmly believe a very Japanese film that is different from others can easily cross borders.”
(Hideo Nakata in the foreword of “The Midnight Eye Guide to Japanese Film”)
There are many stories connected to people’s first encounter with Hideo Nakata’s “Ring”. However, most of them have less to do with his film, but the remake released in 2002 and directed by Gore Verbinski. Sitting in the theater watching the first encounter with Samara, one which would soon spawn a tidal wave of Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror films, many, perhaps, thought how fresh and of course scary the films was. While highly stylized and polished, “The Ring” felt like a much-welcome departure from the meta-horror films following in the footsteps of Wes Craven’s “Scream” (1996). However, many of us did not know at the time those ideas and image,s which felt so unique to us, came almost...
“I firmly believe a very Japanese film that is different from others can easily cross borders.”
(Hideo Nakata in the foreword of “The Midnight Eye Guide to Japanese Film”)
There are many stories connected to people’s first encounter with Hideo Nakata’s “Ring”. However, most of them have less to do with his film, but the remake released in 2002 and directed by Gore Verbinski. Sitting in the theater watching the first encounter with Samara, one which would soon spawn a tidal wave of Hollywood remakes of Japanese horror films, many, perhaps, thought how fresh and of course scary the films was. While highly stylized and polished, “The Ring” felt like a much-welcome departure from the meta-horror films following in the footsteps of Wes Craven’s “Scream” (1996). However, many of us did not know at the time those ideas and image,s which felt so unique to us, came almost...
- 12/29/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
As part of their line-up for March 2019 Arrow Video will be releasing the “Ring”-movies – Hideo Nakata’s original along with the two sequels, as well as “Spiral”, the George Iida, the “lost” sequel to the original. At the same time the first film will be released as a single disc as well as in a limited edition steelbook. Here are the contents of the box set:
• Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative of Ring, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
• High definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
• Lossless Japanese DTS-hd master audio 5.1 and Pcm 2.0 soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida’s 1998 sequel to Ring
• New audio commentary on Ring by film historian David Kalat
• New audio commentary on Ring 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• The Ring Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on...
• Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative of Ring, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
• High definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
• Lossless Japanese DTS-hd master audio 5.1 and Pcm 2.0 soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida’s 1998 sequel to Ring
• New audio commentary on Ring by film historian David Kalat
• New audio commentary on Ring 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• The Ring Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on...
- 12/26/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
“My mum never made lunch for me.”
“Who would for scum like you?”
By 1972, Kinji Fukasaku could already look back on a long career making movies for Toei studios. Additionally, his contribution to Richard Fleischer’s “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (1970) marked the director’s first international collaboration as he was responsible for the Japanese segment of the film together with his colleague Toshio Masuda. Even though much of his body of work consisted of contract work for the studio, many of his projects also showed signs of the kind of energy and anarchy which would constitute his later work.
On the surface “Street Mobster” sounds like the kind of movies Fukasaku had done previously. As film scholar Jasper Sharp points out, the original title of the film, “Gendai yakuza: Hitokiri yota”, signifies a shift from away from the traditional approach to the gangster genre. However, it was not until Fukasaku’s final entry to the series,...
“Who would for scum like you?”
By 1972, Kinji Fukasaku could already look back on a long career making movies for Toei studios. Additionally, his contribution to Richard Fleischer’s “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (1970) marked the director’s first international collaboration as he was responsible for the Japanese segment of the film together with his colleague Toshio Masuda. Even though much of his body of work consisted of contract work for the studio, many of his projects also showed signs of the kind of energy and anarchy which would constitute his later work.
On the surface “Street Mobster” sounds like the kind of movies Fukasaku had done previously. As film scholar Jasper Sharp points out, the original title of the film, “Gendai yakuza: Hitokiri yota”, signifies a shift from away from the traditional approach to the gangster genre. However, it was not until Fukasaku’s final entry to the series,...
