Japan | Wildside Cinema

Film Review: Shinya Tsukamoto Returns with Experimental Metal Actioner ‘Tetsuo – The Bullet Man’ (2009)

Action, Asian Cinema, Experimental, J. Andersson, Japan, Sci-Fi No Responses »

Dec 162011

FINALLY! The Iron man is back! With a vengeance! And in… English? WTF? Then again, we always knew that if there was another Tetsuo movie there would be lots of WTFs. Twenty-two years after the original Tetsuo and nineteen after the sequel, Shinya Tsukamoto finally returns to the wonders of biomechanical psychopathics and more loving fusions of flesh and metal.

An American man living in Japan with his Japanese wife and their son is struck by grief when a mysterious man kills the young boy by running him over with a car. As this is a Shinya Tsukamoto movie this event triggers something in our hero, making him turn into a metal beast and he starts searching in his past to why Continue reading »

Film Review: Nishimura’s ‘Helldriver’ (2010) Drives Levels of Splatter & Comedy to New Heights

Action, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Comedy, Exploitation, Extreme, Horror, Japan, Sci-Fi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Zombies 1 Response »

Nov 222011

After a meteorite makes impact with Japan, it sends alien spores into the atmosphere, infecting humans with a virus that mutates them into flesh-eating fiends with little horns protruding from their foreheads. Japan, as the world knows it, ceases to exist and in its place is an island nation divided into two parts by a massive wall, effectively separating the living from the infected (read: zombies). To make matters worse, the horns of the dead are being illegally harvested, dried, ground up and sold on the black market as a new drug.

Factions within the current Japanese government are intent on halting the advance of the horde by putting together a special team, lead by Kika, and sending them into the infected zone. Their mission Continue reading »

Film Review: Miike’s ‘Imprint’ (Revisited – 2006) Gives Showtime Ent. & Cable TV Weak Knees with Disturbing Content

Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Extreme, Horror, Japan, Takashi Miike, Television No Responses »

Nov 192011

Takashi Miike is one of those directors where if he makes something brilliant, it’s brilliant. If he makes something horrible, it’s torture to sit through. But then there’s films he makes, that you have no idea what to make of them, or have an inkling to the way you feel about what you’re watching. Imprint, from the Masters of Horror series, falls in the last category as I’m still pondering what it was exactly that I watched and have no real opinion on if I enjoyed it or not.

Christopher (Billy Drago) travels back to Japan in search of a woman he once fell in love with, Komomo (Michie). He chooses a girl (Youki Kudoh) who stays in the shadows due to her deformed face. She tries to please Christopher Continue reading »

Film Review: Yamamoto’s ‘Vampire Doll’ (Chi wo sû ningyô: Yûrei yashiki no kyôfu – 1970) Chills to the Bone with Gorgeous Visuals

Asian Cinema, Horror, J. Andersson, Japan, Vampires No Responses »

Oct 292011

DVD Artwork

A young man travels to the countryside to meet his fiancé, Yuko. When he arrives at the secluded house he is told by her mother that she has died in a car accident. He spends the night at the house and hears some strange sounds at night, even seeing someone that looks just like his dead love. Later he sees Yuko outside the house and follows her to a grave with her name. Cut to some days later where the young man’s sister is worried since she hasn’t heard from him in some time. She persuades her boyfriend to take her to the house, but is told that he already left. For the sake of proper plot development she doesn’t believe Yuko’s mother and fakes the car breaking down so that they can investigate what really happened. Cue eerie Japanese vampire. Yum yum.

