I agree with psycho d about Bloody Reunion- I was left at the end with a "What the heck?" feeling- but the ride made it worth it.

Epitaph

I loved this, the look and the feel of the film is fantastic, though it is a bit confusing. I also wasn't crazy about the use of the Psycho music, which was more distracting than anything.

My take on it had everything making sense more or less.

Spoilers. The entire story we see in the first place with the caretaker being all sweet, and people dying from gruesome deaths in the basement simply did not happen. The students weren't the flawed people they were portrayed as, just good people who came once a year to visit their former teacher. The character of the shy boy who was made fun of never existed, but was in fact the painful situations that the "caretaker" went through. She made up the story of the shy boy killing everyone to distract the police while she escaped. Basically the teacher made fun of her in school, and was the reason behind her mom getting hit by a car, and she wanted revenge. In stead of getting it by hurting the teacher, she came to town when she knew the reunion was going to happen and poisoned the students that the teacher loved. Then explained what happened to leave the teacher feeling guilt for what she did.

Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl--One of these days I'll grow out of Japanese gore films, but not today.

Gojira (1954). Though not the one that started it all, this atomic skyscraper of a monster is the one to be remembered. Gojira is the walking, screeching hydrogen bomb manifest, a force that denies even mankind's ability to control nature. The story's message could not be more clear, with the seemingly serene scientist that only wants to to study the monster, the crazed public that only wants the monster dead, and the mad scientist whose understanding of human nature underscores the rest. The destruction unleashed by the creature was of course based on history and a cry to never have such a thing repeated, and Gojira does not shy away from the devastating imagery of such destruction. The message, though heavy-handed, is merely based on the realities of humanity, and has at its core merely the want to save mankind. A pretty lofty endeavor to say the least. Ashe.
d

Have you seen Tokyo Gore Police? How does it compare?

It's actually lighter in tone than TGP; it has a lot of 50's Beach Blanket Bingo/teen romance vibe to it (if Annette Funicello was run through a meat grinder).

Oh God, I have to see this now. Actually I will convince my friend to see it with me using your quote. :D

Tokyo Story (1953). This Japanese classic is just too powerful to be ignored. Tokyo Story is a slow-burning and seemingly boring story of an elderly couple's visit to Tokyo to see their busy children. With pained subtlety and insinuation, this wonderful flick expounds upon the alienation of the elderly with aplomb, and it does so without accusations or villains, but instead a simple truth of a complicated civilization. Nearly 60 years later, this film has not lost it punch. Be ready to stick out the first 30 minutes or so, for it really was a slow buildup that threatens to go nowhere. Once this lovely drama has sucked ya in, you will be blessed by some brilliant performances, incredibly subtle imagery, as well as believably heart wrenching scenes. Merci beaucoup.
d

Perfect Blue (1998). Beginning a little slow and drab, this lovely anime suckers the viewer into the madness that becomes Mima's world. As things move forward, nothing is as it seems, and her existence becomes a jumbled mess of insanity. Any more info would likely ruin the experience, so let's just say that Perfect Blue transmogrifies itself into a brilliant piece of psycho-horror. Ashe.
derek

Ikiru (1952). Death sparks the living to live. This might just be the master's greatest film. Sans samurais and any hint of an action figure, our hero, yes he is a hero, in a prosaic bureaucrat that has pretty much amounted to nothing in life, and he is in good company with the rest of his cohorts. But the painful consideration of impending death elicits Watanabe to search for life, though he knows not how to begin the search. Empty clichés of life are frantically attempted, but to no avail. The secret to living eludes our hero. The imagery here was sublime at times, giving credence to Kurosawa and crew for such a magnificent endeavor. Takashi Shimura deserves high mention for his astounding role as our protagonist. The story itself, simple yet told with supreme aplomb. The ending hints of the origins of South Korea's movie making style. In a word this flick was glorious. Merci beaucoup.
derek

Re-Wind (1988) - another pinku eiga from Hisayasu Sato, the director of ''Lolita Vibrator Torture'' and ''Naked Blood''. It's very climatic and brutal, espacially the explosion of violence in the final scenes left me speechles. Together with cleverly used motive of snuff video showing the murder of the woman it has to be considered as another great Sato's film.

