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NY Japan Society presents ZEN & ITS OPPOSITE

The New York Japan Society has unveiled the program for their 2010-2011 Monthly Classics series - ZEN & ITS OPPOSITE: Japanese Art House - and there’s a chance to see some true horror classics on the big screen, starting on October 15th with Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan. This new series peers into the dark side of 50s and 60s Japanese Cinema: from Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain (1959), Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba (1964) to Nobuo akagawa’s Hell (1960) and Kihachi Okamoto’s Sword of Doom (1966). More information on the Monthly Classics series can be found over at the Japan Societies website here.

New trailer for superhero spoof MR & MRS INCREDIBLE

Superhero movies are all the rage at the moment, so what better thing to do to a popular sub genre, than to spoof the hell out of it. Enter Hong Kong action comedy film Mr. & Mrs. Incredible - starring Louis Koo and Sandra Ng - and they’ve just released a new full length English language/subbed version of the earlier "Moon-landing" short, featuring our oddball crime fighting duo; meeting, greeting and abusing the first lunar landers. Fantastic.

Synopsis: Love is never meant to be an easy matter - especially for superheroes. Gazer Captain (Louis Koo) falls in love with Red aka Aroma Woman (Sandra Ng). Getting tired of their lifestyle, they decide to retreat to a small village and start a family. Five years pass, Gazer and Red live a quiet and happy life. One day an official announces that an upcoming martial arts tournament will be held in their tranquil village. Hundreds of kung fu masters and fanatics arrive for the ultimate championship, and then trouble really kicks off.

Moon Landing trailer

Look out America ROBOGEISHA is coming!

America prepare for Robo-Geisha. A must for fans of J-ploitation weirdness, the newest creation from the mind of ‘Machine Girl’ director Noboru Iguchi is heading for the US on English subtitled DVD. Giant Castle Robots, Breast Milk from Hell and battles to the death between - ass-blade wielding!? - killer Cyborg femme bots are just some of the oddness Iguchi throws at you…Of course rounded off with ridiculously large amounts of splatter, gore and blood. Robo-Geisha is due for release in the US via Funimation, on November 16th.

Synopsis: To help them achieve their goal of taking over the world, a megalomaniac Japanese businessman and his son recruit a vicious gang of Geisha assassins. These include two feisty sisters with an amazing range of surgically added weapons. But when one of these Robo-Geishas refuses to kill an innocent group of ex-employees, its butt-blades versus wig napalm and machine breasts against killer-cleaver socks as the assassins take on the Geisha’s in one of the most mind-bending movie battles of all time.

 

Read our review of Robogeisha 

VIDEO NASTIES: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE on UK DVD

Nucleus Films are set to release the definitive guide to the Video Nasties phenomenon next month – covering all the dirty secrets of one of the most controversial eras in the history of British film. For the first time on DVD, all 72 films that fell foul of the Director of Public Prosecutions are trailer-featured with special intros for each title, in a rather snazzy three-disc collector’s edition box-set, alongside a brand new documentary - VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE, directed by Jake West.

Disc One presents the 39 titles that were successfully prosecuted in UK courts and deemed liable to deprave and corrupt. These included: ‘Absurd’, ‘Cannibal Holocaust’, ‘The Driller Killer’, ‘I Spit on Your Grave’, ‘Nightmares in a Damaged Brain’, ‘Snuff’ & ‘Zombie Flesh-Eaters’.

Disc Two presents the 33 titles that were initially banned, but then subsequently acquitted and removed from the DPP's list. These included: ‘Death Trap’, ‘Deep River Savages’, ‘The Evil Dead’, ‘Human Experiments’, ‘The Toolbox Murders’ & Zombie Creeping Flesh. Both discs can be viewed either as a non-stop trailer show, or with newly-filmed introductions from a wide range of acclaimed media academics and notable genre journalists. Each disc is preceded by a brief introduction by cult horror presenter Emily Booth.

Disc Three This era-defining documentary features reflective interviews with filmmakers Neil Marshall (‘The Descent’, ‘Doomsday’) and Christopher Smith (‘Severance’, ‘Black Death’ as well as charting the heroic stand taken by journalist/author Martin Barker, who single-handedly came out in protest against what he saw as the erosion of civil liberties. There are also revealing interviews with the MP Graham Bright and Geoffrey Robertson QC, as well as rare archive footage featuring James Ferman (director of the BBFC 1975-1999). Taking in the explosion of home video, the introduction of draconian censorship measures, hysterical press campaigns and the birth of many careers born in blood and videotape, West’s cannily piercing and topical documentary also reflects on the influence this peculiar era still exerts on us today.

