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Happy new year from MR. & MRS. INCREDIBLE

Man, they are really spending some cash on the marketing campaign for superhero action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Incredible. On the last day of 2010 they have just released yet another new poster for the flick, to celebrate the new year, and considering the movies budget has ended up at over US$14 million (That’s BIG for a Hong Kong production) its no surprise they are spending some coin on getting word on the movie out there. Mr. & Mrs. Incredible opens on January 31st. Check out our earlier coverage for more posters, and promos galore, here and here.

THE MACHINE GIRL finally arrives on U.S Blu-ray!

For U.S fans of Japanese, splatter, gore and exploitation movies, this really should need no introduction. Two long years after it first saw the light of day on DVD in the States, Tokyo Shock are finally getting around to releasing Noboru Iguchi's hugely entertaining, ultra-violent action movie The Machine Girl on North American Blu-ray…on March 29th 2011. For those remiss enough not to have seen it already, order this right now. It really is that good.

Synopsis: Ami is a tough but otherwise average high school girl, trying to lead a normal life. Her world comes crashing down when her brother and his friend are killed by ruthless bullies. As Ami tracks down the ringleader, she is surprised to discover the bullies' association with a sinister ninja yakuza family. When she goes after her revenge, she soon finds herself in over her head and minus her left arm. Barely surviving, Ami escapes and seeks out shelter from two kindly garage mechanics. They take pity on her, fitting her with a high-powered machine gun where her arm used to be. She then teams up with the chainsaw-wielding mother of her brother's slain friend and together they unleash an unholy, non-stop, kill fest against the equally creative, machine enhanced henchmen of their relentless yakuza enemies.

Machine Girl official Japanese site

 

First trailer for France’s FORBIDDEN HOUSE

France’s latest horror thriller Propriété Interdite (‘Forbidden House’) has a first trailer online. No subtitles of course, but from the looks of it so far we’re erring on the side of this being a straight up thriller, rather than there really being anything overly ghostly going on. Is it the next 'Martyrs'? hmmm nope probally not, but looks fairly promising. Forbidden House opens in France Jan 19.

Synopsis: Claire and Benedict arrive in the country to sell the family home in which Claire's brother recently committed suicide. Benedict wants to start work as soon as possible to sell at the best price, but even from the first night, Claire is convinced they are not alone in the house. Worried that his wife’s fragile psychological state may be on the edge of cracking, Benedict does his best to reassure her there’s nothing to worry about - until the day he finds a hole in the garden, just on the edge of the woods. A hole that leads right into the cellar….Who or what is coming into the house?  

Forbidden House trailer  

Korean extreme horror MISSING on UK DVD

No doubt the first of many candidates for purchase in the coming year, Kim Seong-hong’s hard-core Korean serial (gore, exploitation horror of a genre mash-up) killer thriller Missing, is out on UK DVD next month via Cine Asia. There may well be and English subbed trailer coming down the line, but while we wait, check out the original Korean one below. Whilst not exactly red band, there are a couple of scenes that might well give Barbara from accounts a shock, so viewer discretion is advised at work. Missing hits the shelves Jan 31st.

Synopsis: The owner of the farm, Pan-gon, is a recluse and social outcast with a very dark secret. Jealous of Hyun-ah’s beauty and insulted by her disdainful treatment of him, he ruthlessly strangles Hong and imprisons her friend Hyun-ah in the basement. Does he want to torture her, use her for sex, or is his agenda even darker? Meanwhile, Hyun-ah’s sister becomes concerned over her disappearance and contacts the police. A trail of evidence points toward the farm, but will they make it in time to save Hyun-ah from the whims of the unhinged maniac, or will Pan-gon’s vengeance be complete?