Darah aka Macabre (2009)

A time passing Indonesian gore-fest, worth a watch.

>>: B-

Coming Soon (2008)

>>: C

"Hansel & Gretel" (2007) 7/10

Delightfully weird horror movie.

Evil Dead Trap (1988). Wacky and brutal gore dominates this twisted Japanese offering whose influences are splendidly obvious. There is no lack of insane kills, brutality, and some gratuitous and mean sex thrown in for good measure. This one definitely deserves to be a classic. The story is simple but takes a wicked little twist towards the end. The acting is fine for the occasion, with the doe eyed, perpetually freaked-out lead almost looking like an American with her incessantly popped eyes. The direction was spectacular, with a disturbing sense of art and dementia brilliantly weaved together. The score was wonderfully playful. Merci beaucoup.
derek

tai chi master

"High Kick Girl" 1-2/10


Probably the worst martial arts story i've ever seen.

Story:

A girl is fighting black belts to prove she's the strongest karate girl in the world. Or maybe it's just in Japan, who knows? Who gives a shit. (First 20 minutes)
She gets contacted by someone who wants to test her to see if she's good enough to join a gang of mercenaries. She does the test (lame ass kicking) only to find out the gang is not really interested in her skills as much as to find and get revenge over her karate master. (next 20 minutes)
They find the master, fail to kill him and instead kidnaps the high-kick-girl to lure him into an, obviously, abandonned school building. There he has to fight the entire gang to save the girl. (last 20 minutes)


First thing that came to mind watching this shitfest was... film school project.

Not only was the story bad and the main character a cocky annoying bitch, but the overuse of slow-motion replays was beyond ridiculous.
Now, if this movie had starred Tony Jaa or someone almost as talented i would have loved the slow-motion-replay idea. But this girl and her "master"... geez!
Give me half a year of training and i'll bet i could could kick higher than both of them. In other words, there was NO reason for slow-motion replays in this movie. The action just wasn't that good.
Then again, when you look at the running time (60 minutes) THAT could explain the need of constant slow replays..



Yea, I pretty much hated every minute of it.

Necromancer (2005)

A supernatural Cop thriller from Thailand. It was kinda interesting with good production value & effects at the beginning but the story lacks in some parts and overall disappointing.

>>: C-

Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to see this one - Been waiting for it to become available on Netflix for a while now...

Well, it's not a perfect horror movie. But i'm sure most people will love the first half. :)

Ishqiya (2010)

A great Indian Spaghetti roller coaster! Beautifully written, directed and got the perfect cast. Surely looking forward to see more films from this new director who already worked as assistant director in such great films like Omkara & Maqbool.

>>: A-

When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003). A convoluted and wonderful samurai flick set during the tumultuous modernization of Japan. The story itself was a little difficult to follow at first, but the commitment was worth the effort. In hindsight it unraveled in a remarkable fashion. The protagonists were superbly complex and true to themselves. This was a splendid drama with lots of great swordplay interspersed though out. The acting was top-notch, with quite a few familiar faces adorning the screen. The direction and camera work were perfect, with much attention paid to shot composition. The end tended to meander a bit, but the emotional soliloquy towards the end was simply brilliant. Overall a nice little modern Japanese samurai drama. Ashe.
d

Ugetsu .

Dolls (2002). From the opening scene to the last, Kitano's Dolls is a visual splendor. Unlike his other work, Kitano seems on the same page as Ki-duk Kim here, with astounding visuals and imagery and minimalist dialog; and this is not a bad thing. Definitely art house, this flick is not for everyone. But for those inclined towards the angst of unfair love as presented through a relentless series of symbolic and colorful visuals, then this will be quite the treat. The acting was sublime. The story itself is solid, and the direction is of course exceptional. The camera work is off the charts wonderful. This work might even challenge Hana-bi for Kitano's most powerful work to date. Ashe.