The documentary was screened at this year’s Film4 FrightFest, amidst the controversy of A SERBIAN FILM and the remake of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE being subjected to stringent cuts by the BBFC. Extras include a gallery of original video company idents and extensive gallery of lurid cover art for every video nasty. The whole thing lands on DVD, October 11th.

Video Nasties trailer

 

THE SWORD WITH NO NAME: DVD review

Director: Kim Yong Kyun. Review: Adam Wing.

Looks can be deceiving, and never more so than in the case of Kim Yong Kyun’s (Red Shoes) costume epic The Sword With No Name. You’d be forgiven for expecting a swordplay extravaganza reminiscent of the likes of Hero, but director Kim Yong Kyun is far more interested in the simmering romance that develops between his two leads. The film revolves around a fated love in the Joseon court during the late nineteenth century, appearing in his last film before military service, Cho Seung Woo stars as a bounty hunter who gives his life to serving Empress Myeongseong (Soo Ae). Time for a short history lesson I guess, because the consort of Emperor Gojong is fondly remembered in Korean history as a national heroine actively involved in politics and diplomacy, who sought to modernize Korea and resist Japanese imperialism. Mixing history, fiction and gravity defying action, The Sword With No Name re-imagines the reign of Empress Myeongseong through her relationship with Cho Seung Woo's fictional royal guard...Continue reading review here.

Sword With No Name trailer

Machine Girl director Noboru Iguchi to reboot TOMIE!

It’s just been announced that cult Japanese horror movie franchise ‘Tomie’ is to get a much needed reboot, and the man at the helm will be none other than ‘The Machine Girl,’ ‘Robo Geisha’ director Noboru Iguchi.

The new film titled Tomie Unlimited will star model turned actress (surprise surprise) Moe Arai, who was apparently hand-picked the play the lead role, whilst Miu Nakamura, also an X model, will play the regenerating vengeful ghost girl who will no die…Tomie.

Even though is still supports an army of loyal fans its fair to say the series has been getting progressively worse over the years and we can’t think of many better than Iguchi to inject some originality (and cracked genius?), into this flagging horror series. Already in production the movie is set to open in the New Year. Roll on 2011! 

 

Via: Nippon Cinema

Tomie movies on Wikipedia

Federico Zampaglione’s SHADOW gets US release

Well a release of sorts….IFC films have acquired Federico Zampaglione’s Italian/English torture horror…Shadows, for their ‘Midnight’ sub label, and its set for screening through their VOD service next month.

Shadow tells the strangely ethereal story of David (Jake Muxworthy), a young soldier returning from a tour of duty in Iraq, who decides to go on a mountain biking adventure in Europe to forget his battle-weary past. In the woods he meets pretty young stranger Angeline (Karina Testa) and they team up to explore the picturesque surrounding area. Soon they learn of a mystifying local myth… a legend that will force David to face more shattering fears than he did during wartime. To meet the bloodthirsty butcher Mortis (Nuot Arquint) and to discover that reality is sicker than any nightmare.

The movie is available on demand from October 13th, but for those of us not that bothered (hand up) with the streaming movie digital world, we’ll wait for the DVD (hint hint IFC) thank you very much.

Shadow official site

Website and plotline for Korean thriller MIDNIGHT FM

If tense psychological thrillers are your bag then you might not want to look much further than Kim Sang-man’s latest, Midnight FM. The official site is now live and we’ve a full plot summary to boot. Call us cynics but you may way see this is your local theatres sooner than you think…But not in Korean. This one looks ready for plucking, oven ready, and there’s the whiff of a movie ripe for remake in the air. Midnight FM is set for theatrical release in Korea next month, so the orginal should be on English subbed DVD, sometime around new year.

Synopsis: Sun-young is a popular radio DJ with a big fan base for a cinema music midnight program that is aired live. She is a perfectionist who has built a successful career for the past 7 years, but when her daughter is in need of an operation overseas, she decides to quit. She prepares for her final show from song selections and comments down to the smallest details. During the show, she receives a call from a listener named Dong-soo. He tells her that she must follow his orders while she hosts her live radio show, or her family's lives are at stake, and threatens that she can't tell anyone. Without knowing what he wants and why this is happening to her, she continues her 2 hour radio program to save her family as they get killed one by one.

