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The Geisha of Gore Says, “I SAW THE DEVIL!”

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Horror, Psychological Horror, Psychos, Serial Killer flicks with tags , , , , , , on August 18, 2011 by knifefighter

THE GEISHA OF GORE:
I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)
By Colleen Wanglund

One of my favorite movies is the Korean horror film A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003), which was written and directed by Kim Ji-woon, and is still the highest-grossing film in Korea. Kim has developed quite a cult following among fans of Asian horror, but not just because of his movies. When Kim puts out a DVD, he oversees the process himself and loads it with extras and commentary. Kim has also directed the segment “Memories” in THREE EXTREMES 2 (2002) which was the best segment, in my opinion, and he directed the Sergio Leone-inspired THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD (2008), which is a bizarre western with a cool twist ending. The movie that just may catapult Kim Ji-woon to the top of the list of best Korean directors is I SAW THE DEVIL (2010).

I SAW THE DEVIL stars Min-sik Choi, who was brilliant as the main character in OLDBOY (2003) and also starred in LADY VENGEANCE (2005). Choi plays Kyung-chul, a serial killer who has managed to evade arrest and prosecution. On a snowy night, Kyung-chul spots a young woman in her car on the side of the road. The young woman, Joo-yeon (Oh San-ha), is waiting for a tow truck to fix a flat tire. Kyung-chul stops and offers Joo-yeon help; she refuses and he returns to his vehicle. A few minutes go by when Kyung-chul then attacks the woman, knocking her unconscious and dragging her, bloody, through the snow—symbolic of the loss of innocence. He loads her into the school bus he drives (another symbol of lost innocence), taking her to a hidden room in his home. Joo-yeon, now stripped naked and tied up, begs Kyung-chul not to kill her but he does it anyway. He then dismembers and disposes of her body.

The movie then cuts to a scene of a boy finding a severed ear near a river (a nod to David Lynch’s BLUE VELVET (1986) no doubt), and the police force is out en masse because Joo-yeon’s father is Section Chief Oh (Ho-jin Jeon) of the local police department. When Joo-yeon’s head is found, the scene becomes total chaos with police trying to get the head to the CSI team as quickly and discreetly as possible and reporters swarming the area hoping to get a picture. After all, the more sensational or controversial the picture, the more money they make—it’s a disgusting display; like sharks on a feeding frenzy. Then we see the utter despair on the face of Chief Oh and on the face of Joo-yeon’s fiancé, Secret Agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Byung-hun Lee, who also starred in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD). Cut to the funeral and the grief suffered by everyone.

Soo-hyeon takes a two-week leave of absence from work and with the help of Chief Oh decides to go find Joo-yeon’s killer on his own. He is given the files of the four main suspects and seeks them out one by one until he hits on Kyung-chul, who has another victim in his clutches when Soo-hyeon finds him; that victim was one of his charges on the school bus. Soo-hyeon has his chance to avenge his fiancé’s death but in an odd twist, he doesn’t kill or capture Kyung-chul. Instead he forces a capsule down Kyung-chul’s throat and breaks his wrist. The capsule is a tracking and listening device. It seems as though Soo-hyeon wants to play with his prey. Soo-hyeon has yet another chance at Kyung-chul and beats him to a bloody pulp, and in a difficult scene to watch, Soo-hyeon severs Kyung-chul’s Achilles tendon. He then leaves him to get medical care and continue the intricate cat-and-mouse game.

Soo-hyeon follows Kyung-chul to a house where a friend—and fellow serial killer and cannibal—is hiding out. This is a weird but important turning point in the movie. It is here, after telling his friend what has been going on, that Kyung-chul figures out who it is that’s chasing and torturing him. There is another violent confrontation between the two men, but this time things are different. Soo-hyeon has underestimated Kyung-chul and he will pay for that mistake. The cat-and-mouse game continues, but who is the cat and who is the mouse?

I SAW THE DEVIL is an amazing movie. Kim Ji-woon manages to push boundaries in this genre-bending epic about the effects and consequences of unrestrained violence. And make no mistake, the violence is extremely graphic and at the heart of this story. It is what motivates Kyung-chul and what results from Soo-hyeon’s grief. DEVIL is part horror, part revenge fantasy, part action flick and all psychological thriller, and Kim takes every opportunity to delve into the darkest parts of the human psyche.

Kyung-chul is one of the most frightening characters since Michael Rooker’s Henry in HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1986). Choi Min-sik, who had proven his acting ability in Park Chan-wook’s OLDBOY, plays Kyung-chul brilliantly and with a charisma that keeps the viewer thoroughly interested in him. He is repulsive and evil to the core and yet engaging—you are disgusted by Kyung-chul yet you cannot look away. Kyung-chul commits violence because he can and he enjoys it. He is very matter-of-fact about his actions. There is no emotional response of any kind—he is a man without a moral compass.

On the other hand, Soo-hyeon’s violence is the result of a devastating event in his life. He is responding the only way he knows how to an extreme emotional upheaval, and Byung-hun Lee brings that across effortlessly. His expressions, and at times lack thereof, tell the viewer what he’s feeling. The subtext of I SAW THE DEVIL is the twisted relationship between Kyung-chul and Soo-hyeon. And it is a relationship of co-dependency. Soo-hyeon needs Kyung-chul to feed his rage at the loss of his happy life. Kyung-chul eventually needs Soo-hyeon to get his thrill, especially after the tables are turned in this dangerous game of revenge. At one point Soo-hyeon’s would-be sister-in-law says to him “Revenge is for the movies.” What Kim shows us in DEVIL is that the need for revenge can potentially lead to the loss of one’s soul.

As I’ve said, the movie is quite violent, but in no way is the violence gratuitous. What I find interesting is that Kim gives us an up close and personal view when victims of both killer and agent are beaten into unconsciousness. The camera doesn’t flinch when Kyung-chul is beating a woman with a lead pipe or a hammer, nor does it flinch when Soo-hyeon breaks Kyung-chul’s wrist or when he slices up his Achilles tendon. These scenes of violence are prolonged and squirm-inducing in their intimacy.

What I do find interesting is that Kim takes that intimacy only so far. For example when Kyung-chul has Joo-yeon naked, bloody and begging for her life, the scene of her murder and dismemberment is framed very differently. We don’t see the cleaver slice into her flesh….although we do hear it. We see the blood flow and the body parts briefly in a basket but the act of her murder is never shown. Kim leaves the act itself up to the viewers’ imagination, which in my opinion makes it far more disturbing. In some respects DEVIL is reminiscent of Takashi Miike’s ICHI THE KILLER (2001), although without the black humor.

Another aspect of DEVIL that I enjoy is that Soo-hyeon starts out the “hero” but slowly becomes an anti-hero. He seems to believe that even though he is hunting and torturing an evil and remorseless murderer, he has the moral high ground. The capsule he uses to track Kyung-chul is almost symbolic of Soo-hyeon playing God. Ultimately Soo-hyeon is nothing more than an angry man who is capable of the same level of depraved violence as his quarry, and at times it’s enough to make your skin crawl. The only thing that actually makes these two men different is what motivates them. And just when you think that Soo-hyeon may be able to redeem himself, the unnerving end of the film makes you wonder—where is the line between good and evil? It can get quite fuzzy at times and Kim makes that glaringly clear.

