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Old 09-29-2009, 05:20 AM
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Ugetsu aka Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)



"This uniquely simple movie is also a masterpiece of direction and cinematography.
The story itself is simple. Set in 16th Century Japan, two peasant men follow their dreams of wealth and glory as the country is about to be devastated by war. While the backset shows how the ravages of war torments the peasants to obscenity, this is more a tale of human nature, a tale of greed and vanity, of mistakes made by real people. Men here fight for wealth, fame and power, while the women strive for simple and unadorned security; that men make the greatest of errors does not equate to women being without their faults.
The acting is compelling, with all of the leads portraying their parts with powerful results. The direction is awesome, and the camera-work is wonderful. With splendidly long takes, a camera inconspicuously on the move with flawless intent, and eerie scenes that forbodes what is to come (AKA the boat scene), there is nary a fault to be found in what should be considered as one of the best films ever made." - Psycho_d


Urotsukidoji I: Legend of the Overfiend aka Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji (1989)




Uzumaki (2000)



"Uzumaki is like an apocalyptic tale that starts at a small Japanese town where life is dominated by spirals. Obsession with the ubiquity and deep symbolism of the spiral pattern leads young Shiuchi's father to his doom, but one man's transformation is only the beginning for this isolated community, where time itself seems to be moving in smaller and smaller circles, events faintly repeating themselves with no one able to understand what's happening to them. Only Shiuchi's urgent warnings can prompt his girlfriend Kirie to start looking for a way out. From this bizarre but simple premise, this story grows into something horrific and gradually develops into one of the most strikingly original Japanese horror movies of its era.
In this uncanny tale of horror, the evil is a shape, a spiral that invades the daily lives of the town, causing obsession, madness and eventual death. The shape begins to imprint itself on everything, creeping slowly into the lives and minds of the residents. Because there's something cold and inhuman about spirals - they aren't exactly shapes, but they aren't anything else, either. They’re in their ears, and in the food they eat. Sometimes their bodies twisted into spirals, and even these spirals are often dusted in the clouds, and in escaping steam and smoke. Before you are going to know more about it, you'll realize that spirals are everywhere…like a sign of the weirdest form of human catastrophe that never portrayed on celluloid before. And this makes Uzumaki a film full of dark tricks and red herrings, and it knows that what really scares us is when nothing makes any sense anymore.
Taken from a manga of Junji Ito of the same title, this Japanese treat is somewhat like a cross between Lovecraft and David Lynch creations. For a first time effort for the big screen, director Higuchinsky makes use of the little town atmosphere with a strong cast and a somewhat disorienting directing style to make a classic & very original J-Horror film; and he ended up making this surreal and brilliant masterpiece in the history of Asian Horror cinema." - Roshiq


Vampire Hunter D aka Kyûketsuki hantâ D (1985)




Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust aka Banpaia hantâ D (2000)

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Last edited by _____V_____; 10-13-2009 at 10:18 AM.
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