- 11/26/2018
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The London East Asia Film Festival (Leaff), opens its third year on the 25th October at Vue Leicester Square with “Dark Figure of Crime”, the newest thriller by director Kim Tae-gyun, and runs until the 4th November. It will close with the intelligent and emotionally complex family drama, “Ramen Shop”, the latest feature film by acclaimed Singaporean director, Eric Khoo.
Having expanded to include the cinematic offerings of 13 countries – China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar – Leaff’s 2018 programme focuses on the “future”. Through the lens and unique perspectives of East Asian filmmakers, Leaff offers compelling insight into not only the future of those in East Asia but in London, with vital and thought – provoking dialogues being opened up around subjects such as youth, human interaction, development, cultural and social issues.
Leaff will screen 6 International premieres, 8 European premieres and 23 UK premieres,...
Having expanded to include the cinematic offerings of 13 countries – China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar – Leaff’s 2018 programme focuses on the “future”. Through the lens and unique perspectives of East Asian filmmakers, Leaff offers compelling insight into not only the future of those in East Asia but in London, with vital and thought – provoking dialogues being opened up around subjects such as youth, human interaction, development, cultural and social issues.
Leaff will screen 6 International premieres, 8 European premieres and 23 UK premieres,...
- 9/22/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
September 18th is definitely a phan-tastic day to be a genre lover, as we’re finally getting individual Blu-ray releases for both Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion this week, courtesy of Well Go USA. Scream Factory has given two classic horrors an HD overhaul—Scream for Help and The Evil—that cult film enthusiasts should definitely check out, and there is a pair of Special Edition Blu-rays arriving on Tuesday from Arrow Video to boot: Horrors of Malformed Men and The Pyjama Girl Case.
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 18th include Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The X-Files: Season 11, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, Impulse, and 666: Seance Hour.
The Evil
A psychologist (Richard Crenna) and his wife (Joanna Pettet) buy a dilapidated historical mansion with a dark past in this terrifying chiller. Hoping to restore the estate and turn it into a drug rehabilitation clinic,...
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 18th include Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The X-Files: Season 11, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, Impulse, and 666: Seance Hour.
The Evil
A psychologist (Richard Crenna) and his wife (Joanna Pettet) buy a dilapidated historical mansion with a dark past in this terrifying chiller. Hoping to restore the estate and turn it into a drug rehabilitation clinic,...
- 9/17/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Tomu Uchida’s Bloody Spear At Mount Fuji (1955) will be available on Blu-ray September 4th from Arrow Academy
Praised by Japanese film critics and much admired by his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirô Ozu, Tomu Uchida nonetheless remains a little-known in the west. His 1955 masterpiece Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is an excellent entry point for the newcomer. Set during the Edo period, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a tragicomic road movie of sorts, following a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi (Chiezô Kataoka) – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution. Winner of a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for supporting actor – and Kurosawa regular – Daisuke Katô, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a film deserving of much wider international recognition.
Bonus Materials High Definition Blu-ray...
Praised by Japanese film critics and much admired by his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirô Ozu, Tomu Uchida nonetheless remains a little-known in the west. His 1955 masterpiece Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is an excellent entry point for the newcomer. Set during the Edo period, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a tragicomic road movie of sorts, following a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi (Chiezô Kataoka) – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution. Winner of a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for supporting actor – and Kurosawa regular – Daisuke Katô, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a film deserving of much wider international recognition.
Bonus Materials High Definition Blu-ray...
- 8/29/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Wes Anderson’s movies are often compared to works of art, so it’s only fitting the directing is about to tackle a new gig as a museum curator. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria has announced that Wes Anderson and his partner Juman Malouf are set to launch a new art exhibition this November entitled “The Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures from the Kunsthistorisches Museum.”
The museum is giving Anderson and Malouf free range to their extensive back catalogue. The duo will be able to cull from all fourteen collections at the Kunsthistorisches, including Greek and Roman Antiquities, Old Master Paintings, Egyptian Antiquities, and the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, among others. Anderson will be able to feature these works however he chooses.
Anderson and Malouf are set to unveil their exhibit on November 6, which means Anderson fans better book their plane tickets to Vienna as soon as possible.