 

New poster and trailer for THE KIDNAP

Yu Gu’s (very loosely based on a supposed true story) The Kidnap, a gangland thriller with a cautionary tale about the horrific price you can pay for the quest for fame has just opened in China, and theres a new trailer to take a gander at. Kidnap centres on two young women named Nana and Lin who aspire to become famous singers and sign deals with the same record company. Nana becomes an overnight superstar after sleeping with her boss. But Lin's career faces a crisis when she refuses to do the same and is kidnapped and terrorised by gangsters.

 

 

The Kidnap trailer 1

CITY UNDER SIEGE: DVD review

Director: Benny Chan. Review: Adam Wing.

There are good films, there are bad films, and then there are films so bad they’re good. I’m not quite sure why I mention this, because make no mistake about it, City Under Siege is a really bad movie. Occasionally, and I’m being really positive on this one, Benny Chan’s latest touches on greatness, but that’s only because the rest of the film is so ill-conceived and hopelessly dire, It’s easy to get caught up in the crassness of it all. Hong Kong director Benny Chan’s (Connected) sci-fi action film pits a naïve circus performer against his dangerous colleagues after being contaminated by a biochemical that gives them superhuman powers. Aaron Kwok leads a superpower cast that also includes Shu Qi, Wu Jing (SPL), Zhang Jing Chu (Aftershock), and Colin Chou (Flash Point). City Under Siege features explosive action choreography by Nicky Lee (Invisible Target) and Ma Yuk Sing (Storm Warriors), and did I mention the fact that Shu Qi is the leading lady, I don’t care how bad this movie is, consider me contented...Continue reading review here.

Order your copy here

City Under Siege trailer

A first brief glimpse BEHIND THE WALLS

France is well into the process of producing its first ever theatrical movie in 3D and being French its no surprise it’ll be nothing as gauche as a CGI action fest, or blue skinned aliens for them. Instead we have the dark supernatural thriller Derrière les murs (aka ‘Behind The Walls’) - starring Laetitia Casta, Thierry Neuvic and Roger Dumas - to look forward too, from directors Julien Lacombe and Pascal Sid.

The movie is still well into post production, so not much to see as yet, but one nugget we’ve found is a first picture from the film. Not a lot to go on granted, but we’re getting a vibe very similar to Alejandro Amenábar’s superb haunted house frightener ‘The Others’ off of this one – which is no bad thing if true. Behind The Walls is due to open in France in late spring and we’ve also heard mention of a possible U.S release in fall. More on the exact dates, when we get it.

Synopsis: Winter, 1922. Suzanne, a young novelist lacking inspiration decides to isolate herself in the countryside to write her new book. As Suzanne discovers a sealed-up room in the basement of her house, she starts writing oddly easily. Visions and terrifying nightmares soon strike her while the villagers grow worried as several little girls mysteriously disappear...

Behind The Walls still 

Behind The Walls concept art

Anchor Bay SPITS ON YOUR GRAVE this January

Nothing like some extreme horror to spread some Christmas cheer, and news that the remake of Meir Zarchi’s 1978 shock horror I Spit On Your Grave is coming to the UK next month via Anchor Bay, may (or not) offer the perfect antidote to all that fun. Director Steven R. Monroe revisits Zarchi’s cult exploitation classic, with the remake that managed to ignite controversy all over again. To get it’s 18 (NC-17) certificate, a total of 43s had to be cut, due to…

Company was required to make a total of seventeen cuts during three separate scenes of sexual violence in order to remove potentially harmful material (in this case, shots of nudity that tend to eroticise sexual violence and shots of humiliation that tend to endorse sexual violence by encouraging viewer complicity in sexual humiliation and rape). Cuts made in accordance with BBFC Guidelines and policy.

I Spit On Your Grave opens in the UK Jan 21st.

