Ghost Revenge

 

 (imdb)

EMPIRE OF PASSION-1978-In a village, a married woman (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) has an affair with a much younger man (Tatsuya Fuji). At the man's urging they kill her rickshaw driving husband and throw his body in a well. 3 years later, their passion has cooled except for brief periods and her lover has grown distant Then her husband's ghost shows up. A police officer investigates as her life crumbles against ghost sightings and gossip. 

This Japanese-French co-production is renown director Nagisa Oshima's only real foray into a ghost story but it's excellent. Too bad he didn't do another one. He also wrote the screenplay based on a novel. Oshima made the infamous IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES in 1976 (also with Fuji). His next movie was 1983's MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE.

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Before He was A Friend To All Children

 

 (imdb)

GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE-1966-A trio of Japanese scientists, Dr. Hidaka, his assistant Kyoko and reporter Aoyagi are exploring the Arctic. When the Russians accidentally drop a bomb nearby, it unleashes a giant turtle from the ice. An Eskimo chief gives them an ancient stone carving and tells them about Gammera, a legend who is “evil and very frightening”.  At US army headquarters, Gen O'Neil (Dick O'Neil) tries to figure out if there really is a giant turtle roaming around. Cut to a NY TV show hosted by a guy (John Baragrey) who looks like Gore Vidal and a discussion between two doctors (Allan Oppenheimer & Mort Marshall). It's pretty funny. At a meeting in DC headed by the secretary of defense (Albert Dekker), Gen Arnold (Brian Donlevy) explains that large turtle footprints were found near a shipwreck. 

Back in Japan, a little brother Toshio loves turtles and is doing bad in school. He's forced by their father to free his turtle but meets a bigger one, Gammera who invades their village. Toshio almost falls to his death but Gammera saves him. Later it's discovered that Gammera can fly and eats fire to survive. After trying to freeze him fails, Gammera attacks Tokyo. Young people refuse to leave a dance club until the building comes down. Toshio gets in the way of destroying “his friend” a couple of times. Gammera really does appear invincible but with the help of Prof. Murase they send Gammera to Mars. Toshio says “Sayonara Gamera”...

Director Noriaki Yuasa went on to direct many more of Gammera (Gamera) adventures for Daiei Studios and making the only real rival to Toho's Godzilla. The added American scenes by Sandy Howard are pretty laughable.

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Kaiju Contest

 

 (imdb)

WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS-1966-A giant green monster fights a sea serpent and sinks a fishing boat. It then invades Japan and wrecks an airport and eats a woman. At first scientists think it is related to the Frankenstein monster but American Dr. Stewart (Russ Tamblyn) and Japanese partners Akemi (Kumi Mizumi; in several of the director's films) and Dr. Majida (Kenji Sahara; RODAN (1956)) prove this false. The monster attacks a nightclub where a singer (Kipp Hamilton) does a terrible song and is killed. The monster doesn't like light. After a long battle, the army seems to defeat the green giant but it's rescued when a gold furry giant appears. They name green giant Gaira (Haruo Nakajima) and the lighter one Sanda (Yu Sekita). They come to believe that Sanda is the offspring of their Frankenstein and Gaira is it's offspring. Sanda shows its good side when it saves Akemi when she falls off a cliff. The two eventually have a knocked down drag out that ends with an erupting volcano! 

The great Ishiro Honda co-wrote and directed this fun destruction outing, a sort of semi-sequel to FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON (1965) that has since gained a cult following. It's always noted that Tamblyn behaved like an asshole on the set, doing the opposite of Honda's instruc-tions. The actor later stated that the only reason he did the picture was to get a free trip to Japan. Tab Hunter had originally been Toho studios first choice.

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Takeshi

 

 (imdb)

VIOLENT COP-1989-Azuma (Beat Takeshi; MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE) is the title character, a hot-headed cop with a mean violent streak who is always in trouble with his superiors. While battling drug dealers, he uses all the wrong methods to arrest criminals: violence, planting evidence, intimidation. He also has trouble with his drug addicted sister. 