Vampire doll is a fine piece of Gothic horror, straight out of the Hammerverse with an atmosphere worthy of Terence Fisher, yet firmly located in the Japanese horror folklore Continue reading »

Film Review: Kitano Revisits the Yakuza Lifestyle with ‘Outrage’ (Ôtomo – 2010)

Asian Cinema, Crime, Drama, J. Andersson, Japan, Takeshi Kitano, Thriller No Responses »

Oct 282011

Theatrical Poster

Beat Takeshi goes back to his roots, eh? Outrage is truly a “classic” Yakuza tale, featuring several groups of gangsters being played out against each other by the top dog, and sadly, that is about it. The first 30-40 minutes of this movie aren’t exactly what I would describe as entertaining, it is just a collection of scenes featuring Yakuza screaming, beating each other up and so forth. Not that heavy violence is a bad thing, but when Outrage has no characters whatsoever it gets kind of… dull actually. They can shout how much they want but, beat up innocent people just for the fun of it but when there really isn’t anything separating the characters other than the fact that one of them is played by Takeshi Kitano and the others aren’t, it doesn’t make great viewing. The actors are all good, except for the fact that Kitano himself does one of those roles that he can Continue reading »

Film Review: Nishimura’s ‘Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl’ (Revisited – 2009) Offers Gore Galore & More

Action, Asian Cinema, Exploitation, Extreme, Fantasy, Horror, J. Felton, Japan, Martial Arts, Sci-Fi, Zombies No Responses »

May 082011

DVD Artwork

Within seconds of this movie starting a freakish looking girl gets her head peeled by a disembodied skull. If that doesn’t make you want to see more of this then you are probably already dead. Either that or warped over the top Japanese splatter isn’t your cup of tea. This opening scene sets the tone for the entire movie which gets more and more outrageous the further it goes. But really, what do you expect from a movie from a movie with this title?

To break the plot down would take far too long to go into detail, something I try to avoid anyway, as there is so much going on at any one time. However, the general jist of it is that Japanese Continue reading »

Film Review: ‘Bayshore Route Battle: Skyline Legend’ (2009) Beats Fast Five to the Finish Line

Action, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Japan No Responses »

Apr 222011

DVD Artwork

Bayshore Battle Route Skyline Legend on the surface is about fast cars but is really a film that deals with never giving up the dreams of your youth.

Toru’s wife Aiko, recently passed away and he goes see some friends from the days when he was younger and raced on the Bayshore and catch up and let them know of her passing. That night he gets in one of the newer cars that’s out there and goes for a ride. On the road, he and his friend encounter the Black Devil, a Porsche that recently has been terrorizing Bayshore, causing many accidents from drivers trying to beat it.

Toru decides that he needs to get his old car that he sold twenty years ago, fix it up and take on the Black Devil. After some searching, he finds the Continue reading »

Film Review: ‘Ghost Shout’ (2004) Offers Love, Ghosts and Everything In-Between

Action, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Comedy, Japan, Martial Arts No Responses »

Mar 132011

DVD Artwork

Ghost Shout, aka Ghost Negotiator according to the opening credits of the film, is a fun little Japanese slapstick comedy dealing with the supernatural and love.

A singing spirit who has the power to turn all who listen to her songs to stone, returns to haunt the rehearsal of a ceremony for a school’s principal. The Ghost Negotiators are called in to determine why the spirit is there, and to help her move on to the next world. Yoko, the girl who is sent to help out, is the best negotiator on the team, but she desperately wants to quit. She now has a fiancé and has a dream of opening up a tofu shop. Her boss convinces her to do one last negotiation with the promise of his friend’s tofu Continue reading »

Film Review: 3rd Times a Charm for Mihara’s ‘Watcher in the Attic’ (2007) Remake?

Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Drama, Erotic, Japan, Thriller No Responses »

Mar 042011

DVD Artwork

Watcher in the Attic (2007) directed by Mitsuhiro Mihara, is a remake/continuation of a 1976 film by Noboru Tanaka. The film centers on Naoko Tomioka, a journalist who travels to the house of Gouda, a recently deceased artist, to interview his friends who live at the house about his life and art. The people at the house for the most part are not welcoming to Naoko, but she puts on a smile and tries to fit in and get the information she needs.