Synopsis: Seeking some peaceful solitude in which to complete her latest novel, Jennifer Hills (brilliantly played by relative newcomer Sarah Butler), a beautiful young writer from the city, rents an isolated cabin in the southern backwoods. Her presence attracts the attention of a group of locals who, sparked by a combination of lust, jealousy and damaged pride, subject Jennifer to a gruelling nightmare of humiliation, mental torture, physical abuse and rape before leaving her for dead in a nearby river. But Jennifer isn’t dead. Having taking time to recover from her ordeal, Jennifer returns to exact eye-for-eye (and then some) vengeance upon her tormentors. Trapping each of her attackers one by one, she inflicts brutal acts of physical torment upon them with a grimly inventive and clinical ferocity that equals and even surpasses that which was inflicted upon her.  

Poster and trailer for GHOST IN THE SHELL 3D

A quick update for something that arrived quicker than expected! Further to our story last week, the poster and trailer have appeared online for the 3D makeover of Kenji Kamiyama’s Anime classic Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society.

Synopis: The year is 2034, and the face of terrorism has changed. No longer restricted to the limits of the physical world, the war on terror has exploded onto the net. In an attempt to confront this new threat, an elite counter-terrorism and anti-crime unit was formed: Public Security Section 9.Two years have passed since the team's commander, Major Motoko Kusanagi, resigned from her post. After a rash of mysterious suicides, Section 9 is forced to confront the Puppeteer, a dangerous hacker with unsurpassed skills. As their investigation of this terrorist threat takes them deeper into the bowels of a potential government conspiracy, Section 9 once again crosses paths with the Major, but is her sudden reappearance more than a coincidence, or is she somehow connected to the Puppeteer?

 

Solid State Society 3D Official blog

K-horror DESERTED HOUSE on English subtitled DVD

If our earlier coverage of Korean first person hand cam horror Deserted House (aka ‘Haunted House Project’) caught your eye - and you’re maybe feeling flush with xmas cash from Santa to splurge on the Korean disc - you are in luck, the movie is out on English subbed DVD next week.

Synopsis: Over the course of forty two years, six went missing, eight had unexplained accidents and eleven were murdered. Three haunted house club members and three camera crew decide to look into this infamously haunted house, known to be possessed by real ghosts. Ignoring all signs from the other world, they enter this haunted house and disappear without a trace. Video footage of what they saw during their visit was later recovered, which may reveal why and how they met their end.  

 

 

Pre-order your copy here  

Deserted House trailer

First real look at MR. & MRS. INCREDIBLE

We’ve been treated to plenty of inventive and some cases downright hilarious promo trailers (most of which you can see here and here) for the upcoming Hong Kong superhero action movie spoof Mr. & Mrs Incredible, but as yet no actual footage from the film….until now. A new trailer is out with a fair few snippets from the film tucked between a very funny interview to camera, between a reporter and our crime fighting couple, Gazer Warrior and Aroma Women. Have to say the whole thing looks a real riot. Mr. & Mrs Incredible opens in Hong Kong Jan 31st. Trail at the link.

 

 

 

 

Mr. & Mrs Incredible trailer

English subbed trailer for Thai horror anthology FOUR

Anthology horror movies show no sign of loosing their popularity in Thailand, and after the success of GMM’s 'Phobia' (aka 4bia) it’s no surprise that Sahamongkol Film, one of Thailand’s largest movie houses is jumping on the bandwagon with one of their own simply titled…Four. We were planning to cover the movie anyway, but out of the blue Sahamongkol (thanks Pitaya) dropped us an email yesterday, with a link to an English subbed version of the trailer and a heads up on the title for each section of the movie....

Three renowned directors team up with a scriptwriter of exceptional talent to haunt you with the new concept of horror. 4 eerie tales, with 4 different flavours, that will blow your mind away.

- Who is Ah Gong?

- The gift shop for the ones you hate

- Eerie nights

- Clean up day.

The trailer looks great and the titles are very intriguing. Add to that the fact one of the segments has the added draw of starring Ananda Everingham of ‘Shutter,’ ‘Red Eagle’ fame, and it looks like they’ll have a sure fire horror hit on their hands. Four opens in Thailand in January.

