TV J-Horror

 

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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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Anime

 

JUDGE-1991-Supernatural Japanese anime with a timid office worker Ohma who's really a demon that judges mankind's crimes. In "The Court of Ten Kings" he faces a "metaphysical" defense attorney when a weaselly corporate executive is accused of killing his rival. It's based on a manga and it seems like the first episode of a series that was never made. Director Hiroshi Negishi later made several “Tenchi Muyo” full length movies. 

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.Hong Kong

AB-NORMAL BEAUTY-2004-A young photographer becomes obsessed with photographing death after taking some pictures of a car accident victim. She seems to be haunted by a childhood rape and is eventually made an S & M victim by a stalker who sends her a snuff tape. Her girlfriend tries to help her but to no avail. Although there are some well-done scenes in this strange drama it is once again (as in many Hong Kong produced horror tales) mostly style over story.

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J-Horror Quickies

Wow! I'm very busy tonight. These short reviews will have to do!

INUGAMI-(2001)-is a strange Japanese film from director Masato Harada. It's about a teacher from Tokyo who goes to work in an isolated country village where everyone believes the curse of "The Inugami" hangs over the women of a weird local family. Flashbacks involving incest, murder and the birth of a baby try and explain it and a violent blood rite (shot partially in black & white) caps the climax but much of the story is lost in Harada's overly stylish direction (well, something like that...)

SPELLBOUND-(2003)-Another well made film by Masato Harada (see above) set in the Japanese banking world. Federal investigators try to expose corruption while a female reporter has her own investigation going on. It also focuses on how it all effects the private lives of some of the people caught up in the whole thing. The acting is excellent but Tatsuya Nakadai (from Kurosaw's KAGEMUSHA) kind of steals the show. It's engaging but some might find the storyline (which is based on real events) not so interesting.
Director Harada spend a lot of time as a critic in L.A. before turning to movie making. His "cyber-punk" themed GUNHED which received a 1998 US released was largely changed by the distributer and credited to that very busy "late" director Alan Smithee.
ROUND 1-2003-Directed by Daiki Yamada is a Japanese/Korean co-production comedy/drama about Toppo, a failed Japanese actor who becomes a con-man. Parts involving The Yakuza are kind of violent.

ISOLA MULTIPLE PERSONALITY GIRL-2000-This Japanese horror tale seems to be inspired by RINGU. It uses a lot of similar effects and even has "found footage film" from an old (but fake) movie, a plot device used in several other Japanese films. A woman (Yoshino Kimura) who can read minds comes to help victims during the Kobe earthquake. She meets a strange young girl (played by Akira Kurosawa's granddaughter Yu) who now suffers psychotic episodes after participating in an outer body experience experiment go awry.

Very strange but not much else. I've read Takashi Miike has a cameo when one character (played by Susumu Terajima) commits suicide but I missed him. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I'd know what he looks like anyway! Directed by Toshiyuki Mizutani.

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The Blog Has Eyes!

THE EYE (Jian gui)-2002-A young girl gets a cornea transplant and can see for the first time in her life. However, she finds that she sees a lot more than anyone else. Namely ghosts! Pretty horrifying ones at that. Her visions are the key to a mystery involving the former owner of her newly acquired sight and she must unravel it. Lead actress Angelica Lee won the Hong Kong film festival best actress award for her performance. It was followed by two sequels and a US remake. Nicely done Asian horror from Thailand.







MY LEFT EYE SEES GHOSTS-2002-After an obnoxious, uncaring woman (Sammi Cheung) is killed in a car accident she is brought back to life by a ghost named Ken. While in the hospital recovering, she has an eye operation. Soon after that Ken returns and she can see other ghosts too. It’s basically a lighthearted romantic comedy with some serious overtones. Co-director Johnny To made THE HEROIC TRIO and THE EXECUTIONERS.



BLOODLUST!-1961-This cheap rip-off of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME stars Wilton Graff as a mad hunter who kills with a crossbow and then makes statues out of his victims for his personal “museum”. Four young people (including future Mr. Brady Robert Reed) stumble upon his domain where they are held prisoner along with his wife (Lilyan Chauvin) and her lover (familiar TV actor Walter Brooke). Director Ralph Brooke (possibly Walter’s brother?) was second unit director on Jerry Warren’s MAN BEAST. It’s pretty stupid.

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5 Crammed Into 1

MIGHTY PEKING MAN-1977-Nutty stuff from Hong Kong about a legendary giant hairy ape-man (guy in a suit) living on an island with a scantily clad normal sized white woman named Samantha (Russian born Evelyne Kraft; later in the German made LADY DRACULA). Their odd relationship is interrupted by Johnny (Danny Lee) an explorer looking for the big guy. She and Johnny kind of fall in love and MPM gets a little upset when he sees the two having sex. Johnny convinces Sam to bring “her friend” back to Hong Kong. (He’s strapped to a ship in a sitting position) After pulling (toy) trucks on TV, MPM loses it totally when he sees Samantha being abused by a sleazy promoter. He wrecks the town looking for her. Parts of it are pretty funny. Leading man Lee had previously used the name Li Hsiu Hsein and appeared in several film including the very wacky INTRA-MAN. He later made his mark in Hong Kong classics like BETTER TOMORROW, CITY ON FIRE and THE KILLER.

