Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zombi jietai) is one of the most ridiculous genre spoofs out there…and I mean ridiculous in a good way. A UFO crashes in a forest and releases radiation that can reanimate the dead. In close vicinity to the crash are a gang of yakuza and their chinpira lackeys, a photography [...]
Archive for the ‘Japanese Film Reviews’ Category
Japanese Film Reviews #19: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s ZOMBIE JIETAI: ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (2006)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, Tomomatsu Naoyuki, WWII, zombies on May 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Japanese Film Reviews #18: Kitamura Ryuhei’s VERSUS (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, film review, Film Reviews, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, Japanese zombie movies, Kitamura Ryuhei, Sakaguchi Tak, Sakaki Hideo, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Everyone who watches Japanese film knows about Versus. And for good reason, this is an awesome movie. I tend to shy away from movies that are excessively popular. This is because having never been popular myself, I harbor a deep subconscious resentment for all things that become popular. But, in this case, I will grudgingly [...]
Japanese Film Review #17: Tomomatsu Naoyuki’s STACY (2001)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged film, film review, Japan, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, zombie movies, zombies on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Directed by Tomomatsu Naoyuki and based on a novel by Otsuki Kenji, the 2001 film Stacy seems like a pretty good idea – what’s not to love about undead zombie schoolgirls? The film opens with the following narration: The beginning of the 21st century. Young girls aged 15 to 17 began dying one after another, [...]
Japanese Film Review #16: Muroga Atsushi’s JUNK: SHIRYO-GARI (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged film review, J-horror, Japan, zombies on March 11, 2010 | 6 Comments »
Presumably set in Okinawa, Shiryo-gari (written and directed by Muroga Atsushi) is about an American military experiment on dead bodies that predictably results in a zombie outbreak. The hapless American soldiers enlist the help of Dr. Nakada (played by Kishimoto Yuji), a Japanese scientist who was involved in the original research, to help bring the [...]
Japanese Film Review #15: Shiraishi Koji’s DEAD GIRL WALKING (2004)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged dead girl walking, J-horror, Japan, japanese film, shiraishi koji, zombie on March 4, 2010 | 16 Comments »
Dead Girl Walking is one of six segments of a made-for-TV series called ‘Hino Theater of Horror,’ all adapted from the works of manga artist Hino Hideshi. Hino Hideshi dreams up pretty dark ideas for his manga and he ranks just below Junji Ito as one of the most important Japanese horror-gore manga artists. Yuri [...]
Japanese Film Review #14: Sato Sakichi’s TOKYO ZOMBIE (2005)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged aikawa sho, Japan, japanese film, sato sakichi, tadanobu asano, tokyo zombie, zombies on February 27, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Imagine George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead fused with Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what this movie is about. However, based on the manga by Hanakuma Yusaku and written and directed by Sato Sakichi (the man responsible for the Ichi the Killer adaptation), Tokyo Zombie [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #13: Oshima Nagisa’s GOHATTO
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, Japanese History, tagged critical essay, Film Reviews, Japanese culture, Japanese history, Oshima Nagisa on January 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
My YouTube video on this review shall be posted in the upcoming days. For now, here is the essay. 危ない義理のできる男色 Oshima Nagisa’s 1999 film Gohatto is about desire and suspicion within the ranks of the Shinsengumi during the bakumatsu period. The film can be interpreted as both an examination of the destructive effects of desire [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #12: Kobayashi Masaki’s HARAKIRI
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged bushido, Film Reviews, Japanese culture, Japanese history, Kobayashi Masaki, samurai on October 22, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Bushido: The Soul of Fanaticism Hara-kiri’s Juxtaposition of Sensationalism and Reality Anyone vaguely familiar with Japan has no doubt heard of samurai, the fiercely disciplined and loyal warriors who ruled over Japan for centuries. In the West, we like to believe that every samurai lived according to the philosophy of bushido, the Way of the [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #9: Takashi Shimizu’s JU-ON
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged Film Reviews, J-horror, Japanese culture, Takashi Shimizu on June 17, 2009 | 3 Comments »
This installment discusses Shimizu Takashi’s 2000 hit JU-ON. J-Horror Classics – Shimizu Takashi’s JU-ON: THE GRUDGE Despite the popularity of the 1998 RING, by 2000 it seemed like the Japanese horror boom had ended. At least, no films had been released that really could rival Nakata’s smash hit. In February, Shimizu Takashi released a straight-to-video [...]
ホラーSHOX / HORROR SHOX
Posted in Japanese Film Reviews, tagged J-horror, japanese film, yotsuya kaidan on June 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I was recently contacted by Tinker-san, who informed me that he has mentioned my review of Yotsuya Kaidan on his website ホラーSHOX / HORROR SHOX! This is a great website and an amazing resource for all kinds of horror films. I am very flattered by his description of my review =^_^= If you are interested [...]
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