Midnight FM official site

Time for a full trailer from Norwegian horror COLD PREY 3

The official site for Mikkel Brænne Sandemose’s third instalment (to be a prequel to events in 1 & 2) of the fantastic Cold Prey Norwegian slash horror series, has just undergone a facelift, and there’s all new bells and whistles to play with. Most noticeable of which is the arrival of a full length trailer. For those maybe out of the loop on the flick, there’s plenty of back story to be read here, here and here…Or head on to the link for a large slice of slash/survival horror, Norwegian style.

 

 

 

Cold Prey 3 official site

CONFUCIOUS on UK DVD and Blu-Ray

We very nearly missed this, so we’re sneaking it quickly under the wire! Epic spectacle on a grand, old school scale - starring Chow Yun Fat - from the producers of John Woo's Red Cliff and Jet Li's Warlords, the biopic of the legendary Chinese philosopher, Confucius, lands on UK DVD and Blu-ray. Trailer of sumptuous epic-ness to be seen at the link below.

Synopsis: In 500 B.C., during China's famed 'Spring and Autumn Period', Kong Ze (Confucius), a commoner revered for his outstanding wisdom, is made Minister of Law in the ancient Kingdom of Lu. Under his inspired leadership, Lu ascends to new heights but becomes a target of conquest for the warlike nation of Qi. Threatened with annihilation by their powerful neighbour, a desperate people turn to their greatest teacher, to lead their most powerful army. When Confucius delivers a stunning victory against all odds, a jealous aristocracy sets out to destroy him, but they should never under-estimate a remarkable man whose wisdom is more powerful than the sword.

 

Confucius trailer

Detailed plotline for Yoshihiro Nishimura’s HELLDRIVER

‘Tokyo Gore Police’ director and all round splatter horror auteur...Yoshihiro Nishimura’s latest project - the apocalyptic road movie Helldriver - is well on the way to completion, and its no surprise its going to be another parade of mayhem, action and over-the-top gore. The movie won’t see light of day until new year, but Sushi Typhoon have just let slip a detailed synopsis of the movie, to give us a taste of what to expect….

“Synopsis: An alien-spawned, mysterious mist blankets the northern half of Japan, transforming those who inhale it into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies hell-bent on devouring the surviving human population. Plunged into chaos, Japan is torn in two—the southern half of the country, where the populace remains untouched by the deadly gas, lives behind a heavily-fortified wall, while the northern half is a lawless, zombie-infected wasteland. Political forces are locked in a stalemate over whether the living dead should remain protected as family members or exterminated like a plague. The economy withers away, and all hope seems lost for the people and the nation of Japan.

Hope arrives in the form of Kika (Yumiko Hara), a beautiful high school girl armed with a chainsaw sword powered by an artificial heart. Recruited by the government, Kika leads a ragtag group of desperados on a secret mission into the zombie-infected wilds to exterminate zombie queen Rikka (Eihi Shiina from AUDITION and TOKYO GORE POLICE) and put an end to the plague of the living dead. But the road is fraught with a thriving zombie culture that, with its own designs on the living half of Japan, refuses to lie down and die. The showdown for the future of Japan is at hand and no one, living or dead, may survive to see it!”

‘Doomsday’ meets ‘Escape from New York’ with a dash of ‘Land of the Dead’ ? Add to that Nishimura’s eye for gore and dark humour and you’ve got sure fire hit. No trailer yet, but there’s plenty of stills from the film to be seen over at Sushi Typhoon..here.

 

TRUE LEGEND 3D: Review

Director: Woo-ping Yuen. Review: Dan King.

True Legend tells the story of Su Qi Er, a brave soldier who decides to retire to a quiet life honing his kung fu skills. However he suffers a murderous betrayal and almost loses his life at the hands of his half brother Yuan, who has mastered the deadly and forbidden Five Venom Fist technique. Saved by his resourceful wife and a mountain dwelling doctor (the as always under-used Michelle Yeoh), he loses his confidence and eventually his mind in the pursuit of the ultimate kung fu. Aided by the God of Wushu himself, he seeks to avenge the death of his loved ones and stop his evil step-brother…

Trying to regain his family and faculties he seeks revenge but it comes at a tragic cost, driving him to hopeless vagrancy. Wandering the land with his son in tow like a kung fu ‘Lone Wolf’, he eventually finds himself at the China/Russia border. Here he encounters a drunken stranger who reveals to him the secrets of drunken kung fu. Armed with this unpredictable and unstoppable style, he is drawn into the fray of a tournament in which Chinese martial artists are being killed for sport by a troop of Russian wrestlers. This provides the setting for the films brutal finale....Continue reading review here.