This was former comedian Takeshi's directorial debut and it's not for everyone. His methodical direction suddenly explodes with brutality. He went on to improve his technique as director and editor with his next two films.

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Links To Japanese Hardcore Wrestling Warning Not For The Squeamish!

Warning: Some might find these images unsettling!

There are some links to my favorite sport of all time: Japanese Hardcore wrestling! It's not for everyone. Be warned: It's very bloody and brutal. Not for the squeamish!

Great Sasuke Career Music Video

https://youtu.be/yDwA_DvsX8Y?si=l_t-Soxl4h8mCrLY 

FMW Tribute:

https://youtu.be/c7L_8UnTbVE?si=EsCbRY8dfRZ8ioOo

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga Career Music Video (1989-2019):

https://youtu.be/ZethJLcUMoU?feature=shared

Mr. Gannosuke Career Music Video:

https://youtu.be/PqUa73syx8I?si=_o0YgD6-nQUfjfV3

Hayabusa Career Music Video (1991-2016)

https://youtu.be/go3k-7nDCtE?si=Ts5R3UbJSI1k5V7X

The Best of Abdullah Kobayashi:

https://youtu.be/LIR_DWjuqMU?feature=shared

Mr. Pogo Career Music Video (1981-2017):

https://youtu.be/rVqgGfh054w?feature=shared

Astushi Onita Career Music Video (1981-2017):

https://youtu.be/EoZfrNXG_Wo?feature=shared

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Ghost Stories From Japan

 

(tmdb.org)

KWAIDAN-1965-"The Black Hair"- A samurai (Rentaro Mikuni) abandons his devoted wife (Michiyo Aratama; CHUSHINGURA (1962)) and marries into a noble family just to gain a position. Finding his new bride (Misako Watanabe; SAMURAI SPY (1969)) to be cold and self-possessed, he realizes too late he still loves his first wife and misses their life together. Eventually, he returns to her. Everything seems the same until….

"The Woman of The Snow"-Woodcutters Mosaku and his apprentice Minokuchi (Tatsuya Nakadai; later the star of FACE OF ANOTHER (1964)) are caught in a blizzard. They find shelter in a hut. They are visited at night by a mysterious eerie woman in white who kills Mosaku but allows the young man to live provided he never tells anyone of their encounter. Later he meets Yuki and they marry and raise a family. Then one night he tells Yuki about his encounter…

"Hoichi the Earless"-The battle of Don-no-ura is a great battle sequence. Hoichi, a blind biwa player lives at a temple with several other attendants. One night he is visited by a mysterious samurai who says his master wants to hear Hoichi play. He goes with the samurai every night but refuses to say where. He won't even tell his master (Takashi Shimura; in GHIDORAH the same year). He also appears to be growing paler. When Hoichi leaves during a storm, 3 attendants follow him. It turns out Hoichi has been playing his biwa in a graveyard to the spirits of dead warriors. There's more though…This also features a great battle of Don-no-ura sequence.

"In a Cup of Tea"-A writer relates a story that has no ending. Sekini, a samurai guarding a lord, sees the face of a mysterious man in his teacup. Later that night he is visited by the same man who appears to be a ghost. When he tells the other guards, they laugh at him. Later he duels 3 ghosts who are attendants of the other man. Sekini seems to beat them but there the story ends. The writer's publisher comes to visit him. He and the landlady find the writer trapped in a large jug of water.

 (imdb)

This is director Masaki Kobayashi's (THE HUMAN CONDITION series) only foray into the realm of Japanese ghost stories. It's an excellent anthology but some “western” audiences might find it too slow moving. The stories come from a 1904 book by Lafcadio Hearn, an author born on a Greek island, who had a hardscrabble childhood, lived in several countries (including the US) but settled in Japan permanently in 1890.

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Cool Anime

 

 (imdb))

COCOLORS-2017-Nice looking short Anime about inhabitants of three worlds living underground because of a flesh destroying germ in the air. The lead character Aki doesn't talk, he communicates through whistles. It's very well done but like a lot of Japanese story lines, it has a sad ending. The director Toshihisa Yokoshima was a former recluse.