The museum is giving Anderson and Malouf free range to their extensive back catalogue. The duo will be able to cull from all fourteen collections at the Kunsthistorisches, including Greek and Roman Antiquities, Old Master Paintings, Egyptian Antiquities, and the Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, among others. Anderson will be able to feature these works however he chooses.
Anderson and Malouf are set to unveil their exhibit on November 6, which means Anderson fans better book their plane tickets to Vienna as soon as possible.
- 7/17/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Street Mobster (1972) will be available on Blu-ray August 7th from Arrow Video
A pivotal work in the yakuza movie genre and in the career of director Kinji Fukasaku, Street Mobster presents an abrasive portrait of the rise and fall of a reckless street punk caught in the crossfire of a bloody turf war raging in the mean streets of Kawazaki.
When Okita Isamu re-emerges onto the mean streets of Kawazaki after five years in prison for a string of brutal crimes, he comes face to face with prostitute Kinuyo, who immediately pinpoints him as one of the participants in her brutal sexual assault years earlier that left her shell-shocked and consigned to the life of a sex worker. While the two outcasts form an unlikely bond, Okita returns to his criminal ways. He is approached by veteran gangster Kizaki, who encourages him to round up a group of local chinpira...
A pivotal work in the yakuza movie genre and in the career of director Kinji Fukasaku, Street Mobster presents an abrasive portrait of the rise and fall of a reckless street punk caught in the crossfire of a bloody turf war raging in the mean streets of Kawazaki.
When Okita Isamu re-emerges onto the mean streets of Kawazaki after five years in prison for a string of brutal crimes, he comes face to face with prostitute Kinuyo, who immediately pinpoints him as one of the participants in her brutal sexual assault years earlier that left her shell-shocked and consigned to the life of a sex worker. While the two outcasts form an unlikely bond, Okita returns to his criminal ways. He is approached by veteran gangster Kizaki, who encourages him to round up a group of local chinpira...
- 7/9/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After launching in Glasgow earlier in the year, Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival is coming to London from June 29 - July 7, 2018. Aperture, which is co-directed by Sonali Joshi and Jasper Sharp, is the only festival in the UK that specifically covers the entirety of the Asian and Pacific regions. Representative countries include Afghanistan, Armenia, Assam (India), Bhutan, Georgia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Pakistan. Sonali Joshi says that “[w]e feel this is an important initiative to widen audience choice for Asian films in the UK and to offer more opportunities to see films that rarely reach UK screens.” Aperture's summer program boasts 12 features, including four UK premieres and four London premieres, as well 17 short films. A second London program will...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/25/2018
- Screen Anarchy
After launching in Glasgow earlier in the year, Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival is coming to London from June 29 - July 7, 2018. Aperture, which is co-directed by Sonali Joshi and Jasper Sharp, is the only festival in the UK that specifically covers the entirety of the Asian and Pacific regions. Representative countries include Afghanistan, Armenia, Assam (India), Bhutan, Georgia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Pakistan. Sonali Joshi says that “[w]e feel this is an important initiative to widen audience choice for Asian films in the UK and to offer more opportunities to see films that rarely reach UK screens.” Aperture's summer program boasts 12 features, including four UK premieres and four London premieres, as well 17 short films. A second London program will...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/25/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Cult director Teruo Ishii presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the fevered imagination of Japan’s celebrated pioneer ofero-guro (“erotic grotesque”) literature, Edogawa Rampo.
Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman’s household and his dead double’s marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.
A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo’s tales, Horrors of Malformed Men boasts astonishing...
Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman’s household and his dead double’s marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.
A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo’s tales, Horrors of Malformed Men boasts astonishing...
- 6/23/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Praised by Japanese film critics and much admired by his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirô Ozu, Tomu Uchida nonetheless remains a little-known in the west. His 1955 masterpiece Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is an excellent entry point for the newcomer.
Set during the Edo period, “Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji” is a tragicomic road movie of sorts, following a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi (Chiezô Kataoka) – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.
Winner of a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for supporting actor – and Kurosawa regular – Daisuke Katô, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a film deserving of much wider international recognition.
