Articles in Japanese Movie Reviews
The Bird People in China (1998) Movie Review
Takashi Miike is best known for chaotic films of extreme violence and hyper kinetic camera work such as “Ichi the Killer” and “Dead or Alive”. However, given that he regularly churns out several films a year, and that Western audiences are generally exposed only to his more sensationalistic efforts, it shouldn’t be all that surprising [...]
September 8th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreLady Snowblood (1973) Movie Review
“Lady Snowblood” was, until the recent “Kill Bill” by Tarantino, a relatively obscure 1973 female samurai revenge film. However, since the inclusion of the songs “Flower of Carnage” and “Urami-Bushi” (both sung by lead actress Meiko Kaji) on the soundtracks to both of Tarantino’s films, and his citing of it as one of his main [...]
September 7th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreNaked Blood (1995) Movie Review
Nobody does existential sadism quite like the Japanese. This sounds like quite an odd and probably unflattering cultural generalization, but the list of films mixing extreme gore and transgressive philosophy that come from the country speaks for itself. Ignoring the ham-fisted “Guinea Pig” series, films like the “All Night Long” trilogy and “Organ” succeed in [...]
September 6th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreA Snake of June (2004) Movie Review
Shinya Tsukamoto is one of the most interesting and challenging director/writer/actor working in world cinema today. Best known for his cyberpunk “Tetsuo” films, he is a man truly dedicated to his vision, and is one of the few artists who use the cinematic medium as a tool of discourse and meaning. Often referred to as [...]
September 3rd, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreDoppelganger (2003) Movie Review
Kiyoshi Kurosawa has built an impressive reputation as one of the best Japanese genre directors of recent years. His films, such as “Kairo” and “Cure”, tend to deal with the supernatural, or more accurately, the unexplainable, though with a focus on its psychological effects on the characters. His works display an intelligence and maturity often [...]
August 30th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreKichiku (1997) Movie Review
Probably the most amazing thing about “Kichiku” is not the amount of gore, but the fact that it was made by a third year college student name Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, whose skill at depicting the deterioration of a group belies his inexperience. But the film’s main flaw is that the director overdoses on the graphic violence, [...]
August 29th, 2004 | Joseph Savitski | 0 Comments | Read MoreGodzilla vs MechaGodzilla 2 (1993) Movie Review
For Godzilla’s 20th film, Toho brought the old stalwart MechaGodzilla out of mothballs to serve as the Big G’s adversary. This could be problematic, as MechaGodzilla has appeared in two previous films and two more since. Surprisingly, the result is not the stale monster rehash you’d expect, but rather a fresh and entertaining entry in [...]
August 28th, 2004 | Joseph Savitski | 0 Comments | Read MoreDead End Run (2003) Movie Review
“Dead End Run”, the latest work from director Sogo Ishii, continues in the vein of “Electric Dragon 80,000v”, with its bursts of madness, rather than his samurai epic “Gojoe”. As with the former, “Dead End Run” is likely to polarize viewer opinion, as some will find it breathtaking and inventive, whilst others will simply shake [...]
August 28th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreEntrails of a Beautiful Woman (1986) Movie Review
How on earth do you follow a film like “Entrails of a Virgin”? Surprising no one, director Gaira took the logical route and came up with “Entrails of a Beautiful Woman”. Genius. Even those who haven’t seen the original should have a good idea what to expect given the title and the highly suggestive cover [...]
August 26th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreEntrails of a Virgin (1986) Movie Review
What do you get for the exploitation fan that’s seen everything? Actually, that question might be better unanswered, but should the situation arise, consider “Entrails of a Virgin”. Although showing its age after nearly 20 years, this archetypal sleaze film from Japan still has the power to shock and entertain. Despite not quite living up [...]
August 26th, 2004 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read More
I believe the movie should focus on the first 3 episodes of the series. New viewers could be INTRODUCED to ...
Your a racist cunt.Brand can be funny but your a yank shithead with a chip on your shoulder.F.o.d! 
hmmm... bella can be a bit stubborn
at times but shes alright i suppose.
but when reading the book i kind ...
i don't know why some1 is complaining about the ending. it's pretty predictable ending... In fact, I can't ...
this movie really rockz!!! 
