Beautiful Teacher in Torture Hell (Japan, 1986) – 2/5
As far as ’straightening up office ladies and housewives’ genre goes I have hated everything I’ve seen. Until now. Beautiful Teacher in Torture Hell has a promising start with an interesting main character (female teacher and a kendo expert) and even some effective horror movie esque moments. Later the movie falls into the expected and boring punishment/torture cycle but as a whole it’s still one of the better efforts in the genre. The original use of music and a burning hot high school girl as a supporting character tempt to raise the rating to 2,5, but maybe not this time. Genre enthusiasts ought to take a look, though.
dvd / R2J
Noble Lady: Bound Vase (Japan, 1977) – 1/5
I’m starting to believe I’ll never come across a Naomi Tani classic that I would enjoy. In Noble Lady she plays the same character as some many times before and after, a housewife with too much shame. Time for the husband to begin the usual punishment procedure. Despite being set in a beautiful rural mountain area the filmmakers have opted to use indoor setting for most of the film. Smut legend Masaru Konuna directs.
A bus-jack ends up fatally, with a couple of people dead and only three survivors: the driver, and two highschool kids. The incident has left them traumatized, especially the kids, putting them into a kind of catatonic, if not autistic Silence. Together they embark on a spiritual journey in order to find peace, and during their slow process to Healing they’ve to cope with various obstacles everyday-life keeps throwing into their way. About halfway into the movie a crime-plot is being introduced, which kinda moves diagonally with the main-story and will be the source of some darker psychological issues. Otherwise prepare for stunningly beautiful, sepia-coloured imagery, and perhaps the most believable and true-to-life acting you’ve ever come to witness in an Asian movie. And I can’t remember being more impressed by a child-actor than with Aoi Miyazaki, especially when dealing with such complex matters of the mind like in “Eureka”; she sure is one the greatest Japanese actresses alive, and judging her from her campy “Nana”-performance alone, is one of the Greatest Sins commitable. Although lots of scenes consist of long-shots entirely, Shinji Aoyama’s Arthous-Direction doesn’t feel as forced like I found it the case with Shinji Somai’s “Sailor Suit and Machine Gun”: if the director feels the need for moving the camera or a revealing close-up, he’ll do so. Also be sure to take note of the excellent use of Sound and Music. I’ll have to admit, though, that I didn’t make it in one viewing; took me two sessions to complete the movie. Three and a half hours that is, yeah, it’s that long. And one last word of advice: avoid the UK DVD-Release like the flu, because they’ve got the colours all wrong, except you wanna deal with an icky touch into the green.
Japanese DVD
Iron Monkey (Hong-Kong, 1993)
High on agitated Action, probably more than you’d expect from a Hong-Kong New-Wave Martial-Arts-Flick, and now also my favorite Donnie Yen. Setting is historical, with a fancy reference to the Legend of “Robin Hood”. Apart from terrific choreographies (Yuen Woo Ping, anyone?) there’s Wire-Fu to boot, some Superpower stuff, too (things like flying above rooftops and throwing giant rocks about), but editing is superb, supporting the notion that something exciting is going on, instead of making you feel cheated. I also found the story really worthwhile, more than one interesting side-character roaming the set, plus some rather funny physical jokes here and there; in a nutshell: this is a Good One. And you bet, the American release is “Presented by Quentin Tarantino” and “More Fun than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”. Sigh.
HK-DVD
Tokyo Decadence (Japan, 1992)
The much rumoured about 135-minutes Directors Cut is probably just an Urban Legend. So, does it work as a serious drama? Hmmm, not really: first of all it’s missing a consistent storyline, then depictions of various sexual fetishes are far too kinky and self-indulgent for their own good. Let’s ask differently then: Does it work on some, any, other level? Oh yeah, it does. It’s depressing, disturbing and seeing various customers of Ai, the main character and a prostitute who’s specialized on serving S/M-fantasies, seldomly treat her like a Human Being, evokes more compassion than arousement. Cinematography is a bleak, harsh depiction of reality, devoid of beautiful compositions. The end does feature a feverish David Lynch-like Sequence, though. Before I forget: one scene literally had me gagging; I mean, they didn’t show much, but the audio did a sure enough job to fire up my imagination in a totally undesirably way. And be sure to wait until the credits have rolled, or you won’t have the whole story.