I SAW THE DEVIL is a long movie, clocking in at 144 minutes, but it is definitely worth the time. There’s plenty of gore and violence to satisfy most horror fans, but the real driving force of this movie is Kim Ji-woon’s unflinching look into the dark souls of two men. Kyung-chul is an emotionless monster, while Soo-hyeon’s emotional response to his loss can potentially turn him into a monster. If you have the stamina to sit through this gut-wrenching and polarizing future cult classic, then I strongly suggest you do so. Between Park Hoon-jung’s script, the beautiful eye of cinematographer Lee Mo-gae, and the stylized directing of Kim Ji-woon, I SAWTHE DEVIL has easily made it into my top ten best Asian horror movies list. While definitely not for the squeamish, I highly recommend it.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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Monstrous Question: BEST MAD SCIENTIST MOVIE? (6 of 6)

Posted in 1980s Horror, 2011, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Mad Doctors!, Monstrous Question with tags , , , , on August 13, 2011 by knifefighter

MONSTROUS QUESTION
(Part 6 of 6)
Created by Michael Arruda

This month’s MONSTROUS QUESTION comes to us courtesy of our good friend Pete Dudar.

PETE:  Okay, so what’s the best ‘mad scientist’ movie? Is it FRANKENSTEIN? RE-ANIMATOR? THE FLY? We fans want to know.

****

Our panel answers:

COLLEEN WANGLUND:

Best mad scientist movie?

That’s easy…. RE-ANIMATOR (1985).


I love RE-ANIMATOR, and I love Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West.  Based on a story by H.  P. Lovecraft, RE-ANIMATOR blends horror and black comedy in such a way that you don’t necessarily expect it.  The gore factor is awesome and this is one of those movies I can watch over and over again.  And you can’t go wrong when the movie is based on Lovecraft.  Don’t get me wrong, I love FRANKENSTEIN (1931) the movie, especially Karloff’s monster, but I prefer the book by Mary Shelley.

Now I know what you’re saying.  “Colleen, you’re the Geisha of Gore, so what about Asian horror?”  Okay, as for Asian horror, my pick for the best mad scientist film is VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (2009).  The mad scientist is in full-on Kabuki makeup and costume and his creation is his own dead daughter.  It’s an awesome horror/black comedy by one of my favorite directors, Yoshihiro Nishimura.

—END—

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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The Geisha of Gore Takes On: TRINITY BLOOD

Posted in 2011, Animated Films, Anime, Apocalyptic Films, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Gore!, Japanese Cinema, Vampire Hunters, Vampires with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2011 by knifefighter

THE GEISHA OF GORE PRESENTS:
TRINITY BLOOD: THE ANIME SERIES
By Colleen Wanglund

While I have always written about Asian horror movies—because I really think you should be watching them!—this month I wanted to start introducing our readers to anime. Most of you, I’m sure, have seen anime but maybe you didn’t realize it at the time. Ever see G-FORCE, SPEED RACER, LUPIN III, or POKEMON? Then you’ve seen Japanese anime. Anime (at least in the West) is just Japanese cartoons….nothing spectacular, just that they are drawn and written in Japan. There are certain aspects of anime art that do separate it stylistically from other cartoons. Anime gained its distinctive style in the 1960s and one of the most well-known animators—and a pioneer in the industry—was Osamu Tezuka.

One of my favorites is the horror/sci-fi anime series, TRINITY BLOOD. It started as a series of “light novels” (books for young adults) written by Sunao Yoshida and illustrated by Thores Shibamoto. The novels ran from 2001 to 2005. Yoshida then introduced the manga version in March of 2004 and it continues to be published to this day. The artist on the manga is Kiyo Kujo, who based his work on Shibamoto’s original designs. The anime version of the story appeared in 2005, but only ran for 24 episodes and stuck to a specific storyline. There are some continuity issues between the novels, manga and anime, mostly dealing with characters and order of story arcs, but the core story and major characters are the same.

TRINITY BLOOD takes place 900 years after Armageddon, which the Earth’s population basically brought on itself. The population of Earth became far too large for the planet to sustain, so humans set out to colonize Mars. While there, they discovered the Bacillus virus and the Crusnik nanomachines, both alien technologies. The colonists injected themselves with the virus and it changed them into beings called Methuselahs….or vampires. The Crusnik nanotechnology was implanted into test-tube babies, of which only four survived—named Cain, Abel, Seth and Lilith.

Over the centuries, war had continued on Earth, eventually leading to Armageddon. The colonists returned from Mars to help rebuild civilization, as they still considered themselves human. However, a war broke out between the human survivors of Earth and the returning Methuselahs. Now 900 years later, humans and Methuselahs live on the planet amid an uneasy truce through peace treaties. The humans are led by the Vatican, with the Roman Catholic Church being a major world power. The Methuselahs’ New Human Empire is based in Byzantium. For those who may not know Church history, Byzantium was originally Constantinople, site of the Catholic Church’s Eastern center established by the Roman Empire.

The Methuselahs do not need to feed on humans, but many people from both races fear and hate each other. Politics and mistrust reign. The Vatican is headed by Pope Alessandro XVIII, who is actually just a teenage boy who is uncertain of himself, to say the least. He relies on his main advisors Cardinal Caterina (his sister) and Cardinal Francesco (his illegitimate brother). The problem here is that Caterina is an advocate for diplomacy and Francesco advocates the use of military force. Cardinal Francesco heads the Department of Inquisition and Cardinal Caterina heads the Ministry of Holy Affairs, which oversees the AX, which is a special operations unit of priests and nuns trained to fight vampires.

One of the main characters of TRINITY BLOOD is Father Abel Nightroad and he is, in fact, one of the four Crusniks. During the wars with the humans, Abel took the side of the Methuselahs until his sister Lilith (who sided with the humans) was killed. Lilith’s body was interred in a chamber under the Vatican where Abel stayed by her side, in mourning, for almost 900 years. When Cardinal Caterina was a young girl, she wandered into the chamber running from Methuselah assassins. Abel saved Caterina and devoted himself to Lilith’s cause, the protection of the humans. Abel became a priest and is one of the founding members of the AX. Caterina and Abel are still very close. In his human form Father Abel appears very quiet and shy, and at times even bumbling; when he changes into his Crusnik form, his appearance changes considerably. His eyes turn red, his skin changes color and he has claws and fangs. At times he also has huge black wings and can emit pulses of energy. He doesn’t even need to suck the blood from a vampire to feed…it just moves to his body and he absorbs it. Even in his human form, though, Father Abel’s strength and speed is far superior to a human’s.