Special Edition Contents
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles
Brand-new audio commentary...
Set during the Edo period, “Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji” is a tragicomic road movie of sorts, following a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi (Chiezô Kataoka) – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.
Winner of a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award for supporting actor – and Kurosawa regular – Daisuke Katô, Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji is a film deserving of much wider international recognition.
Special Edition Contents
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original uncompressed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles
Brand-new audio commentary...
- 6/9/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Launching In London On June 29; Touring The Uk In Summer/Autumn 2018
Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival is a new UK-wide film festival dedicated to screening some of the boldest, most daring, challenging, and striking films from the Asian and Pacific regions. Focusing particularly on underrepresented cinemas, from Azerbaijan to Vanuatu and everything in between, the festival aims to open windows on worlds whose landscapes and peoples remain largely absent from UK screens. Aperture is the only φestival in the UK currently with a remit that specifically covers the whole of the Asian and Pacific regions.
For this first edition of the festival, key areas of focus include films from Central Asia, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. The programme comprises 12 features, including 4 UK premieres and 4 London premieres, and 17 short films.
Key themes within the festival programme include migration and displaced peoples, social justice, and female empowerment. Over...
Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival is a new UK-wide film festival dedicated to screening some of the boldest, most daring, challenging, and striking films from the Asian and Pacific regions. Focusing particularly on underrepresented cinemas, from Azerbaijan to Vanuatu and everything in between, the festival aims to open windows on worlds whose landscapes and peoples remain largely absent from UK screens. Aperture is the only φestival in the UK currently with a remit that specifically covers the whole of the Asian and Pacific regions.
For this first edition of the festival, key areas of focus include films from Central Asia, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. The programme comprises 12 features, including 4 UK premieres and 4 London premieres, and 17 short films.
Key themes within the festival programme include migration and displaced peoples, social justice, and female empowerment. Over...
- 6/8/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Michio Yamamoto’s The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, consisting of The Vampire Doll, Lake of Dracula, and Evil of Dracula, will be available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video May 22nd
Inspired by the runaway success of the British and American gothic horror films of the sixties, Toho studios brought the vampiric tropes of the Dracula legend to Japanese screens with The Vampire Doll, Lake of Dracula, and Evil of Dracula three spookily effective cult classics collectively known as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy.
In The Vampire Doll, a young man goes missing after visiting his girlfriend s isolated country home. His sister and her boyfriend trace him to the creepy mansion, but their search becomes perilous when they uncover a gruesome family history.
Lake of Dracula begins with a young girl suffering a terrifying nightmare of a vampire with blazing golden eyes. Eighteen years later, the dream is revealed to be a hellish prophecy...
Inspired by the runaway success of the British and American gothic horror films of the sixties, Toho studios brought the vampiric tropes of the Dracula legend to Japanese screens with The Vampire Doll, Lake of Dracula, and Evil of Dracula three spookily effective cult classics collectively known as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy.
In The Vampire Doll, a young man goes missing after visiting his girlfriend s isolated country home. His sister and her boyfriend trace him to the creepy mansion, but their search becomes perilous when they uncover a gruesome family history.
Lake of Dracula begins with a young girl suffering a terrifying nightmare of a vampire with blazing golden eyes. Eighteen years later, the dream is revealed to be a hellish prophecy...
- 4/26/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSWith Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina in Pierrot le fou on the official poster for the 71st Cannes Film Festival, all signs point to Jean-Luc Godard's new film, Le livre d'image, premiering there this May.Isao Takahata—the master filmmaker, animator, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli—has sadly left us. Jasper Sharp has penned a thoughtful, thorough obituary for The Guardian.The Czech New Wave director Juraj Herz has also died, reports Czech Journal.Hirokazu Kore-eda's highly productive filmmaking pace continues with a new project, and The Playlist reports that Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and perhaps even Ethan Hawke, are aboard.Recommended VIEWINGTerry Gilliam's decades-in-the-making dream project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, is finally near. Above is the raucous first trailer led by the aptly paired duo of Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver.
- 4/11/2018
- MUBI
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