RONIN GAI-1992-Interesting Samurai drama is more of a character study than an action film. They include several prostitutes, a drunken Samurai, a guy who tests new swords on corpses and a drunken bouncer named Bull who acts a lot like Toshiro Mifune! It takes place in a village where The Shogun is cracking down on prostitution. The climax is excellent.

HEROES OF SHOALIN-1979-Boring Kung-Fu drama with the usual duels and bad dubbing. Shing Chen (AKA Chen Xing) is the hero. Yuen Biao and Corey Yuen were the action directors (and have small roles). One of the villains is played by Lo Lieh from 5 FINGERS OF DEATH. Director William Chang also worked as a film editor. There is a William Chang who works as a production designer for director Wong Kar-Wai (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) but I’m not sure if they are the same person.

PHONE-2002-Very intriguing Korean horror film featuring a haunted cell phone. Mysterious phone calls, apparitions and computer messages plague a young woman. Her sister’s child seems to become possessed and does a lot of weird things. The little girl who plays this role gives an incredible performance.

BIO-ZOMBIE!-2000-Cantonese horror-comedy features toxic infected zombies terrorizing morons at a mall. The two main characters are idiotic “wise guy” wannabes. The Zombies attack and there’s some gore but too much stupid humor with everyone screaming and acting foolish.

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Three Fast ones

GRAVEYARD OF HONOR-1975-Kinji Fukusaku made this “fictional documentary” about the rise and fall of a Japanese gangster named Isikawa (Tetsuya Watari). It’s fast paced and very violent but not as good for me as some of his other films (especially his THE YAKUZA PAPERS series). Fukusaku’s influence on future Asian directors like John Woo (and probably Quentin Tarantino) is obvious.



THE HEIRLOOM-2005-This Asian horror film from Taiwan is about the “raising of ghost children”, the blood worship of a dead fetus to ensure prosperity to a family. A young man inherits a house and strange things occur affecting him and his dancer girlfriend. The atmosphere is there but basically the story goes nowhere and the climax is a disappointment.



LEAVES OUT OF SATAN’S BOOK-1921-Another incredible film by Carl Theodor Dreyer (his third at the time) depicts the work of devil in four historical episodes: The Betrayal by Judas of Christ, The Spanish Inquisition The French Revolution and The Russian Invasion of Finland (the modern segment set in 1918). It’s probably inspired by DW Griffith’s episodic INTOLERANCE, which was made the year before. It’s a long silent film (over 2 hours) but Dreyer uses his personal style and vision to masterfully convey the stories .

“If I had a choice of having a woman in my arms or shooting a bad guy on a horse I’d take the horse. It’s a lot more fun”-Kevin Costner

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Great Eyes!

EYES WITHOUT A FACE-1960-It’s cool to see this intriguing French art film with horror trappings restored to it’s original version with English sub-titles, after only seeing it cut and dubbed on late night TV in the early ‘70’s.

A plastic surgeon tries to repair his daughter’s disfigured face (described by one character as “an open wound”). Unfortunately he must kill unsuspecting women to achieve this. The daughter (Edith Scob) usually wears a white faceless mask and doesn’t want her father to continue his “cure”. She only seems happy with the dogs her father keeps locked in the basement for experimental use. Alda Valdi (from THE THIRD MAN) plays the doctor’s assistant.

The director Georges Franju made other feature length films after this but at the time was known for a controversial short. He was known in France for co-founding the film archive Cinematheque Française.

EYES was released in the US (and on TV) under the more exploitable title THE HORROR CHAMBER OF DR. FAUSTUS which probably disappointed a lot of horror fans who saw it.

"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."-George Washington

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Quickies

CELLO-2005-After a car accident a cello teacher has weird visions which seem to be connected to her autistic daughter and her new cello. A very strange and silent housekeeper hangs around and a former student stalks her. This very derivative Korean made horror film has some creepy moments but goes on too long.



CINDERELLA-2006-Korean made horror nonsense about plastic surgery, a young woman and her kind of psycho mom/surgeon. I found the whole thing rather confusing and drawn out and there’s really no pay off. But maybe it’s me…



DARKON-2006-This is a serious documentary about a live action role playing game called “Darkon”. A bunch of people dress in armor and fight wars. Some dress like elves. They all seem very into it and explain why they do it and how it makes them feel. Folks who like role playing games will probably get a kick out of it but I fell asleep.




SYMPATHY FOR THE UNDERDOG-1971-Violent gang war drama by “The King of Yakuza Films” Kinji Fukusaku. When a huge Tokyo Yakuza drives a gang in Yokohama out of its territory the gang reorganizes in Okinawa. Things don’t go that well however and by the end of the story literally everyone is dead!



ARK-2004-This is a computer generated sci-fi fantasy is much like the better known FINAL FANTASY. Two races The Storians and The Sevians wage an eternal battle on the planet Elseon. It was a Korean/USA co-production and has some great scenes. James Woods was the only voice actor I recognized.

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between dog and man"—Mark Twain

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