Another major character is Sister Esther Blanchett. Esther is heir to the throne of Albion, a small human country but probably the most powerful after the Vatican. Shortly after Esther’s birth, she was brought to a church in Istvan to protect her from the assassins who murdered her father. Istvan sits at the crossroads of the human nations and the Methuselah’s empire and is overseen by the Methuselah. Esther was raised by Bishop Laura Velez and when the Bishop was murdered by vampires, Esther became involved in the human rebellion, killing the city’s chief of security forces. When we are introduced to Esther, she has been fooled by Dietrich, a human, who is in fact part of the Rosenkreuz Order.

In the very first episode of TRINITY BLOOD, titled “Flight Night,” we are given a brief origin as to the time the story takes place and the state of global affairs. Father Abel Nightroad is flying back to Rome on an airship that is taken over by a Methuselah working for the Rosenkreuz Orden. For now, the order remains a mystery but it is clearly a terrorist attack—the hijacker intends to fly the airship into the Vatican. This is where we see Father Abel change into a Crusnik for the first time. We also meet Father Tres, another member of AX with the codename Gunslinger. Tres is also the only remaining cyborg of ten originally created to fight the Vatican, but now fights for them. And being a cyborg makes Tres one hell of a shot.

In the third and fourth episodes, “The Star of Sorrow Parts 1 and 2,” Abel and Esther meet for the first time. This is when we learn that the Rosenkreuz want to bring about another major war between the humans and vampires. Dietrich intended to destroy the city with a powerful weapon, dragging the factions into military conflict. Abel and Esther are able to stop the weapon, and Esther goes to the Vatican to join the AX.

Since the anime was only 24 episodes long, the story moves pretty quickly. We learn that the Rosenkreuz Orden is actually led by Cain, Abel’s Crusnik brother. Cain hates humans and Methuselah’s alike and, unbeknownst to most of the order’s members, Cain wants to see everyone exterminated. Throughout the series, Abel, Esther and other members of the AX stop potential terrorist attacks and discover more about the Rosenkreuz’s motives. We also discover that Abel’s sister Seth is the leader of the Methuselahs and she wishes the two races to live in peace. At times the AX goes up against Brother Petro and Sister Paula of the Vatican’s Department of Inquisition. They are formidable fighters who shoot first and ask questions later.

Okay, so 24 episodes and a quick moving story….sounds great. Some of the anime I’ve seen goes on far too long and strays from the core story. I suppose it’s like any television series that “ jumps the shark” at some point. The various arcs in TRINITY BLOOD all come back to the core story—two races of people trying to exist in the same space. It’s a very good story that flows well from episode to episode. However, there are many characters with their own agendas, so you have to pay attention. Don’t let that scare you off, though; the series’ continuity keeps it from getting confusing. While character development in the anime isn’t as in-depth as in the novels or manga, the main characters are suitably fleshed-out, keeping things focused and to the point. The original novels were targeted for young adults, but the political intrigue and the gore keep it just as entertaining for adults. The artwork is fantastic and very detailed from the characters to the scenery. TRINITY BLOOD is easily among the better examples of anime art. Abel in his full Crusnik form looks perfectly ferocious and the action sequences and visuals of blood and gore are beautifully done.

Another aspect of the story is the technology used by these civilizations. It’s referred to as the “Lost Technologies,” because it all seems to date back to pre-apocalyptic society, and not everyone knows how to use it. A lot of these technologies, particularly the airships—both civilian and military—have a very steampunk feel. Even the design of buildings in some of the cities, and the dress of most of the people, are steampunk.

I personally love TRINITY BLOOD, as well as the character of Abel. I know there are better series out there, like TRIGUN and HELSING, but TRINITY BLOOD fits into its own little bloody niche. It’s an entertaining series about two world powers in the midst of a Cold War, so it’s also a familiar story. Of course you throw in religion and it ups the ante. I like the fact that the vampires aren’t what you typically expect. They still consider themselves human and in fact eat and drink, just like humans do. Their appearance is the same as the humans, except for the Crusniks. The vampires are sensitive to sunlight, though, and the New Human Empire is protected by a barrier that makes daylight seem like twilight. I watched it for the first time as part of The Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming on weekends, but I have watched it over and over again online. If I can find the time, I’d really like to check out the manga. Episodes can be found for free on various anime sites on the web….just Google it.

Abel Nightroad is one of the main characters of the anime series, TRINITY BLOOD

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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The Geisha of Gore Looks At: JU-ON 2

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Ghost Movies, Haunted Houses, Japanese Cinema, Japanese Horror with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2011 by knifefighter

JU-ON (PART TWO)
By Colleen Wanglund, the Geisha of Gore

In Part One of this article (click here), I talked about JU-ON: THE CURSE and THE CURSE 2 (both from 2000), the first two features in the JU-ON franchise.  To recap, THE CURSE and THE CURSE 2 were based on two shorts written and directed by Takashi Shimizu and were direct-to-video releases.  Ju-on translates to “curse” or “grudge” in English.  It is explained that when someone dies violently and with feelings of anger or hatred, a curse is born.  The ghost of the dead is the fulfiller of that curse.  The movies are comprised of a series of vignettes involving victims of the curse, but the common thread through all is a single house.  Kayako and her son Toshio were violently murdered in that house by Kayako’s husband, Takeo Saeki, and now their ghosts fulfill the curse through anyone who comes into contact with the house, no matter how brief or inconsequential that contact is.

In JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2003) Shimizu continues the original formula of telling the story through multiple vignettes.  The movie begins with Rika, a young social worker who has gone to the Tokunaga home to look in on an old woman named Sachie.  Hmmm, can you guess where they live?  Rika finds Sachie catatonic and home alone.  The house is a mess, so Rika begins cleaning up.  She finds a photo of a family with the wife’s face removed; she hears a noise from upstairs and goes to investigate.  Rika finds a cat and a little boy hiding in a closet, so she calls and reports it to social services.  When Rika goes to check on Sachie, she finds a black shadow hovering over the old woman; Rika faints in the corner of the room.

The movie now moves to Katsuya, who is the son of Sachie, and his wife Kazumi.  Kazumi reminds Katsuya as he’s leaving for work, that his sister Hitomi will be over for dinner.  Later we see Kazumi startled awake from a nap by a sound that she at first believes to be Sachie.  When Kazumi goes to investigate, she sees a cat on the stairs and small arms grab the cat.  Later when Katsuya returns home he finds Kazumi in an almost catatonic state…..then he sees the ghost of Toshio.  Hitomi arrives and finds Katsuya mumbling and incoherent.  When she asks about Kazumi, Katsuya makes Hitomi leave the house.  The focus of the story now switches to Hitomi.  While getting ready to leave work, she stops in the restroom where she gets a disturbing phone call from her brother.  Then she sees a shadow emerge from one of the stalls, so she bolts.  She asks the building’s security to check it out.  Hitomi watches the security camera and sees an extremely disturbing sight, so she leaves for home.   Once there, a series of disturbing events leads up to Hitomi’s encounter with Kayako.

