Tag: Japanese Cinema
Fans of serialized tokusatsu shows or classic anime OVAs from the 80s and 90s will find themselves right at home checking out this entry at the 2021 Japan-Filmfest Hamburg (JFFH). The story follows the adorable but cold Kirin, a girl who travels across Japan seeking other yokai that have become overwhelmed with evil intentions so
Part of the JFFH (Japan Film Fest Hamburg) 2021 line-up, Kenya Okuba’s Cosmetic DNA was a title that instantly caught my attention with the flashy trailer promising a techno-laden, neon-drenched tale of bloody vengeance. However, you can only tease so much in a quick-cut trailer for a two-hour-long film, so I went in with high
For a long period, I have found myself drawn to extreme cinema. The unapologetic approach to subject matters proscribed in mainstream media has always been more alluring to my cinematic tastes. From Japanese Pinku Eiga to French New Wave, I have tried to explore as much of the genre as possible and, moreover, have seen
“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.” -Friedrich Nietzche Last year, cinema fans worldwide were able to engage and appreciate the talents of director Macoto Tezuka (officially romanized as Tezka and used here to denote between father and son) thanks to Third Window Films’ restoration and
Lady Snowblood is Toshiya Fujita’s 1973 Japanese exploitation flick that inspired the likes of Tarantino’s Kill Bill and countless other directors, featuring the beautiful Meiko Kaji, also famous as Lady Scorpion, in the central role as a wronged woman seeking revenge tenaciously. The choreographed action sequences of vivid brutality – where translucent blood is sprayed
It goes without saying that director Hideo Nakata is one of the most celebrated filmmakers when it comes to Japanese horror. Having helmed two exceptionally well-received adaptations of Koji Suzuki novels, Ringu and Dark Water, which were also heavily responsible for kicking off the J-horror boom overseas, Nakata has continued exploring the supernatural world in his work
For the length of time that zombie movies have been a part of horror, it is only natural that the subgenre would eventually go stale, occasionally requiring a total re-evaluation of the creature design to breathe new life into the genre. As with classics such as White Zombie (1932) becoming obsolete after George A. Romero
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House (1977) is memorable as a haunted house movie that defines itself through a whimsical absurdity forming a reality independent from any conventional filmmaking. It presents a cartoonish vision of our world, strange as the uncanny artificial foregrounds and otherworldly lighting; ultimately resembling a family-friendly film distorted into the surrealism of slapstick horrors.
Today I want to talk about a little film called Avatar. No, not the bloated CGI-laden thinly-veiled sci-fi retelling of Disney’s Pocahontas directed by James Cameron Avatar, I’m talking about the 2011 J-Horror movie directed by Atsushi Wada. Sure, it’s the only Japanese horror film with the title but unfortunately, the general headspace for most
Biotherapy is a Japanese 1986 sci-fi horror that’s aptly described as a slasher merged into a splatter creature feature. The short movie was released as a project from the limited career of director Akihiro Kashima and it dismays me how we never had the opportunity for more of such fun productions – the splatterpunk scene