True Legend trailer

Kim Ji-woon: coming to Hollywood for LAST STAND

Latino Review is reporting that Korean director extraordinaire Kim Ji-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird, A Tale Of Two Sisters, etc) will be making his Hollywood debut next year, directing the film Last Stand for Lionsgate. The film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is an action-thriller being written by Andrew Knauer, a former intern at Lionsgate who quit his fulltime job at another company to write Last Stand. Looks like that worked out alright! The screenplay for the film made 2009's Blacklist (the most popular unproduced screenplays compiled by film executives) and is currently slated to begin production in Spring of 2011.

Synopsis: The story, described as having shades of "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "High Noon," features a Gumpert Apollo, a race car used by drug smugglers, and it centers on a cartel leader that uses it to break out of a courthouse. As he speeds to the Mexican border, the only thing standing in his way is a border-town sheriff and his inexperienced staff.

Magnet takes on 13 ASSASSINS for US release

Well well…Another day, another masterfully chosen acquisition, by Magnolia. Press release time again…

“Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired the US rights to Takashi Miike’s samurai masterpiece, 13 ASSASSINS. The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, recently had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has just been named as the Closing Night film at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin.

Set in 1844 Japan, and based on a 1963 film of the same name, 13 ASSASSINS stars Koji Yakusho and brings together the cream of Japan’s acting talent. Yakusho plays a brave samurai who assembles an elite team of thirteen killers to assassinate the brother of the Shogun, a sadistic and well protected young lord who’s above the law, raping and killing innocents with impunity. The film culminates in a mind-blowing, forty-five minute battle sequence that rivals anything seen before in the genre.

13 ASSASSINS will be released theatrically by Magnet in the first quarter of 2011.”

All we can say to that is. Be there!

13 Assassins official site

Hell yes! THE WARRIORS WAY release date confirmed

After two and a half long years of waiting could it be we’re soon, finally going to get a chance to see Sngmoo Lee’s English language martial arts action fantasy western The Warriors Way? There have been rumblings that a US release was in the offing for later this year, but up until now nothing 100% concrete. Well it sure is now. Korean film sites are now all running with the story that a simultaneous US/ Korean bow is on the cards and the date is confirmed as December 2nd. First tidbit to surface is a new pic from the film but now we’ve finally got a date, we can expect pics, posters a trailers aplenty. Much more soon.

 

Warriors Way still

Read our previous Warriors Way coverage here

Now with extra “D” UK trailer for BIG TITS ZOMBIE

If a picture speaks a thousand words then the new UK (in 3D no less!) trailer for Takao Nakano's trash horror Big Tits Zombie, shouts from the rooftops. With more exploitative nudity and splatter than you can shake a bloodied Katana at, it gets released in the UK via Terracotta Distribution next month. So.. theres a synopsis to be read, or don your 3D specs and head down for the fun.

Synopsis: Recently returned to Japan from a stint in Mexico, exotic dancer Lena Jodo (Aoi) gets what she hopes will be a temporary gig dancing at a run-down hot springs resort in a deserted suburban town. Her fellow strippers – Ginko (Kasumi), Maria (Sakuri), Nene (Tamayo) and Dana (Io Aikawa) – seem to spend most of their downtime sitting around bitching at each other, until one afternoon, after discovering a hidden door in their dressing room, they decide to break the monotony by venturing into the club’s basement. There, they unearth a mysterious well and, nearby, a dusty volume that Maria declares is a rare copy of the Book of the Dead. Reading aloud from the tome, Maria inadvertently summons the dead back to life and soon Japan is overrun by rampaging flesh-eaters. For the strippers, however, that’s of no interest. For the time being, at least, the only zombies they are worried about are those who have descended upon their club and are ready to chow down on their bare, tasty and voluptuous bodies. What’s worse, though, is that Maria, on discovering she has the power to control the undead as her slaves, has gone power mad and is intent on ruling the world with the help of her zombie army. Arming themselves with some swords and chainsaws that are handily lying around, the remaining busty babes are forced to employ their formidable ass-kicking skills in a fight to the un-death! 