The next vignette switches back to Rika.  Having not returned to the center she works out of, her boss has gone looking for her.  He ends up calling the police, who cannot seem to find the owners of the house.  While the police search for the Tokunagas, they uncover evidence that shows multiple missing persons over the years from the same house.  This is where the timeline for JU-ON: THE GRUDGE is established.  The police contact retired detective Toyama who is the only person left from a previous case tied to the house….the murders of Kayako and Toshio.  He is shown the files and a videotape from a building where one of the missing people worked (can you guess who?).  Toyama is convinced that it is the house that’s evil, so he attempts to do something about it.  While there, he sees a high school girl race out and hears the screams of others upstairs.  Toyama is attacked in the house but manages to escape.

The story now moves to Izumi, a high school girl whose three friends have gone missing.  Izumi feels guilt for her friends’ disappearance because she was with them poking around in a supposedly haunted house (if you read my column JU-ON Part One then this will be an “aha” moment for you).  Izumi has begun displaying some odd behavior….she’s covered her windows in newspaper and insists that her friends’ spirits are looking in at her.  What is also disturbing are photos taken of Izumi and her missing friends have the eyes blacked out.  Izumi has a dream about her dead father and wakes up only to find her friends have come for her.  This particular vignette ties in to the last one in a very spooky way.

The final vignette brings us back to Rika sometime after her experience in the house.  She receives a phone call from her friend Mariko who is on a home visit of a student who has never shown up for class.  When Mariko tells Rika the name of the student, Rika realizes Mariko is in danger and rushes to help her.  Rika arrives at the Saeki house just in time to find Mariko being dragged into the attic by the ghost of Kayako.  Unfortunately for Rika, there will be no escape this time from her fate as a victim of the grudge.  The movie closes with a series of creepy shots of empty streets littered with missing person’s posters.

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 (2004) follows in the same non-linear vein as its three predecessors, with six different vignettes telling how the grudge passes from person to person.  The difference here is the story seems to be more focused around a single event in the house.  A television show on haunted houses has set up at the Saeki house because of its history.  Horror movie actress Kyoko is appearing as a special guest.  The first vignette tells about Kyoko after her appearance on the shoot.  Kyoko and her fiancé Masashi hit a cat in the road and then have a very bad accident caused by Toshio.  Masashi is in a coma and Kyoko has lost her baby (the conversation between the two prior to the accident is about when Kyoko will tell her agent).  Sometime after the accident we see Kyoko on a movie set and two of the extras are Chiharu and Hiromi, the two friends who visited Izumi in JU-ON: THE GRUDGE.  Kyoko then goes to the doctor, who tells her that she is three and a half months pregnant.  In shock, Kyoko goes back to her mother’s home where, after some time spent in her room, Kyoko finds her mother dead.

The movie’s story now moves to Tomoka, the reporter/host of the show (which is called “Heart-Stopping Backgrounds”).  This vignette moves between shots of Tomoka rehearsing her lines, meeting with her friend Megumi, who works as a make-up artist on the show, and some disturbing experiences in her apartment.  Tomoka has been hearing strange noises at about the same time every night and has asked her boyfriend Nori to come by.  They hear the sounds and are both unnerved by them.  The scene then moves to the shoot at the Saeki house.  Nori receives a strange phone call, hearing the familiar death rattle of Kayako.  He goes to Tomoka’s apartment and sees her, but then gets a phone call from Tomoka asking where he is.  The call is cut off and Nori has a meeting with Kayako.  Tomoka arrives home to discover what has become of Nori….and it ain’t pretty.

The next vignette follows Megumi and her experience with a mysterious stain in the Saeki house that somehow appears in the make-up room back at the show’s office building.  It seems as if Megumi has met her fate.  We are also shown quickly that Keisuke, the show’s director has found Kayako’s journal at the house, as well as a letter addressed to the Tokunagas (from THE GRUDGE).  Which brings us to Keisuke’s part in the story.  Masashi has woken from his coma, but is still unresponsive. Keisuke has gone to meet with Kyoko at the hospital where he tells her of Megumi’s disappearance, as well as the fate of Tomoka and the rest of the television crew who were at the Saeki house that fateful day.  He drives Kyoko home and they see Megumi enter the house.  Megumi appears inside and leaves behind Kayako’s journal….and a familiar stain on the floor.  Kyoko goes back to the Saeki house where she sees Chiharu trying to get out.  Is it a vision of some sort?

This next part of the film deals with Chiharu’s story but it is differently from the other vignettes.  Chiharu’s experiences with the Saeki house seem to happen during nightmares.  Is she actually in the house or is she merely dreaming?  We see her banging on the front door begging for help to be let out.  At one point she gets out of the house, but appears to wake from a dream while sitting on a bus (the one that carried the extras to the shoot).  The entire vignette jumps back and forth between reality and nightmare, ultimately bring us to Chiharu’s fate.

The final part of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 begins with Keisuke arriving at the Saeki house after the door has slammed shut on Chiharu.  He enters the house and finds Kyoko unconscious, so he takes her to the hospital.  It appears Kyoko has gone into labor and is giving birth….but to what? All in the room are now dead and Kyoko picks up what appears to be a crying baby wrapped in a bloody blanket.  Years later Kyoko is seen walking across a bridge with a little girl, carrying Kayako’s journal.  It seems as though the curse has been reborn.

As I’ve said, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE and THE GRUDGE 2 were given theatrical release and they did very well.  The entire series has been quite popular both in Japan and outside the country.  The movies’ scares are more atmospheric than gory, though we do see the physical manifestations of the ghosts, as well as seeing Kayako in her beaten and bloody state.  Though the stories are told in a non-linear fashion, certain events overlap, keeping the continuity of the story as a whole.

Personally, I love the JU-ON series.  I think they are suitably creepy without having to give too much away.  I also like the fact that there is no happy ending….to any of the films.  The curse or grudge will continue to go on with no end in sight.  There is no way to stop it; the curse is inescapable.  That’s pretty damn bleak, in my opinion.  That bleakness is made powerfully clear in the final shots of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE with the empty streets and posters of the missing.  Is this a foretelling of the future?  Takashi Shimizu is an excellent storyteller and created some amazing films on some very low budgets.

As to the character of Kayako, she has been played by Takako Fuji in all four films, the original short “Katasumi” and in two of the American movies.  She has said that she would continue to play the role for as long as Shimizu wanted her.  She is a trained dancer, ballerina and contortionist….which explains a lot of her movements as Kayako.

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE was remade by Columbia Pictures in 2004 as THE GRUDGE with Takashi Shimizu once again as the director.  However the script was rewritten by Stephen Susco and while it follows the same non-linear approach as the original, many aspects, including characters and the ending, were changed.  THE GRUDGE 2 (2006) is not a remake of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2 but was also directed by Takashi Shimizu and written by Susco.  There is THE GRUDGE 3 (2009) but Shimizu had nothing to do with this direct-to-video release, though he does get a screenwriting credit because of the original JU-ON series.  I have not seen the American GRUDGE 2 or GRUDGE 3, but I did see THE GRUDGE and didn’t care for it.  For me the story was taken out of its cultural context and I didn’t like the changes made.  But then I’m not a fan of remakes in general.  I can count on one hand how many remakes I’ve actually liked.