While there, she befriends a little girl who gives her a clue about the house and the dark secrets inside. She tells Naoko that Gouda loved the attic and always went up there. Naoko then decides to go up into the attic and discovers that she can spy on everyone Continue reading »

Film Review: Oshii’s ‘Assault Girls’ (Asaruto gâruzu – 2009) Both Delights and Befuddles

Action, Asian Cinema, Fantasy, J. Kayy, Japan, Sci-Fi No Responses »

Nov 222010

Theatrical Poster

In a virtual realm called Avalon, four mercenaries kill monsters in an effort to score points. When a common foe threatens to destroy Avalon and beyond, the mercs must join forces to fight as one.

When I heard director Mamoru Oshii had a new film coming I was very happy, to say the least. Oshii did two of my fave films, Ghost in the Shell and Angels Egg, and his style is beautiful and haunting. I know others find his work to be slow and that’s something I’m comfortable with.

Now the synopsis sounds like a lot of fun right? Sure, why not. Here lies the films 1st problem, there is very, and I mean very Continue reading »

Film Review: ‘Ninja Pussy Cat’ (Kôshoku kunoichi: Aieki-zeme – 2003) is a True Perverts Ninja Film Fantasy

Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Erotic, Exploitation, Fantasy, Japan, Revenge No Responses »

Aug 272010

DVD Artwork

The Fuma Clan have stumbled upon an explosive secret involving The Shogun of Japan and his son that may tear Japan apart but before they can move on the information, the treacherous Hattori Hanzo and his Iga Clan ninja descend upon Fuma village leaving death and destruction in their wake.

The last living Fuma Clan member and the Clan leader’s daughter must now work together to infiltrate the Iga Clan in order to collect a sample of Hanzo’s blood, establish a damning connection between The Shogun’s son and Hanzo and avenge their fallen comrades.

Lovers will die, plans will be formulated and the safety of a nation may very well rest upon the shoulders (and vagina) of the last of the Iga Clan Continue reading »

Film Review: Forget Godzilla, ‘Gamera’ (Daikaijû Gamera – 1965) Giant Monster Shell

Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Japan, Sci-Fi No Responses »

Jul 112010

DVD Artwork

After an accidental nuke strike (thanks to America again!) in the Arctic, a deep fissure is opened and an ancient prehistoric creature, a Gamera, emerges from its depths! This Gamera, a massive turtle-like creature, descends upon Tokyo with all of its stomping, flying, fire-breathing might. After a couple unsuccessful attempts to stop the rampaging creature, the scientific community and Japanese government decide there is only one way to halt the creature’s advance…set Z Plan into motion!

What the hell is Z Plan, you ask? Well you’re just going to have to purchase Shout Factory’s fantastic release of Gamera Continue reading »

Older Entries

Wildside Cinema

Film Review: Shinya Tsukamoto Returns with Experimental Metal Actioner ‘Tetsuo – The Bullet Man’ (2009)

Film Review: Nishimura’s ‘Helldriver’ (2010) Drives Levels of Splatter & Comedy to New Heights

Film Review: Miike’s ‘Imprint’ (Revisited – 2006) Gives Showtime Ent. & Cable TV Weak Knees with Disturbing Content

Film Review: Yamamoto’s ‘Vampire Doll’ (Chi wo sû ningyô: Yûrei yashiki no kyôfu – 1970) Chills to the Bone with Gorgeous Visuals

Film Review: Kitano Revisits the Yakuza Lifestyle with ‘Outrage’ (Ôtomo – 2010)

Film Review: Nishimura’s ‘Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl’ (Revisited – 2009) Offers Gore Galore & More

Film Review: ‘Bayshore Route Battle: Skyline Legend’ (2009) Beats Fast Five to the Finish Line

Film Review: ‘Ghost Shout’ (2004) Offers Love, Ghosts and Everything In-Between

Film Review: 3rd Times a Charm for Mihara’s ‘Watcher in the Attic’ (2007) Remake?

Film Review: Oshii’s ‘Assault Girls’ (Asaruto gâruzu – 2009) Both Delights and Befuddles

Film Review: ‘Ninja Pussy Cat’ (Kôshoku kunoichi: Aieki-zeme – 2003) is a True Perverts Ninja Film Fantasy

Film Review: Forget Godzilla, ‘Gamera’ (Daikaijû Gamera – 1965) Giant Monster Shell

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