Four trailer

SECRET SUNSHINE getting a US theatrical release this week

Here's some news that caught us by surprise. IFC Films will be releasing Lee Chang-Dong's excellent film Secret Sunshine in US theaters starting Friday, December 24th. IFC's official website for the page doesn't list any of the playdates, but we know it'll be at the IFC Center in New York. Residents of other areas are advised to keep their eyes open in case it pops up anywhere else.

Secret Sunshine won a slew of film awards during it's initial release, including a Best Actress award for Jeon Do-Yeon and a nomination for the Golden Palm at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It was also South Korea's entry for the foreign language academy award that year. It also stars Song Kang-Ho (Thirst, Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance).

Synopsis: Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life.

You can get more information, watch the trailer and check out some stills at the official website.

ALIEN Vs NINJA on UK DVD

IF IT BLEEDS... NINJAS CAN KILL IT! What could be a better late Christmas present for Brit fans of Japanese trash/gore horror than news that Seiji Chiba’s exploitation bloodbath Alien Vs. Ninja has just been given a UK release date, and it drops onto DVD there, near a half month before the U.S gets to see it. A Vs N promises non-stop martial arts mayhem, meets monster mash-up, with a liberal splattering of gore, furious fights and great stunt work. Does it deliver? Tick, tick, tick and…tick. Alien Vs. Ninja is released by Revolver Entertainment on Feb 7th in the UK, and by Funimation in the U.S on Feb 22nd.

Synopsis: Once there was a band of great Ninja warriors led by Yamata called Iga Ninja. Returning from a deadly mission they witness a flash in the sky and a roaring giant ball of fire crashes into the distant forest. The warriors rush into the deep woods in an attempt to identify the mysterious fireball. There, instead of finding predicted enemies, they are stunned to face never-seen-before creatures with claws and fangs! The hungry brutal aliens start to savage and feast on the Ninja warriors, leaving only a few to survive. Yamata and his warriors swear to avenge their comrades deaths and risk their lives to challenge the aliens. However, none of the Ninja weapons, neither their swords nor their throwing stars, has any affect on the alien warriors.

English subbed trailer for Thai horror comedy SEE A GHOST

A week or so ago we posted the first trailer for Nareubadee Wetchakam’s Thai movie See A Ghost and up until now the weird blend of styles has had us scratching our heads wondering as to exactly what genre of movie it really was. Now alls been revealed via a newly released English subbed trailer. See A Ghost has declared itself to be a “horror comedy,” and you can watch it in all its oddness at the link. Glad that’s finally sorted!

Synopsis: Two unfortunate friends and a drunken girl are accidentally entangled in troubles. After struggling to escape from the mayhem they didn't mean to get involved in, they're stuck at a temple where they meet a peculiar undertaker who leads them to witness ghosts, the worst thing they've ever dreamed of.

 

See A Ghost trailer

LETS THE BULLETS FLY picked up for U.S remake

Here they go again. Chinese movie sites are full of reports today that a major Hollywood studio has just bought the rights to remake Jiang Wen's latest box office hit, the gangster movie - Let the Bullets Fly. So far details are a more than little vague as to exactly who’s nabbed the movie, but Yan Yunfei, the marketing director of the film, told the press "It's one of Hollywood's biggest companies," but refused to give the company's name.

Wen's fourth directorial work Bullets follows the carnage surrounding a bloody battle of wits between a bandit and a gangster in a remote town set in 1920s China. Jiang Wen also stars in the film, along with Chow Yun-Fat, Ge You, Carina Lau, Chen Kun and Zhou Yun. One small consolation to the possibility of yet another Hollywood re-hash of an Asian classic, is the news that Jiang Wen has been invited to direct the remake, but the question remains if he would really want to re-tread over such recent ground? Guess we shall have to wait and see.

 

Let The Bullets Fly trailers

Let The Bullets Fly official site

Via: CRI

CIRCLE OF PAIN: DVD review

Director: Daniel Zirilli. Review: Adam Wing.