As for the entire Japanese JU-ON series, see them all, if you can.  They really are a great bit of filmmaking and a lot of fun to watch.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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HELLDRIVER

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Japanese Horror, VIOLENCE!, Zombies with tags , , , , , on May 18, 2011 by knifefighter

HELLDRIVER (2010)
Movie Review by Colleen Wanglund, the Geisha of Gore


Yoshihiro Nishimura has done it again folks! In his first solo directorial outing since TOKYO GORE POLICE (2008), Nishimura has delivered another blood-soaked splatterific gore fest courtesy of Sushi Typhoon. For those who don’t know, Sushi Typhoon is the brainchild of Yoshinori Chiba for Nikkatsu Studios. On April 28 my daughter and I attended the New York premiere of HELLDRIVER (2010) at the Japan Society. The version we got to see was the Director’s Cut…..sixteen extra minutes that won’t be in the general release. The event, co-sponsored by Subway Cinema, was for charity with proceeds going to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund which was established in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that occurred in March. Following the screening, there was a Q & A with guests Nishimura and Eihi Shiina (AUDITION {1999}, TOKYO GORE POLICE {2008})—the movie’s Zombie Queen—along with a party that featured the Brooklyn death metal band Vaura, some delicious food, and plenty of Sapporo….and I got one as soon as I could to get to the bar.

Okay, now on to the movie!

Kika (Yumiko Hara) is a teenage girl viciously abused by her psychotic mother Rikka (Eihi Shiina) and Uncle Yasushi (Kentaro Kishi). Kika storms off after witnessing Rikka and Uncle feasting on her father’s legs. Yes, Rikka and Uncle are cannibals….this is one seriously twisted family. Rikka goes after Kika and during the mother/daughter showdown a meteor strikes Rikka dead center in the chest, leaving quite a hole in her anatomy. Enraged, Rikka rips the still-beating heart out of Kika’s chest and sticks it in the hole, where it attaches itself. Rikka is then taken over by a starfish-shaped creature and the newly born zombie spews an ash-like substance into the air, infecting the inhabitants of the surrounding area and creating more zombies.

Miraculously, Kika survives and is taken to a hospital where even the doctor (Marc Walkow doing his best not to butcher his Japanese) is amazed at the girl’s survival. Cut to scenes of Tokyo—chaos ensues in the wake of the encroaching apocalypse. Refugees have flooded the city and food and shelter are at a premium. People are eating all manner of things and one particular gaijin is aggravated to all hell (Norman England). A militarized wall has been erected separating the human south from the zombie north and politicians and regular folk alike are debating the status of the zombie population.

Some time has passed and Kika has been dumped at the wall that splits Japan in two. She is discovered by Taku (Yurei Yanagi) and his companion No Name, or Nanashi (Mizuki Kusuki). Kika is now equipped with a mechanical heart that also powers one of the most badass weapons I’ve ever seen in a movie, a chainsaw samurai sword! Seriously, I want one of my own. Taku takes Kika back to the orphanage, explaining that money is tight so he does what he can. This includes sneaking into the zombie territory to acquire something that the Yakuza will pay top dollar for. Swept up in a raid, the three companions are given a choice—“volunteer” to go on a mission to destroy the Zombie Queen or….well, die.

Our “volunteers” are dropped into the zombie zone and are immediately attacked by zombies. A former cop decked out like a cowboy (Kazuki Namioka) comes to their aid driving a truck that’s ready for battle. He takes the group to what looks like a bizarre club. Seems they’re trying to establish their own society behind that wall. There are human survivors that the zombies have rounded up and among them is No Name’s sister. And who runs this zombie establishment, you might ask? None other than zombie Uncle. Fights break out and the blood spray is plentiful. I mean, that IS what you see a Nishimura film for, right? There’s even a chase scene involving a very imaginative vehicle. When our little band of misfits finally reaches their destination they’re in for a big surprise….and I mean BIG! The only complaint I have is that the opening scenes of Kika rescuing some poor sap from the zombies after he falls off the wall don’t fit with the rest of the movie once it’s run all of the way through. It’s still a really fun sequence, though.

HELLDRIVER is one heck of a good movie. It’s just what I expect from Nishimura’s movies—gore, comedy, and plenty of carnage to go around. The characters are just as outrageous as the makeup effects, which are phenomenal. Yumiko Hara is beautiful as the damaged teenage protagonist Kika, displaying a believable strength and tenacity in the character. The gore-geous Eihi Shiina plays Rikka, both before and after her transformation into the Zombie Queen, with wicked glee. And I can’t say enough about Kentaro Kishi who seems to relish playing the very demented Uncle Yasushi. There are also appearances by Nishimura regulars Cay Izumi as a pregnant zombie (and as Yumiko Hara’s stand-in for some bizarre pole-dancing), Asami as a wall guard and director Takashi Shimizu (JU-ON series, MAREBITO [2004], REINCARNATION [2005]) as a man looking for his zombified wife. Director Iguchi Noboru also makes a brief appearance but I won’t spoil it by telling you what it is.

In addition to being the director of HELLDRIVER, Yoshihiro Nishimura is the screenwriter (along with Daichi Nagisa), editor, character designer and special makeup effects supervisor. Even with all of those jobs on his plate he managed to film the movie in only two weeks! Along with special effects makeup artist Taiga Ishino and visual effects artist Tsuyoshi Kazuno, Nishimura created some beautiful and unique zombies. Unlike the usual shamblers of Western zombie fare, Nishimura’s zombies have distinct expressions and facial features, as well as markedly colorful and psychedelic costumes. The “horns” on the zombies’ heads are a nod to the annual Yubari Fantastic Fest which is where HELLDRIVER had its first screening. The small town of Yubari in Hokkaido is known for its expensive melons—I’m talking fruit, people—and the horns are identical to the stems of the melons. There’s also a giant melon marking the Yubari Fantastic Fest in the movie.

HELLDRIVER is a revenge road movie and it’s chock full of social and political satire. The zombies aren’t just swarming the northern part of Japan looking for food, they are establishing their own culture with the Zombie Queen as their monarch. The humans in the southern part of the country are arguing over and protesting for or against “zombie rights”. We see a Catholic priest advocating for inclusion of the zombies—they were human once—even hiding a few in Tokyo. There is a sub-plot involving a government coup with Prime Minister Hatoda (Minoru Torihada) going so far as holding a press conference in front of the wall (which doesn’t go very well) while his potential successor Osawa (Guadalcanal Taka) is pushing for the outright annihilation of the zombies. I loved the public service announcement about the dangers of the zombies and the laws put in place by the government…it was hilarious!

The Geisha of Gore and director Yoshihiro Nishimura ham it up at the New York premiere of HELLDRIVER.

