Mosura (1961) aka Mothra

3 / 5 Mar '11
Tagline: EARTH QUAKES AS MONSTER SEEKS TINY MATES!
Directed by: Ishirô Honda
Written by: Takehiko Fukunaga, Shinichirô Nakamura
Actors include: Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyôko Kagawa
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 101 minutes
Banned: Nope





Review: 
Although it's a very beautifully filmed Toho production...and I do mean production (nearly epic) it's rather dull. The first 45 minutes of the film are nothing but talking and completely Mothra free. When Mothra does show up it doesn't really do much except cause destruction with it's wingspan and oddly later in the story when it's flapping about there isn't even a breeze? The plot is about an island that had radiation tests performed on it. The people are tiny, and two little singing Princesses were kidnapped by Men who forced them to sing in an entertainment show. The singing girls sing mainly about Mothra who is summoned to come save them from their captivity. It's a strange one, I mean what were they smoking when they came up with the idea of a radiation victim giant savior Moth? Oh well, it's colorful and nice to look at, just difficult to get through the first half of it and the second half is just silly.

Availability:  On DVD

Marebito (2004) aka The Stranger From Afar

3 / 5 Nov '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Takashi Shimizu
Written by: Chiaki Konaka
Actors include: Shinya Tsukamoto, Tomomi Miyashita, Kazuhiro Nakahara
Genre: Horror
Length: 92 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Considering it has a reasonable reputation I was a rather disappointed in this J-horror offering. Granted it's not your typical long black haired Asian ghost story...well not really, and there is some creativity that went into this but the execution was weak. The story is about a cameraman who is obsessed with capturing the moment of fear on someone's retina. He ends up filming a fellow who stabs himself in the head and then tries to seek what might have scared him into the suicide. This leads him to the subway into a strange area where he sees a young naked girl chained up. He somehow gets her home and keeps her as a pet calling her F., but the story gets more unusual from there (it reminded me of The Little Shop of Horrors in a way) as she feeds on blood. It's bloody yes, but silly most definitely plus the story although somewhat mysterious is kind of obvious a little sooner than I think they meant for it to be. It's also ridiculously ponderous and so far from scary that it's nearly laughable. I must admit as the film went on it got a little better but the first half was pretty insufferably boring. Points for trying and heck you might want to give this a whirl but it's not something I'll ever watch again.

Availability:  On DVD

Assault! Jack The Ripper (1976) aka Bôkô Kirisaki Jakku

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Yasuharu Hasebe
Written by: Yasuharu Hasebe
Actors include: Yôko Azusa, Yutaka Hayashi, Tamaki Katsura
Genre: Horror, Exploitation, Adult
Length: 72 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this definitely borders on being pornography which is not my thing but the demented plot made up for it for me. The story is about two people who work at the same restaurant together. As they are driving home together they come across a woman who they sort of accidentally end up killing and they find it makes for awesome sex together. So together they go out and kill people (by slicing them from the groin upwards) just to have great sex. When the Male starts going out for kills without the Female (who is a butter face) some jealousy is involved and things kind of get even insane from there. It's very graphic and rewarding in a sadistic horror sense, it also does seem to have a bit of a sense of humor which I think helped the movie as well. Definitely an exploitation film that won't be for everyone, but it's pretty entertaining in a sick way for those of us who aren't offended by much.

Availability:  On DVD

The House Where Evil Dwells (1982)

3.5 / 5 Nov '09
Tagline: It Never Forgives Or Forgets
Directed by: Kevin Connor
Written by: James Hardiman, Robert Suhosky
Actors include: Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure
Genre: Horror
Length: 88 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:

It begins in the past with a brutal (yet cheap looking) samurai sword slaughter in Japan as a Man catches his wife with another. Body parts fly (although once an arm is cut off...you can still see it under the cloth) before the slaughterer stabs himself in the gut (aka Hari kiri). Promising start right? Well fast forward a bit to an American family moving to Japan who of course just happen to rent the murder house (sound like 呪怨 [Grudge] is brewing?). The family even knows about the fact that it's supposedly haunted but they figure modern ghosts are friendly? Well the silly blue translucent ghosts invade the bodies of the new family at will...it's actually very PG silliness (especially with the twinkly music that happens when the ghosts appear...it reminds me of when it's time to turn a page in children's story books). Of course the ghosts want to recreate the slaughter and torment (bother) the new hosts of the house. At least some of the scenery and culture of Japan are shown and honestly it was fun to watch (despite the total lack of scares). Aside from the boobs and the initial slaughter (and ending) this feels very much like a Children's ghost story mixed with a comedy. Especially with the giant mechanical crabs! I think the premise is good, the actors are fine (especially pro Susan George) and the cinematography is decent (minus the ghosts), I just feel guilty for liking it somehow. Oh, and is it just me, or does the Brother (Edward Albert) look disturbingly similar to Al Franken?

Availability:  On DVD or watch it online for free here:  http://www.hulu.com/the-house-where-evil-dwells

Blind Beast (1969) aka Moju aka Warehouse

4.5 / 5 Nov '09
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Yasuzo Masumura
Written by: Rampo Edogawa, Yoshio Shirasaka
Actors include: Eiji Funakoshi, Mako Midori, Noriko Sengoku
Genre: Drama, Horror
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:

What a grotesquely fascinating and appaling film! It's about a blind sculpter who kidnaps a gorgeous model to pose for his newest innovation. Sculptures for the blind, yeah it doesn't make a ton of sense, but that is far from the point. Blind guy's Mom actually helps with this imprisonment (anything for Jr), and the model kicks and screams and tries to use cunning to escape. After a while she beings to co-operate and that's where things get super disturbing and freaky. This had to have been inspiration for the Guinea Pig series and several other pleasure as pain pictures. What really stands out here is actually the elaborate art studio that the model is contained in. I don't want to ruin anything but it's worth it just to see this creepy room, the set designers deserve awards seriously! As demented as this tale is there seems to be a greater message here, it's actually rather artistic and shocking at the same time. It give the viewer the feeling that we too are wound up in this insane little world and trapped in the crazy room. It's really twisted, but I'm sure those who like things twisted will fall madly for this one.

Availability:  On DVD