Tag: Japanese Cinema
Japanese horror is no small beast, it had a Golden Era with horror movies at the turn of the 21st century that brought Asian horror to the forefront of the horror field internationally with adaptations to homages: Ringu, Ju-on, Dark Water, and more as iconic for the modern time. It established various tropes and displayed
Jishu eiga, abbreviated from jishu seisaku eiga and translating roughly to “autonomously produced”, is an elusive, self-sufficient form of filmmaking popularised during the decline of mainstream Japanese cinema around the 1970’s. Mostly filmed on 8mm film and chiefly witnessed at a handful of specialist film festivals, this independent form of filmmaking helped launch the directorial
After Purima Kikaku’s success with their three “Document Porno: Sukeban” films they would move onto a new format for their next attempt at the sukeban genre – the “semi-document”. Whereas the document porno films would portray the action as a mockumentary accompanied by a narrator to sell the illusion of reality; “Semi-Document: Sukeban Bodyguard” would
Asian horror is both a treasure trove and a rabbit hole. When you find a gem that’s too good to not be seen, you can’t help but dig deep until you drown in a chock-full watchlist. That is how I felt when I first saw The Butcher (2008), a found-footage pseudo-snuff film from South Korea.
Having a roommate can be hard. Whether it’s disrespect of the kitchen cleaning rules or failing to remember how thin the average bedroom wall is, living with another person is often a frustrating and filthy experience. Yuhiko Tsutsumi’s outrageous black horror comedy 2LDK (2003) follows two aspiring actresses: the demure, virginal Nozomi and party girl
Following WW2, censorship laws were relaxed in Japan, and this along with an import of American culture led to an industry of sexually charged pulp magazines called “kasutori magazines” (kasutori was the name used for low-quality liquor, similar to moonshine, and became used to refer to all kinds of culture held in low regard). These
Paris. London. Milan. Tokyo. Ask anyone what they consider to be the most fashionable place in the world, and chances are high that they’ll say one of these stylish cities. The world of fashion is immortal, effervescent and exciting, but beneath lies a much darker world for those who stumble from their Louboutins and fall
After helping to kickstart sukeban cinema in 1970, Nikkatsu would largely retire from the genre in 1971 after the lacklustre performance of “Bad Girl Mako”, leaving Toei unchallenged in their pinky violence dominance. However, in 1973, a fresh entry would come courtesy of the small studio Purima Kikaku. Purima Kikaku would exclusively make low-budget porn
A mockumentary framing offers a nice spin to the found footage genre. While most found footage films are shot and arranged in an amateur fashion to preserve their realism and home video sense, mockumentary is its counterpart. Here, the believability of the horror comes from one’s flair in crafting conceivable documentation of something purely fictional.
“Strings of gold sway gently in the wind, They play a sweet and gentle melody, At night I walk in the pale moonlight, Together with a dream, A secret dream..” Having spent most of my adolescence hunting down Japanese films at my local video stores and rummaging through endless online forums to discover new titles,