Assassins will reign in Korea

John Woo and Su Chao-pin’s new Martial arts epic Reign of Assassins - starring a veritable who’s who of Asia’s talent including; Michelle Yeoh, Shawn Yue, Kelly Lin and Jung Woo-sung - opens this month in China, early next in Hong Kong and soon after hits it Korea…..Which is where we pick up the story. The Korean official site for the film has just gone live and first thing to see is a teaser trailer.

Much of the footage we’ve seen before, but this being Korea it has the added bonus of being in lovely HIGH resolution. With Woo’s name attached to the production its no surprise the film rights have already been sold to pretty much every English speaking country going, so expect it to show up in yours soon.

Synopsis: Master assassin Drizzle (Michelle Yeoh) has possession of the body of Bodhi, who is rumoured to have mystical martial arts power and she is determine to return the body back to its rightful place. However, a powerful team of assassins called 'The Black Stone' want sole possession of the body. Inevitably, Drizzle changes her appearance and names herself Zeng Jing. Through her journey, she falls in love with Jiang (Jung Woo-sung). When Zeng/Jiang discovers that Jiang is the son of a person who she previously assassinated, things take a turn for the worse as a three way battle between Zeng, Jiang and "The Black Stone' erupts.

Reign of Assassins Korean site

Evil Santa is coming to the US!

New York, NY - Oscilloscope Labs announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to Jalmari Helander's RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE, hot off the World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. A re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, the film is a darkly comic gem destined for cult status.

Adam Yauch, O-scope head said, "This is really a unique film, the filmmaking exceptional, Jalmari's sense of timing, perfect. I'm tempted to say it's like the Coen brothers meets "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," but RARE EXPORTS is so original in its feel and approach that I'll refrain from such comparisons and simply say: gas up your snowmobiles, load your shotguns and smoke 'em if you got 'em — 'cause we intend to uncage this sucker in theatres for the holidays."

O-Scope is looking at December release, so better make sure you’ve been nice. Santas coming to town! Two fantastic trailers can be seen, over at the official site.

Synopsis: On the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, an archaeological dig unearths Santa Claus. This particular Santa, however, isn't the one you want coming to town. When most of the town's children go missing, Pietari and his father, a local hunter named Rauno, come into possession of the mythological being. Rauno's clan of hunters attempt to cash in on the opportunity by selling Santa back to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. What ensues is nothing short of a wildly humorous nightmare.

Rare Exports official site

Two new posters for Norwegian slasher COLD PREY 3

Fritt Vilt (aka Cold Prey) - everyone’s (well ours anyway) fave Norwegian psychotic madman themed slash horror series is back for a third instalment, this time going down the prequel route, with the origins of "The Ice Man." To add to what we’ve already covered there’s some spiffy new posters to see, plus we’ve finally nailed down a more detailed summary of the plot. Cold Prey 1 & 2 both did great business outside their home country, so chances are we’ll be seeing this wash up on our shores soon enough. Yay! Cold Prey 3 opens in Norway next month.

Synopsis: Jotunheimen 1976. The Stehøe mountain hotel is on the brink of bankruptcy after several suspicious and bizarre events. Unsure that their son has nothing to do with the inexplicable events the young couple running the hotel take the desperate and brutal step of keeping him locked in the basement. But one day something happens to shake the family forever. The official story is that the boy fell into a crevasse while he was out playing, and that the parents were taken by avalanche while they were looking for him. But was it the truth?

 

Cold Prey poster 1 2

Cold prey 3 official site

Benny Chan’s CONNECTED: DVD review

Director: Benny Chan. Review: Adam Wing.

Now here's a twist, Asian film fans have long suffered the consequences of American remakes. At a time when Hollywood film studios got fat and lazy, film fans were left to pick up the pieces. The Ring, Dark Water, The Departed – the list goes on and on with varying degrees of success. One thing can’t be disputed though, there has yet to be a western remake that eclipses the source material upon which it was based. Nothing pleases me more than a twist in the tale; Connected is a remake of an American action movie that really wasn't very good in the first place. Cellular entertained on the most primitive of levels, the concept was cool, and the acting was as over the top as the obligatory explosions and car chases. Everyone likes to leave their brain at the door from time to time, to bathe in the over indulgence of action cinema as it washes over them. In a world where action movies are taking themselves far too seriously, Cellular is a movie where Jason Statham and Chris Evans share top billing - it’s not like we were expecting Citizen Cane...Continue review here.

Connected trailer

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