What I also saw in HELLDRIVER is the subtext of family—both those related to us by blood and those people who come into our lives by chance and become family. Rikka, Uncle and Kika are a family—as messed up as they are. No Name is searching for his sister, and there are a brother (Takumi Saito) and sister (Asami) among the wall guards. People are searching for their family members even though they might be zombies and Kika becomes part of another family when Taku takes her into the orphanage, no questions asked. Yosihiro Nishimura even has his daughter playing a zombie!

The special effects are, as usual, over-the-top and fantastic to see. Nishimura took great care in his character design and it shows. While most of the gore acts as a comedic device, there were a few times where it felt, to me at least, a bit darker than Nishimura tends to go. In a scene where Uncle has No-name’s sister tied to a chair in a room of the club, Nishimura takes a stab at the phenomenon of cutting among young Japanese women. While he’s done this in all of his movies, it was always intentional in-your-face satire whereas in HELLDRIVER he seemed to employ a more subtle and seemingly more serious jab with just a lingering shot of the girl’s arm covered in red scars. I also felt the manner in which the sister is attacked by Uncle has a darker and more sinister feel than what I’m used to.

There’s another scene where the priest going on about “zombie rights” brings someone to a room where he’s been hiding zombies. The door opens and a group of zombies in a darkened room turn to face the humans and something that may be food is thrown in to distract them. While the placards the zombies wear with their names on them are funny this is another case where I felt the humor was overshadowed by a more serious quality. I’ve always loved the comedic aspect of Nishimura’s horror, but I liked the more serious and sinister aspects. It adds a new depth to his splatter-comedy style and I hope it continues. It throws an uncomfortable curve at the viewer…and horror should have some measure of discomfort for its viewers.

As I’ve said I took my daughter with me and she’s not the biggest fan of this type of film. She thought character development was lacking, with some characters just being flat. Darlene is mixed on the special effects with some of it looking good and some of it cheesy, but she did like the originality Nishimura employed for the zombies. She also thought the story was thin and some of the scenes went on too long. She gives it two stars out of five….she liked MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD (2009) better. Other than that she had a good time. Darlene isn’t the fan girl geek that I am. And she insisted I add her opinion of HELLDRIVER and she usually gets what she wants out of me.

(from l to r) Yoshihiro Nishimura, Colleen's daughter Darlene and Eihi Shiina

Prior to the film, announcements were made regarding the lineup for the New York Asian Film Festival and the overlapping Japan Cuts series in July…and I can’t wait to go! HELLDRIVER was then introduced by Marc Walkow of Subway Cinema, Nishimura and the film’s star Eihi Shiina. In the intro Nishimura stressed that HELLDRIVER was made almost a year ago and in no way was any kind of statement about the disaster in Japan. It was a bit bizarre to see that some aspects of the movie’s storyline mirror the aftermath of the earthquake….location and destruction, mostly, but some of the politics as well. There was a Q & A session after the movie, which began with Nishimura wearing his trademark fundoshi (that’s a traditional Japanese undergarment for men) making his way along a row of seats while swinging a zombie baby over his head by its umbilical cord. I can’t make this stuff up, people. He was joined on-stage by Marc Walkow, also in a fundoshi, and Eihi Shiina, who remained fully clothed—much to the chagrin of most of the men in attendance, I imagine. There were questions about HELLDRIVER but quite a few fans wanted to ask Ms. Shiina about AUDITION and many held up DVD copies of the Takashi Miike masterpiece. She even gave a quick re-enactment of sorts of the famous “kiri, kiri, kiri” from AUDITION’s torture scene.

Afterward the theater emptied out into the lobby where there was plenty of food and Sapporo. Autographs were signed and pictures were taken. I was thrilled to finally get to meet Eihi Shiina, and she signed my DVD of AUDITION! This was her first trip to New York and to the United States. It was very cool to meet Nishimura again and see Marc, and of course I enjoyed a nice night hanging out with my daughter Darlene.

I must thank my friend Norman England, who did the English subtitling for HELLDRIVER, and Marc Walkow for their help….and huge thanks to Norman for the use of one of his set photos.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

HELLDRIVER behind-the-scenes set photo © copyright - Sushi Typhoon/Nikkatsu Studios


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JU-ON (Part 1)

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Ghost Movies, Haunted Houses, Japanese Horror with tags , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2011 by knifefighter

The Geisha of Gore Takes a Look At JU-ON (THE CURSE)
Part 1 of 2, by Colleen Wanglund

After a lull of almost two decades (with the exception of some splatter films), Japanese horror movies made a major come-back in the 1990s with films such as the classic ghost story, RINGU (1998). Another one of these movies was JU-ON (2000) and it would have a lasting impact on Japan’s (and America’s) horror movie business. JU-ON began as two stories, “Katasumi” and “4444444444” shown as part of a television movie called GAKKO NO KAIDAN G (1998). Both stories were written and directed by then-unknown Takashi Shimizu. Including these stories, there have been a total of seven—count ‘em—JU-ON movies to date. That doesn’t even include the three American versions and a video game! That’s one hell of a franchise, to say the least!

Okay from the beginning. JU-ON translates to the “curse” or “grudge” in English. It is explained that when someone dies violently and feeling anger or hatred, a curse is born. The ghost of the dead is the fulfiller of that curse. In “Katasumi,” the curse, in the form of a female ghost, takes the lives of two school girls, Kanna and Hisako, while they are at their school feeding the rabbits. “4444444444” is about Kanna’s brother Tsuyoshi. While going to meet his girlfriend Mizuho, he finds a cell phone with the repeated number 4. In Japanese the number four (shi) is a homophone of the kanji character for death or demon (shinigami). The curse appears as the ghost of a young boy and kills Tsuyoshi, whose body disappears.

In 2000, Takashi Shimizu wrote and directed the full-length feature JU-ON: THE CURSE and it was a direct-to-video release. The movie follows the curse through a series of vignettes, taking the viewer through a time-line of events that seem to center around a single house. JU-ON: THE CURSE opens with a grade school teacher Kobayashi talking to his pregnant wife about a student of his, Toshio Saeki, who hasn’t been to school in a few days. After school the next day Kobayashi goes to Toshio’s home to see about the boy and talk to his parents. He finds Toshio home alone and looking as though he’d been beaten; the house is a mess and the child’s parents aren’t around. Kobayashi stays with the boy, calling his wife to tell her what’s happened and that he’ll be home late. Toshio has disappeared and Kobayashi finds him upstairs drawing pictures of cats. While looking around, Kobayashi enters a room where he finds the diary of Kayako, Toshio’s mother. It seems as though Kayako was a disturbed woman.

The movie moves into the next vignette about Yuki, who is tutoring Kanna. Kanna’s family, including her brother Tsuyoshi, is now living in the Saeki house….and yes it’s the same Kanna from “Katasumi”. After Kanna leaves to go feed the rabbits at school with her friend Hisako (can you guess where this goes?),Yuki is disturbed by the sound of cats. A cat actually enters Kanna’s room and chases Yuki into the closet where she discovers an entrance to the attic. Yuki pokes her head into the space only to be confronted by the ghost of Kayako. Assume what you will.