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Feudal Japan

 

 (imdb)

AZUMI-2003-Azumi (Aya Ueto) is trained to be an assassin in feudal Japan. She has to kill her friend as a village is slaughtered. She then goes after several warlords who are deemed evil but Azumi has some doubts. This is a violent tragic story with great swordplay and direction but it's a little mean spirited. 

Director Ryuhei Kitamura made ARAGAMI the same year. He was previously known for VERSUS (2000) and later made GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004) and THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008).

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Japan Mad Science

 

 (the moviedb.org)

CYCLOPS-1987-In Japan there are deformed babies being born which doctors have named Cyclops. Most are left to die but one mad scientist thinks they're the beginning of a new level of human being. This deviant medical horror story features extreme and sometimes disgusting gore scenes. At times the acting seems to be comical. Directed by Joji Iida (TOKYO BABYLON 1999 (1993)).

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“Your Weapons Have No Affect On Me”

 

 (imdb)

THE PRINCE OF SPACE-1959-In Japan, the evil alien Phantom Dictator (Joji Oka) wants the secret formula Dr. Maki (Ushio Akashi) has. The aliens have big fake noses that kind of look like birds. However, a mysterious superhero Prince of Space (Tatsuo Umemiya) shows up to thwart the bad guys. Some little kids get in the way. 

Known as “Planet Prince” in Japan, it's based on TV show and was shown in several installments in Japanese theaters. It's a typical fun outing but those “beaked” aliens are hilarious! It was shown in US theaters in 1965. Eijiro Wakabayshi was the director. 

The character was rebooted in 2021 as PLANET PRINCE 2021.

Thanks for asking!

Anime Japan

 

 (imdb)

THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE EIGHT HEADED DRAGON-1964-A strong, bullying little brat named Sasano beats up a tiger. He's very close to his mom. When she dies, he goes on a crying jag. His mom's spirit comes back briefly and gives him a red medallion. When his father won't give him a boat, he builds his own and sets out across the ocean to find his mother. Only a rabbit will go with him. After beating up a giant fish, the lord of the ocean helps him visit The Land of Night where his brother lives. After fighting and defeating The Fire God, a giant named Akahana joins them and they go to The Land of Light. They make a mess of things there and plunge the land into darkness. After being thrown out, he goes to The Land of The Morning Sun and meets The Little Princess, who Sasano thinks resembles his mom, and her pet mouse. He eventually fights and defeats the dragon, gets a message from mom and lives happily ever after. 

Great early '60's anime that's not only entertaining but influential. Director Yugo Serikawa later made other Anime features including CYBORG 009 and MAZINGER Z. 

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Hey Lady Ninja!

 

 (imdb)

THE CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA-1983-In this Chinese martial arts story, set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Wu (Hui Sang Yang) is the only woman ninja in her Japanese clan. She's a good fighter and a master of illusions. At one point, when trapped by 4 ninjas, she turns into a scantily clad dancer which mesmerizes her foes into dropping their swords, then she blows them up! Her sensei promotes her to full ninja but one student Kuroda (Kang Peng) objects because she's Chinese and China is at war with Japan. When she returns home to China she learns her father has been killed by her fiancee Ki, who is now working for the evil Japanese. She convinces 3 local women to help and they go after Ki's 4 bodyguards. There's a couple of twists to the story leading to a showdown between Wu and Kuroda. 

Crazy mixed up but entertaining martial arts movie from director Tso Nam Lee who made (DEADLY) LIFE OF NINJA the same year in Taiwan,

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Monstrous Rip-Off

 

 (foundfootagecritic.com)

MONSTER-2008-Two sisters decided to do a documentary on global warming and go to Japan to film it. They don't know Japanese and they certainly don't know anything about filmmaking. Disaster strikes in the form of an underground monster barely seen. It's mostly characters running and yelling. Occasionally, they meet someone who speaks English. 

This is a found footage rip-off of CLOVERFIELD with a little BLAIR WITCH thrown in which figures because it was made by The Asylum. Director Eric Forsberg may have made a sequel.