Face (2004). This South Korean entry seems to be plagued with an identity crisis. It was not only predictable, but it could not figure out if it was horror, romance, or a story driven drama. Pretty weak for our friends from the Asian peninsula. LAte.
d

Audition (1999)

Special viewing for my hundred horror 'project'.:)

Meat Grinder

High and Low (1963). Kurosawa was at the height of his wondrous career when he made this crime drama. Made in two distinct movements with an incredible transition scene, this fabulous flick is Law and Order meets theatre proper. A simple story, it unravels with aplomb, revealing a paradox which has no simple solution sans tragedy, either financial or ethical. The procedural process of police work is painstakingly evinced to glorify not the excitement of the work, but instead the attention to detail. The ending will leave the viewer looking to lift his jaw back into its proper place. The acting is sublime, with Mifune and Nakadai the star of the first and second movement, respectively. The direction is of course masterful, with camera angles and editing that makes for such a wonderful production. An absolute treat to the serious fan of cinema. Merci beaucoup.
derek

Attack Girls' Swim Team Vs The Undead. Pretty low budget, but it was still fun.

4bia (2008)

An average Thai Horror anthology.

>>: C-

last one was probably Uzamaki. Personally, the manga was better, but very interesting visuals

house (hausu)

Three Extremes is excellent. Anthology of 3 short films. You know you're in for a treat when you're watching something in this genre entitled Dumplings. Although "Cut" was really good too.

Battle Royale
I have seen it a few times and I love it every time. The character development and the teenage attitude is very well done in my opinion. My only problem with it (besides one of the over acted deaths) was the convenient unexplained cheating at the end. 9/10

tried to watch BR 2, BIG BIG MISTAKE. The dialogue went on unneeded tangents and the character development was horrible in comparison and the hair was ridiculous. Not to mention, why would they be on the same island? I could go on a huge rant of what was wrong with the film. 2/10

Tokyo Sonata (2008). This movie is an exploitation of the mystery of Japanese culture. The story revolves around a rather mundane, middle class family as it comes up against economic tragedy. The result reveals a family that is anything but mundane as the cultural dogma of how one is to behave comes into conflict with common sense and human nature, culminating into chaos, despondency, and a rather comedic subplot that disrupts what might have been a dark spiral into the abyss. The acting was quite solid, with Kyoko's portrayal of the strong and subservient wife a compelling piece of work. The direction by the incredible Kurosawa was wonderful as he moves away from the horrors of chronic lassitude into the horrors of everyday domestic life in Japan. The ending was appropriate and gorgeous. Ashe.

Womb Ghosts (2010)

A time passing, mediocre Horror film from Hong Kong. For first half n' hour I was bit confused about the female leads (it happened once before while I was watching the movie called Dead Friend)...as more or less they all looked kinda same. Later on as the story progress then able to recognized them.:)

>>: C

Dark Water (2002)

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). Jade and gold on the outside, rot and decay on the inside. This was the basic element upon which this epic sized tragedy was erected, a la Chinese. With the hoards of extras used, I kept wondering where they got all of those people, until I realized that China has no lack of extras. This story was a basic Greek-style tragedy told with the backdrop of the Tang Dynasty. The acting was spectacular, with heavies such as the beautiful Gong Li and puissant Yun-Fat Chow leading. The emotional tug of war of intrigues and heroics are wonderfully expressed in facial and body language. These are good people driven by destiny and human nature. With Yimou Zhang at the helm, the story unravels flawlessly amidst sets whose opulence is only challenged by the splendor of color. The hoards of people are expertly choreographed, leading the eye to seek out CGI'd excesses that do not exist. Overall, this is an epic tale that the Chinese got right. Ashe.

Phobia 2 (2009)

In this sequel of Thai anthology 4bia this time it comes with 5 stories. Liked the 1st, 3rd & 4th (Novice, Backpackers, Salvage) story for the plot & story premise. Last one (In the end) was decently funny. Overall, it's a better package of horror than 4bia.

>>: B