The movie’s time-line now moves to Mizuho, Tsuyoshi’s girlfriend…..first seen in the original story “4444444444”. She is waiting for Tsuyoshi at school but cannot find him—although she sees that his bike and book bag are sitting outside the building. Mizuho also finds a phone, but is called into the building by a teacher. While left alone in the teacher’s room, the phone that Mizuho found begins ringing and the same repeat of the number 4 is displayed. We also see that the ghost of Toshio is in the room with her. The vignette ends with the assumption that Mizuho has become another victim of the curse, much like Tsuyoshi.

JU-ON now moves to the fate of Kanna. Detectives Yoshikawa and Kamio are at the coroner’s office where they are told the body under the sheet was found ripped apart and mixed with some rabbit DNA. The coroner also tells the detectives that a human jaw was found at the site, but it didn’t belong to the body. The scene moves back to the house with Kanna’s mother returning home and looking for her children. Unfortunately for mom, she finds Kanna…..more victims of the curse.

The movie now picks back up with the story of the teacher Kobayashi at the Saeki home with Toshio. Kobayashi has found the attic access in the closet and takes a closer look. What he finds is the body of Kayako. He grabs Toshio to leave the house when he gets a phone call from Toshio’s father, Takeo. Takeo informs Kobayashi of the fate of Kobayashi’s pregnant wife and it isn’t good, as we see Takeo in a phone booth covered in blood. It is now Kobayashi’s turn to become the victim of the curse with Kayako bearing down on him. The vignette ends with Takeo meeting his own fate at the hands of the curse he created.

The next and final vignette is about Kyoko, a sort of medium who is called by her brother to look at a house he is trying to sell. There have been rumors about the house and he just wants some good luck so he can get it sold. Kyoko and her brother arrive at the house and guess what? That’s right, it’s the Saeki house. Upon entering the house Kyoko learns that the last owners suffered multiple tragedies and the lone survivor is in a hospital. Kyoko can sense much more going on in the house and knows how dangerous it is. She gives her brother strict instructions on how to treat any prospective buyers and promptly leaves. Kyoko later finds out her brother sold the house. She goes to see the house and spots the woman in the front window….but something about her isn’t right. Kyoko realizes the woman she sees is possessed by Kayako.

JU-ON: THE CURSE 2 was also written and directed by Takashi Shimizu in 2000 and was a direct-to-video release. The first vignette is the footage of Kobayashi at the Saeki house from the first movie but it is edited down a bit from the first. The second vignette is also from the first movie, this one about Kyoko, except it is expanded upon with Kyoko going to check on her nephew. Her brother the realtor asked her to check on his son because Tatsuya (the brother) had noticed his son acting differently since moving into the new apartment. We see Kyoko’s nephew Nobuyuki watching television in the apartment when the picture goes to static. The apartment seems familiar because it was the same apartment that Kobayashi and his wife lived in years before. After Kyoko arrives she and Nobuyuki find themselves watching the murder of Kobayashi’s wife by Takeo Saeki.

The next vignette begins with the woman who bought the Saeki house from Tatsuya receiving a package in the mail. It is the picture drawn by Toshio of his parents and Kayako’s diary. Her expression changes, and while her husband complains about his runny eggs, she hits him from behind with the frying pan. The scene switches to Tatsuya discussing with his parents what to do about Kyoko’s condition. It seems she is in a sort-of catatonic state since seeing the replay of murder at the apartment. Nobuyuki doesn’t seem all there himself. Tatsuya leaves and goes to the Saeki house to check on the new owners of the house, the Kitadas. Mrs. Kitada greets him at the door and tells him everything is fine. When Tatsuya spots the picture, Mrs. Kitada “becomes” Kayako and Toshio is sitting on the couch. We assume Tatsuya never leaves the house. Back at Tatsuya’s house, the curse rears its ugly head with Kyoko possessed by Kayako. No one there gets out alive.

The movie’s time-line now moves back to Detective Kamio and his investigation of the death at the school of Hiseko and Kanna’s family. It seems the other detective working the case, Yoshikawa, has lost his mind. Kamio goes to see his old partner but goes away empty handed. Back at the station a woman has come to see Kamio. It is Kayako….the curse has found yet another victim.

Now we move to Nobuyuki who is at school cleaning a classroom with a few other students. The assumption here is that Nobuyuki was not home when his grandparents died. Nobuyuki turns to find an empty classroom as he runs from Kayako climbing through the window. The boy becomes the next victim of the deadly curse. The final shot of the vignette is of many Kayakos standing in the rain and making a now-familiar clicking sound.

The movie ends with some high school girls sneaking into the Saeki house which now stands empty with a “For Sale” sign out front. The girls hear a noise from upstairs….and the movie ends.

JU-ON: THE CURSE and JU-ON: THE CURSE 2 are not—I repeat not—the movies that were remade in America as THE GRUDGE (2003) and THE GRUDGE 2 (2006). They are two other movies that I will deal with in “JU-ON Part Two” in June. THE CURSE and THE CURSE 2 weren’t even released in America.

Both movies are well-written, with an original storyline. Shimizu also did wonders with directing, as both were low-budget films. CURSE and CURSE 2 rely heavily on atmosphere and the imagination of the viewer and it does make for some scary tension. I enjoy the way the story of the CURSE moves around from one vignette to another and slowly weaves together into one solid time-line. I think it was a brilliant move on Shimizu’s part. As I’ve said before, the ghost is a very powerful icon in Japanese horror and can invoke some scary and unsettling imagery. The Japanese believe that the spirits of the dead must be appeased to keep them happy. If a person’s dead ancestors aren’t happy, they can affect that person’s life with some very bad luck. The ghost is the corporeal manifestation of that bad luck. In CURSE and CURSE 2, the basis for the curse is the death of an individual—Kayako, and to a lesser degree Toshio—while in the throes of anger or resentment. Kayako was violently murdered and that death has manifested itself as a never-ending curse. It cannot be escaped by anyone who comes into contact with it, no matter how inconsequential that contact may be. That’s pretty damn scary in my book. Takashi Shimizu is an amazing storyteller and if you can get your hands on these little-seen gems, I think you’d be quite pleased. Again, not to be confused with American film, THE GRUDGE.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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THE VENGEFUL FEMININE

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Ghost Movies, Japanese Horror with tags , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2011 by knifefighter

The Vengeful Feminine
A Look at Female Ghosts in Asian Horror
By Colleen Wanglund, The Geisha of Gore

The female ghost is a major icon in Asian horror films. It’s as much an icon in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, as zombies or vampires are in Western horror movies. Even to Western audiences, the female Asian ghost is one of the most recognizable characters in horror movies. She rampages through schools, homes and towns bringing death to anyone unfortunate enough to be in her way. Asian movies like RINGU (1998), JU-ON (2000), SHUTTER (2004), EPITAPH (2007), and ACACIA (2003), and American remakes—THE RING (2002), THE GRUDGE (2002), and SHUTTER (2008) all have the requisite female ghost. Her appearance is generally the same—long black hair usually covering her face and a white dress or gown. Where does she come from? What is her significance?