This must be one of the best movies of all times; imagine the characters of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Ju-on: The Grudge” getting together for corporate Magic-Mushroom consumation, and you might get a vague notion on what “Hausu” is all about: seven mid-school girls trapped in a Haunted House with an anything-goes attitude. Literally every frame is sparkling with imaginative use of colour and detail, and although there’s exciting adventure, blood and severed limbs in abundance, it’s bound to inject you with pure wonder, rather than fear or suspense. Trashy Special-Effects, yet high on athmosphere, “Hausu” is one crazy, psychedelic, dreamlike and feverish ride, an overwhelming Avalanche of most churningly sketched Manga-Panels (a fancy cinematography supports that notion). The soundtrack is omnipresent, sometimes agitated, jazzy, then more romantic, and every once in a while it even comes up with a contemporary pop-song.
German DVD
Blood Shadow (Japan, 2001)
Oh my god, that was a disappointment (or maybe just a Divine Cue, that I’m growing tired of the genre); several reviews of people, who seemingly are doing nothing except watching Hentai, granted “Blood Shadow” with positive reviews throughout, so there you are for their credibility. Or mine. Whatever. The good stuff: A strong plot set-up in feudal Japan, with Demons roaming the land and molesting innocent farmers and their even more innocent virgin daughters, so it’s up to an imperially employed Ninja Assassin-Commando called The Red Lotus, to hunt 'em down and kill 'em. Certainly more Bloodshed than Porn, but when it comes to it, there were titillating parts, while others came about as more nasty and edgy (Demon-Rape), but not too much, just what you’d expect from a “good” Hentai. Charakter-Design, especially the girls, was a looker, very cute hairstyles imitating feline features. Cat-Girls. Hrrrr. But let’s not get distracted: Quality of Animation was just Bad; way too many stationary images, cheap 2-phase animations, stupid slapstick, random flashbacks, even more random Ninja-Abilities the director didn’t feel the need to introduce properly, thus turning the whole thing into a frustrating “Pokemon”-Charade. Well, maybe I’m really asking too much from a Hentai-flick, but seeing what a guy like Yasuomi Umetsu can pull of in the genre, one can’t help but wonder …
US-DVD
Once a Thief (Hong-Kong, 1991)
This turned into a serious surprise, after all. Just one little twist, a sequence of perhaps 30 seconds during the last 15 minutes of the movie suddenly totally made me love it, and not only what came afterwards, but everything before as well, regardless what I thought of it before. What did I think before? Well, some obviously awkward humour had me cringe and I didn’t think that Woo’s attempt at creating a love-triangle drama really worked. That even made me feel sorry for one great action-scene about halfway into the movie: car-crashes, Bullet-Ballet like you’d expect it from a “real” John Woo-flick, which also came as an incongruous shift in tone in what’d been a lighthearted Caper-Adventure until now. But then there was this twist in the end, which gave the whole thing a new perspective, and everything following afterwards was pure unadulterated HK-Madness; an All-Out Go-For-Nothing No-Holds-Barred Action-Farce, which I think, had me madly laughing and crying from Nostalgia at the same time. If you love HK-movies, if you’re into 90s style handling of action-scenes, if you can look past some really cheesy acting in the first half, I’d recommend it for you. But if, on the other hand, you hate comedy, if you watch John Woo purely for the Bloodshed and Doves, “Once a Thief” still may come as major disappointment for you.
Strange, weird, yet beautifully filmed, and very erotic trip into shoals of the human conscience we usually don’t dare to delve into too deep; especially when wide awake and aware. Surreal, at times disturbing, even, I’ve constantly felt torn between feelings of Marvel and startled Fascination. Nobly visuals throughout, although those B&W-pictures through the lens of a bluish filter made up a cool, detached athmosphere as well. There’re several layers of story-telling at work, the physical world, and others, more advanced and abstract, metaphorical levels. Can’t honestly claim for myself, that I’ve dug through them all equally, still it was a thoroughly rewarding and thought-provoking experience. Could’ve been easily made (with a little less imagination) into a simple run-of-the-mill Stalker-Thriller, but thankfully Shinya Tsukamoto was more interested into a psychological approach, exploring source and evolvement of desires and instincts we usually keep hidden from other people … and sometimes even before ourselves.