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From Japan

 

 (imdb)

FUGITIVE ALIEN-1978- Alien Ken (Tatsuya Azuma) is on the run from his home planet because he wouldn't kill a human child. On Earth he has super abilities and is kind of forced to join a special space force unit headed by Captain Joe (Jo Shishido; BRANDED TO KILL (1967)), whose wife and child were killed by Ken's race. A pasty-faced alien leader sends Ken's lover to kill him because Ken killed her brother (he was going to kill the kid Ken wouldn't). It's several episodes of the Japanese TV show "Space Wolf" which in turn was an adaptation of a novel by American author Edmund Hamilton. There was also a FUGITIVE ALIEN 2.

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Riki Oh

 

 (anisearch.com)

RIKI OH 2: CHILD OF DESTRUCTION-1990-Riki searches for his brother Nachi in this sequel. On his way to the city he's captured by Lord. Washizaki. Naichi is a healer who's worshipped as a god and used by Washizaki for his own diabolical means...until Naichi revolts. After some destruction and death, the brothers confront each other. Director Tetsu Dezaki also made part one as well as the anime THEY WERE ELEVEN. Both are based on a popular manga series,

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Mighty Jack

 

 (imdb)

MIGHTY JACK-1968-In Japan Mighty Jack was a 13-part TV show co-created by sfx guru Eiji Tsuburaya. American producer Sandy Howard got a hold of 2 episodes (1 & 6) and edited them together to create this feature film. 

It features a group of government agents called Mighty Jack and their atomic submarine also called Mighty Jack. Their main enemy is the villainous organization called Q. In the first half MJ rescues the mysterious Mr. Atari who was kidnapped in France. He becomes their new leader. In the second part, MJ investigates the creation of "hot ice" from a scientist's stolen papers. The protagonists are the scientist's German son and star reporter. I'm sure the original was entertaining enough but this version is a mess. 

Star Kenji Sahara was in the original Godzilla and several sequels and other series like Ultraman. This is also the only directorial effort from Kazuo Sagawa who did sfx for other movies.

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Anime Short

 

 (myfreewallpapers.com)

NEGADON:THE MONSTER FROM MARS-2005-In the overpopulated world of 2025, the globalization of Mars is a success. However, a returning spaceship brings back a monster that proceeds to destroy everything. A professor haunted by the death of his only daughter uses a giant robot he created years ago to battle the creature and save Earth. Impressive computer-generated Japanese anime short (21 minutes) by Jun Awazu.

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Real Cannibal

 

 

 (cnn)

EXCUSE ME FOR LIVING-1993-This is a horrific documentary/biography about Issei Sagawa (who died in November 2022), a Japanese citizen who murdered and cannibalized a young Dutch woman in France. Though arrested and imprisoned, a technical glitch in the justice system freed him after a mere two years in an asylum. He's a pathetic guy who probably needed help for many years, but no one realized it and he committed a pretty heinous crime and became a minor celebrity who wrote several books and gave interviews. 

He expounds on his lifelong obsession to kill and eat someone and his fascination with actress Jean Seberg. His later life wasn't so pleasant. His “celebrity status” in Japan is blown out of proportion as most of the country were fairly outraged by his infamy.

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TV J-Horror

 

 (amazon.com)

CROW'S BLOOD-2016-Gruesome horror mini-series from Japan about a very strange schoolgirl who seems to have evil powers thanks to her scientist dad's experiments. Very gory and mysterious. Great stuff but not for everyone. It made its US debut on the now defunct El Rey TV network. Directed by Ryo Nishimura.

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God of Battle

 

 (imdb)

ARAGAMI-2003-2 young Samurai, wounded in battle, seek refuge in a secluded castle. While his companion dies, the other (Takao Osawa) awakens and his wounds are healed. The owner (Masaya Kato) claims to be Aragami, the god of battle. He says he wants the samurai to kill him but it's not that easy. This 3 person Japanese tale has good swordplay and acting but was too talky for me. The director Ryuhei Kitamura also made VERSUS and GODZILLA: FINAL WARS.

Thanks for reading!