Kurosawa Kiyoshi should be considered his own genre. While primarily known for his horror films in the West, he got his start with pinku eiga movies (like many other Japanese directors) then moved into yakuza territory before making the switch to horror. Highly skilled, Kurosawa can successfully move between genres but every film he has made [...]
Posts Tagged ‘J-horror’
Japanese Film Review: Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s RETRIBUTION (2006)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, film, film review, Film Reviews, horror, J-horror, japanese film, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Retribution on February 20, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Feminism in Horror Film: Dead Wet Girls and Onryō
Posted in Film Reviews, Japan, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, critical essay, film, film review, Film Reviews, ghosts, horror, J-horror, Japan, japanese film, JU-ON, Kwaidan, Nakata Heideo, Oiwa, Okiku, onryo, Shimizu Takashi, The Grudge, The Ring, yokai, yotsuya kaidan, yurei on January 23, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Horror is typically regarded as the least feminist genre of film; a genre that routinely objectifies, sexualizes, tortures, rapes and murders women and girls. However, if viewed from a different angle, horror films often feature story lines that grant wronged women the power and agency (in death) to respond to the injustices done to them [...]
Japanese Film Review: Kaji Kengo’s SAMURAI PRINCESS (2009)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, film review, Film Reviews, horror, J-horror, japanese film, kaji kengo, nishimura yoshihiro, samurai princess on November 30, 2011 | 5 Comments »
I’m a big fan of Asian Extreme cinema (Patrick Galloway’s Asia Shock is a great introduction). Like most nerds, I’ll watch all movies that fall into this category…even if I only end up liking 50% of them. Unfortunately this was the case with Kaji Kengo’s Samurai Princess (2009). Sporting the talents of Nishimura Yoshihiro (the [...]
Japanese Film Reviews #20: Takeuchi Tetsuro’s WILD ZERO (2000)
Posted in Film Reviews, Japanese Film Reviews, tagged constantineintokyo, film review, Film Reviews, guitar wolf, J-horror, Japan, Japanese, japanese film, Japanese zombie movies, takeuchi tetsuro, zombies on May 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Wild Zero follows the three band members of Guitar Wolf; Guitar Wolf (vocals and guitar), Bass Wolf (bass), and Drum Wolf (you guessed it, drums). This trio are the hottest musicians in rural Asahi-cho and only believe in three things; love, justice, and Rock’n’Roll. Tired of the dirty ways of their evil yakuza business manager, [...]
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 »
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 [...]
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 #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 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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