Powerful Drama about a girl, who has been sold to a Geisha House against her will, and by means of intrigue and manipulative exertion of influence starts plotting her revenge. If “Lady Snowblood” is the well-known Mother of Japanese Revenge Movies, “Irezumi” must be her Nanny. Of course the former has more action and still outpaces the latter in terms of production design and visual treats, but I found “Irezumi” to have stronger character development, and suspense felt a lot tighter and imminent. Mild on exploitative values, though, when comparing them to Seventies standards; these are the Sixties and filmmakers still tended to know when to stop with endulging in a grisly beating or unwanted sexual advancements. Still, some rather gruesome and bloody stabbings here and there. Suggestive parts of the female body were always obscured, but this didn’t deprive the movie of it’s ever erotic undertones. The main actress Ayako Wakao I found to be really beautiful, and she already had that spiteful “Sukeban”-Attitude, girls like Miki Sugimoto would later become famous for. Not just a Classic, but a Really Good Movie as well. Beware the Man-Eating Spider-Woman!
Wow, that was creepy! Especially during the first two thirds of the movie I didn’t dare letting my eyes stray from the television set into the darker half of my living room. Without reverting to cliched “Boo”-effects, Kiyoshi Kurosawa succeeds in conjuring up a truly disturbing mood of Loneliness and Isolation. And Fear. “Kairo” was something refreshing in the genre of J-Horror: a fascinating tech-related theme, a haunted website, eventually leading to events of Apocalyptic extent. Grew slightly surreal in the end, became more of a puzzle (or two), whose pieces have been thoroughly jumbled together. Would’ve liked it better without that cheap CGI airplane-crash, though, because “Kairo”'s greatest moments included the notion of a slowly creeping invasion of the Uncanny, instead of superficial slam-bang mayhem.
HK-DVD
Bible Black (Japan, 2003)
“Bible Black” is Animated Porn at it’s most excessive and explicit, an all-you-can-take Freak Show, with the story seldomly serving more as a forward device to spice up already messy handling of various body-fluids with gratuitous amount of Splatter and Gore. Thankfully they cut short on the toilet-stuff and Extreme Torture, which made titles like “Behind closed Doors” such a repulsive viewing. Concerning technical aspects and fluency, Hentai doesn’t get better than this. What’s it about? Basically, horny Schoolgirls and not so horny Schoolgirls, who’re being straightened up regardless if they wanted to in the first place, and, of course, Satanic Rituals. The rumours about “Bible Black” savoring some obscure Cult Followings are also true. Is it good? Well, for me it’s a mere fleeting focus of interest in order to gain a thorough view on a usually rather hidden sub-culture of Anime (still rightfully deserving it’s firm place inside the genre), but what am I explaining, you’re not gonna believe me anyway, so I won’t make it so easy for you: if you’ve read this far, you’ll probably already know, if it’s worth your money, just be sure to take note, that this series was indeed the most Obscene and Offensive thing I’ve seen in my entire life!
Most essential and influential Yakuza-film of all times, marking the definite passing from “Ninkyo Eiga” to a more rough and realistic display of Gangster Business. Old virtues like Family Ties and Honor among friends are obsolete, it’s a cut-throat world, with betrayal and death around every corner. Like with most Asian Gangster Movies, especially in the first part, I had a really rough time following the action, like who’s who with which syndicate; Yakuza-politics are kinda tough. Nevertheless I seldomly grew bored, there sure was a lot of interesting intrigue, suspense and violent shooting. But I doubt I’ll be following another entry into the series.
Great Kid’s Adventure, with the Fantasy part incredibly random at times, but high on exhilarating action, Kaijus blasting away at each other with colourful laser-beams, and cuddly little things jumping around and healing fatal wounds with their pee. Also had some fantastic flight-sequences. The mixture between CGI and handcrafted effects-work had a lot of charme, and the little girl as the main identification character looked like really cute mini-version of Chiaki Kuriyama. The movie actually brought a few tears of Nostalgia to my eyes. Sniff, sniff.