Mixed Martial Arts fans rejoice - it’s the movie event you’ve all been waiting for. I know, I know, sometimes I forget you can’t type sarcastically. With a title like Circle of Pain, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pressed play on the remote control, but my expectations weren’t exactly soaring if I’m completely honest. I was hoping for a horror movie at the very least, and when I realised the only name I recognised was former TV Superman Dean Cain, I convinced myself that I’d be watching a horror movie in which he has a terrifying encounter with Mr Pain. Probably in a circle, or maybe not, perhaps I was taking the film title a little too literally. Dalton Hunt (Schiena) has retired from the Revolution Fight Club (RFC), even though he still has one match left on his contract. He lost his passion after a sparring match with best friend Wyatt (Cain) left Teri Hatcher’s former on-screen love interest in a wheelchair for life. If his performance in Circle of Pain is anything to go by, the only thing Dalton has to feel guilty about is not finishing him off. Five years after this tragic event, he is forced to fulfil his contract. Which means, you guessed it, "one last fight" and yet another action movie cliché...Continue review here.  

First trailer for Chinese action epic THE WARRING STATES

There’s new lush Chinese epic-ness on the horizon with the big budget movie The Warring States - directed by Jin Chen and starring Sun Honglei, Kim Hee-Sun and Francis Ng - and first trailer has dropped online. More on exact plotline of the movie when we get it, but in the mean time you can read all about the The Warring States period of China's early history, over here.

 

 

 

Warring States teaser

Black Water director’s survivial horror THE REEF on UK DVD

'Black Water' director Andrew Traucki’s "based on true events,“ Australian survival horror flick The Reef is due to surface on UK DVD. You could argue that the - marooned, surrounded by killer fish - premise is treading old water, with some parallels inevitably being drawn with Chris Kentis’s 2003 Shark attack flick ‘Open Water,’ but everything we’ve read on the movie so far suggests Traucki’s brought enough new to the table, to make it well worth a punt. The Reef streets on Jan 24th.

Synopsis: For four backpackers it seemed like a dream come true. A week spent cruising the world's most beautiful coral reef, on their own Yacht. But when their boat capsizes leaving them stranded on an overturned hull the dream turns into a nightmare. What should they do? Stay with a damaged hull that could sink at any moment or try to swim for land! Finally deciding to swim, the friends take to the water. As they close in on land a fin surfaces and with it the realization that they are being stalked by a deadly fifteen foot white pointer shark. Will any of them make the swim, or will the sea take what it wants?

 

The Reef official site

IF YOU ARE THE ONE 2 getting day and date US release

Remember a couple months ago when we told you that the US theater chain AMC was teaming up with China Lion Film Distribution to release Chinese films theatrically in the US, many on the same date they were scheduled to hit theaters in China and Hong Kong? Well, it's happening!

China Lion Film Distribution is set to release the romantic comedy, If You Are the One 2 (Fei Cheng Wu Rao 2), across select AMC and Cineplex Theatres in North America on December 24th. The theatrical release will be on the same day as the movie premieres in China. Directed by Feng Xiaogang, the movie is the second installment of the comical on-again-off-again love saga starring Ge You and Shu Qi. This is the first time that a major Chinese movie has been released on the same date as its domestic release in China.

If You Are the One 2 is the second North American movie release for China Lion Film Distribution, that recently released the number one Chinese grossing film, Aftershock, is China’s submission for consideration for Best Foreign Film for the 2010 Academy Awards. If You Are the One 2 continues the complicated love story of Xiao Xiao (Smiley), played by Shu Qi, and Qin Fen, played by Ge You. With at times clashing personalities, and differing views on marriage, Xiao Xiao and Qin Fen try to make their relationship work by entering into a “trial marriage”.

Details on If You Are The One 2, including the trailer, stills and complete theatre listings are available at the film's Official website.

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