Been trying hard to come up with a good pun involving the word “perfect”, but I can’t think of any. Well, doesn’t matter. With his first directional feature Satoshi Kon delivers an exceptionally well-crafted psychothriller with a multi-layered reality theme. “Perfect Blue” tells the story about Mima, a famous Pop-Idol, who’s retired from the music-line in order to make herself a name in the movie business. Enter a stalker, a mysterious website where intimate details of her life are being exposed, and soon Mima begins to suffer from unsettling flashbacks, spotting illusionary images of herself in another life, and a sense of distorted reality is threatening to erase her personality. And then the killings start … With a story that controversial, sexy and visonary, I’ve been stumbling upon more than one occasion, where I totally forgot, that I’d been watching an Anime instead of a life-action Film “Noir”. Although subtle traces of patina were already present, animation and art still came across as very detailed and fluent. Also prepare for some surprisingly edgy and suggestive adult elements and complex psychological profiles. When it comes to violent behaviour, “Perfect Blue” won’t be your everyday afternoon TV-fluff, either; pretty bloody and gruesome, in fact. So in case you haven’t been listening: THIS IS A MASTERPIECE IN SUSPENSE!!!
You don’t see Hong Kong tokusatsu films every day. The Shaw Bros. produced Super Inframan stars Danny Lee as the kung fu skilled superman who must save the world. Piece of cake, as the dvd back cover puts it. The Super Inframan succeeds on many areas, which include kick ass theme music, hilarious introductions for the monsters, and hot female baddies. Technical problems and other little flaws – such as rubber monsters wearing sneakers – are hardly a negative thing in this movie. Still, the film isn’t quite as much fun as it could be. The characters are somewhat uninteresting, and the theme music could be used more effectively. The film’s first half works better than the second.
dvd & R2FI
Woman in the Dunes (Japan, 1964) – 4/5
Hiroshi Teshigahara’s desert drama is slow, occasionally frustrating, and more intense than 10 horror movies put together. Acting is excellent and the cinematography - black & white and with loads of extreme close-ups - works to the benefit of the film without feeling overly underlining. The sexual undertone, although only brought up in a couple of scenes, is extremely powerful. As an analysis of modern day psyche the film is not quite as intelligent as it would like to be, but it doesn’t really fail on that area either.
Thoroughly a document of historical relevance, this drama tells about spiritual and character-oriented aspects of Bushido, rather than delivering Swordplay Extravaganza. And, of course, exploring more human reactions, in contrast to the often fatalistic and idealized depiction of the Samurai-Codex with films like “Lone Wolf and Cub”. While I found bits of the drama sappy and TV-apt, in the end it still managed to surprise with strong emotional impact. Wouldn’t say “When the last Sword is drawn” was lengthy, but I had major issues with how the story was told by means of a framework plot, voice-over and ever changing perspectives of outsider positions. This way I couldn’t get as close to the characters as much as I wanted to, and the story felt drawn-out, patchwork-like, some good moments here and there, but devoid of consistent suspense. Cinematography was pretty to look at, though: crisp, clear and full of sparkling images.
Everyone coming away wowed from Meiko Kaji’s performance in “Lady Snowblood” shouldn’t miss out her “Sasori”-movies as well. Suspenseful, stylish, transboundary, and ultimately the story of a really strong woman, who despite atrocious Torture and Humiliation never lets her goal out of sight: taking revenge on those responsible for putting her into this Living Hell in the first place. You can’t possibly find more Exploitation for your Buck. In the first one in a series of four, which may very well be called the Mother of all WIP-Movies, Kaji impresses by means of cooly charisma and a dignified Presence, which even puts jaded Pinky Violence Idols like Reiko Ike to shame, who’re solely depending on playing their erotic charms on the preferably male viewer (still love her, though). Also the visuals were quite apt to blow my mind: some of them even crossed the border to a more stylized Arthouse approach.
This was one of the best and most fascinating New Japanese Movies I’ve scouted in quite some time. “Scoutman” is a pure City Film, shot on digital, thus providing it with a gritty amount of realism. It tells the story of a young, homeless couple, desperately trying to find some work, with both of them ending up on the sleazy side of money-making. While the boy is learning the ropes of being a Scoutman in AV-Business (Adult Video), recruiting girls from the streets for photo-shoots and/or offering Porno Contracts, his girlfriend becomes engaged in Compensated Dating, which basically is an euphemism for Daytime Prostitution, the Art of exploiting perverted needs of elder men, making them pay as much for as little sex as possible. The cast includes actresses from real AV, so you’re in for a pretty honest and true-to-life inside look on how The Business works, thankfully without pointing out superficial moral issues. In the end “Scoutman” doesn’t shy away from dealing with more disturbing thematic elements, either, things like cashing in on Underage Nudity or Teen-Prostitution. If you loved “Bounce Ko-Gals” or Hideaki Anno’s “Love & Pop”, you may find this one interesting as well.
Nikkatsu talent Chusei Sone’s happy go lucky pink comedy is about as far from the studio’s later ultra shockers as possible. The rather non-existent storyline kicks off when a mentally challenged girl is sold to a brothel. The problem is that she doesn’t quite understand the situation, let alone know what a prostitute is supposed to do. The results are nothing short of hilarious. The three blind idiots scene alone makes the film worth a watch. The comedy aspect also more or less eliminates the problems usually caused by the hight amount of sex in these films. If there is a flaw in the film, it’s that it ultimately doesn’t offer much other than laughs in a single house setting. The ending is also a bit less exhilarating than the rest of the movie. These things made me a bit conservative with the rating, although this comes very close to 4. The film later received two sequels, Torture Hell and She Beast Market, both directed by Noboru Tanaka.
dvd / R2J
Sex Hunter (Japan, 1980) – 2,5/5
Meisaku Roman s&m schooling genre takes a welcome turn by replacing the usual noble housewife with a young and innocent ballet dancer (Ayako Ohta). Director Toshiharu Ikeda does his best to create a balance between the sex overload and real cinematic storytelling. The camerawork manages to keep many scenes alive, and the weird jump cuts make audience wonder if they’re intentional or not. Using classical music to create contrast between audio and images is not the most original trick but does the job every now and then. The shocking, and by far greatest, Coca Cola product placement scene of all time made me question not only the film-makers’s sanity but also their understanding for gravity and human biology. Some outdoor settings are effective as well but are ultimately, like all the good things in Sex Hunter, somewhat under-used.
Maybe I should post some reviews so it’s not just the two of you…
THE LOWER DEPTHS (Dir. Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1957) 5/5
I previously watched Jean Renoir’s version of the play and thoroughly enjoyed it. Kurosawa’s version is quite different in that although half of Renoir’s version takes place outside of the slums, Kurosawa follows the play far more closely and sets the entirety of the play in the slums. Consequently, it becomes a film that very much relies on great performances. And great performances it has. Toshiro Mifune is excellent as usual and brilliantly cast as a thief. Bokuzen Hidari is awesome as well. It has always amazed me how a guy who can never remember his lines can be so damn brilliant. The great performances of the rest of the peasants makes it a very heartwarming piece. Their singing and carrying on makes you feel like one of the group sitting in that slum watching the proceedings.
Yi Yi (Dir. Edward Yang, Taiwan, 2000) 5/5
This film has become more depressing since Yang died. As if the film wasn’t heartbreaking enough. Yang’s masterpiece follows the family of NJ. It’s an ensemble piece that begins with a wedding and ends with a funeral. Great performances all round, especially Jonathon Chang as the young Yang-Yang, a boy who becomes obsessed with photographing the things that other people cannot see (such as the back of their own head). And Issei Ogata as the game developer Ota - one of the most honest and insightful people. The film itself is beautiful. It goes for three hours and yet there isn’t a moment of boredom (even after multiple viewings) or a scene that is out of place. I’m also not ashamed to say that this film never fails to make me cry (or laugh for that matter).
The Iceman Cometh (Dir. Clarence Fok, Hong Kong, 1989) 4/5
It’s a small miracle that I haven’t already seen this film, considering it’s something I would have eaten up four or five years ago when every single thing I watched came out of Hong Kong. The basic story breaks down like this: Yuen Wah (in top form) plays a villainous bastard (as per usual) who rapes and murders a slew of women. Yuen Biao (his brother) is given the task of catching him and bringing him to the emperor or else he will be killed. He catches up with Fong San (Wah) just as he activates this ancient Buddhist wheel that will put him through 300 deaths and rebirths in an instant. To cut the long story short, they are eventually frozen and thawed out in modern day Hong Kong, where Fong Sau (Biao) must track down Fong San and bring him back to the emperor. Yuen Biao is excellent. I think he’s an under appreciated martial artist and it’s great to see him by himself in a leading role instead of as a kind of support to Jackie and Sammo. And Yuen Wah plays the best villain in the world. I think he’s the best character actor of his time. I haven’t really been watching much Hong Kong stuff recently, but this film reminded me why I originally fell in love with Hong Kong.
Thanks, man. If we team up against Dice maybe we’ll be able to keep up with him. Almost at least ;D
She Shoots Straight (Hong Kong, 1990) – 2,5/5
Not one of the best girls with guns films. Female leads Joyce Godenzi and Carina Lau are both quite alright but director Corey Yuen could have done his job better. Despite the action being good and coming with some impressive stunts, there isn’t really anything too exceptional on display. A much bigger problem is the sobbing marathon that has no place in this (or any) film. It goes on for too long even to be funny. On the positive side Yuen Wah, who plays the villain, is as good as ever. Overall flawed but still moderately enjoyable actioner.
dvd / HKL
Kyabare (Japan, 1986) – 3/5
Gangsters and jazz musicians meet in Haruki Kadokawa’s entertaining drama. The film turns too conventional every now and then, but also feels old fashioned and nostalgic in a very pleasing way. The greyish colour palette works well, and jazz tunes slowly become an inseparable part of the film. Hironobu Nomura, who plays the main character, gives a notably better performance than two years earlier in Main Theme. Junko Mihara, Hideo Murota and Takeshi Kaga give good support, but some scenes are weakened by unnecessary cameos. Hiroko Yakushimaru (has one line) and Sonny Chiba (has no lines) are only some of the numerous stars that make an appearance just for the sake of appearance.
There are two reasons for watching this movie, let me spell ‘em out for you: Moon. Lee. Moon Lee, unrivaled Queen of the Girls-with-Guns Genre. Starts off like a typical GwG-flick (a bit of High Kickin’ thrown in for good measure), then turns into a Love Triangle with a fatal resolution, and ultimately becomes a cheesy crime flick, resulting in a cliched Warehouse Finale. The story was a real mess, and so were the subtitles. Some promising action set-ups here and there, but they never really started, until the showdown, which at last could deliver some smoking hot Girl-on-Girl Action (Uzis, Kung-Fu and Knifes, that is). Otherwise there’s not much reason to dwell on this one.
Really Not So Awesome finale of the Mothra-Trilogy (original Japanese title translates as “Mothra 3: King Ghidora attacks”). The story was one convoluted mess of far-fetched component pieces, instead of delivering tight and suspenseful Kaiju-Fantasy like the second part did. Special effects (destruction-sequences and explosions) were mostly awesome, but every so often alternating with hugely irritating crap-o-mania. Foremost it was missing a sympathetic human lead, so kids were mostly reduced to wide-eyed goggling the action instead of of actively participating, and awkward parents using up precious screentime isn’t my idea of movie-excitement, either. Although I found the mother kinda cute. Cute as in “really, really, really cute”, actually. Hmmm, I wonder what’s wrong with me; maybe a sign that I’m growing up, after all? On second thought, no, I don’t think that will ever happen.
If the first one blew my mind, “Jailhouse 41” has been shattering the tiny bits of what’s left of it into smithereens. Raising the stakes in many ways, this is a sequel of truly epic proportions. Visuals were stunning, the Violence and Suffering gruesome as ever. And I found Meiko Kaji’s performance even more impressive than in the first “Sasori” flick; her icy stare sent shivers down my spine, and I don’t think she spoke more than a dozen words throughout the whole movie. The Final Scene of Revenge must be one of the strongest and most intense ever filmed for an Exploitation-Feature. Wow!
Cheaply shot on the Philippines (I think), but this movie had everything a kickass GwG-Feature needs to get your adrenaline in motion; that’ll be Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, evil Gwailos with bad hairstyles and even more evil mustaches, ferocious shootouts, exaggerated violence, hard-hitting Kung-Fu, one shower-scene accentuated by titilating perspectives and corny elevator-music, and everyone’s wearing sunglasses, oh yeah. For a final jungle-massacre think “Rambo 4” with Girls (half the budget, of course, but all the spunk). Gotta love this. And if you don’t, you’re either dead or a moron. Could have done without that lengthy Rape-Scenario right before the showdown, though.
so it’s not just the two of you…