The ghost in Asian culture, most notably China, Japan and Korea, dates back centuries. The Chinese have a very long history of ancestor worship and there is a long list of various types and classes of ghost. In Korea, the first documented ghost story dates back to the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC—668 AD) and, in Japan, female ghosts were seen in literature dating to the feudal period (1185 AD—1868 AD). While coming from three different cultures, there are many similarities to the ghost stories. All three countries have very specific rituals for dealing with the dead, to ensure the eternal happiness of the spirit of the departed. If those rituals aren’t observed, the spirit will come back to haunt the living. Ghosts are also the product of spirits succumbing to strong negative emotions that keep them here in the corporeal world.

Aside from the long-standing tradition and fear of a restless spirit coming back to haunt the living, the modern ghost story has social and political meanings as well. While women in the West have become, for the most part, equal with men thanks to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, that has not happened in Asian cultures where women are still viewed as being inferior to men. Women in Asia tend to be more reserved and are expected to be submissive to their husbands. Even highly successful women across Asia are considered failures if they haven’t married by the age of 25. The ghost is not a symbol of women’s oppression. Rather it is a symbol of women overcoming that oppression. It represents the destroying of the traditional patriarchal society. The modern ghost story is hardly the first in Asia to express social and political anxieties.

In 15th-century Korea, a series of novellas were banned because they depicted strong-minded, independent female ghosts who had a strong sense of identity—an absolute no-no. The spirits were believed to have stayed in the human realm because of an unwillingness to conform to societal standards of the time. The ruling class feared this and made the ghost stories illegal. In feudal Japan, the country was ruled in pieces by various shogun and their samurais who fought for control of territory. It is believed that in most ghost stories from this period the female ghost represents Japan itself, and she is returning for revenge on the men who are tearing her apart. The stories gave moral as well as political warnings. These constant battles for control between the shoguns lasted for about 700 years. There is more to this horror icon than just some scares. She represents real social and political issues that have existed and still exist.

The biggest similarity and most recognizable aspect of the female ghost is her appearance. No matter what Southeast Asian country the movie comes from, the ghost looks the same—long black hair, hidden face, white dress/gown. The white clothing is traditional funeral garb for the dead, so this is why they are almost always in white. The hair is a little more complex. The simplest explanation is that this is how the ghost was depicted in Kabuki Theater. The black wig let the audience know immediately who the character was. In fact the long hair has much deeper meanings. In folklore, the hair was believed to have a magical quality to it, representing the spiritual essence of the person. Women typically wore their hair up while alive, mostly for practical reasons, and it was let down while preparing the body for the funeral. This may have released that powerful energy enabling a wronged woman to come back and seek revenge. Women, while being seen as physically weaker than men, are also perceived as being spiritually stronger than men, thus the reason for (mostly) female ghosts. The weak woman who was abused in life can now exact her revenge in death. Long hair is also believed to represent the power of female sexuality, which gives these ghosts incredible power after death, even though they were powerless in life.

The hair is also seen as some sort of organic mask, covering the face and thus obliterating any past identity or personality of the woman the ghost may have been. The ghost is driven by very definite feelings, but she has lost what made her human. There is no compassion, love or remorse. But is the female ghost just a faceless spirit with almost no connection to its lost humanity, or is the ghost a compassionate villain? While the ghosts are generally driven by negative emotions and the need for revenge, those emotions come from a pain that a female audience can understand. While fearing the ghost we can also sympathize with the reasons for its rampage. We can even pity her at times. She represents pain, rejection, betrayal and loss—feelings the female audience can surely empathize with. In a much broader sense, the female ghost also represents the social and political anxieties of the patriarchal societies that have spawned them. The repression of women still exists in countries like Japan and Korea—modern countries where you wouldn’t expect this kind of repression to exist. There is a fear in these patriarchal societies of what would happen if women escaped these bonds.

One thing to keep in mind is that these female ghosts don’t usually hurt the men who hurt them in life. They hurt others who either are related to the object of their revenge or who just happen to get in the way. In the Korean movie PHONE (2002), a young woman is having an affair with a married man and goes missing. People who have her phone number since her disappearance have died in horrible accidents and the man’s daughter is possessed, but the man himself is left untouched by the presumed ghost of the girl. In JU-ON (2000), from Japan, a woman is murdered by her husband. Her ghost then curses everyone who comes near with death, even though they have no connection to the woman or her husband. The ghosts are not hurting the men who hurt them, but others. In this sense, the representation is not that the patriarchal society will be destroyed, but the traditions that allowed it to exist in the first place. If women become the equals of men, society won’t fall apart, but the traditions of the subservient wife, the male-dominated business world, and even male-dominated politics, would fall away. Men hold all of the power in these societies and they fear losing it.

Interestingly enough, the reasons are slightly different in Indonesia. The ghost story in Indonesia is a relatively new phenomenon and is believed to be directly influenced by the movies of Japan and Korea. The political climate there has been in flux over the last decade or so, and women as well as men have taken to the streets in protest. However, the representation of the female ghost in Indonesia is more of a statement on the victimization of women as a whole. The movies themselves attempt to create a dialogue about the violence perpetrated against women when new governments do nothing to protect them or change the existing patriarchal structure. In the movie VICTIM (2009), a young woman is hired by the police to play the victims in crime-scene reenactments. The young woman says a prayer for the woman she is portraying, but over time the ghosts of these crime victims begin to overwhelm her with cries of vengeance. It is recognized that women are disproportionately victimized in Indonesia, but successive governments have failed to do anything about it. What’s ironic is that a majority of the filmmakers who use the female ghost as an analogy are men, whether it’s in Indonesia or Japan.

The female ghost is symbolic of women gaining an equal footing in a repressive society. Women have slowly been gaining ground, in that they can go to universities and can get good jobs, but there still exists a stigma for a young woman who is not married. The film industry generally reflects what is happening in society. Asian horror is merely reflecting the woman’s rising stature, as well as the fear of men who are reluctant to break with tradition. These particular ghost stories have a vagueness to them that isn’t necessarily seen in Western horror. There is no need for an explanation as to how or why the ghost is doing what it’s doing. This usually reflects the fact that there is no explanation for the existence of the patriarchal society—it just is. There is also not necessarily a finish to the rampage at the end of the movie. This is probably because there is no one who can say what will happen when these societies fall and make way for a more equal society. This is part of the fear—the unknown.

So the next time you see an Asian horror film or an American remake don’t roll your eyes at the prospect of another ghost. Cheer for her instead. The Asian female ghost is a true feminist.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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THE GEISHA OF GORE Takes On AUDITION (1999)

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Controverisal Films, Extreme Movies, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Horror, Japanese Horror, Psychos, VIOLENCE! with tags , , , , , , , on February 9, 2011 by knifefighter

THE GEISHA OF GORE Takes On Takashi Miike’s AUDITION (1999)
by Colleen Wanglund

February is Women in Horror Recognition Month, and what better film to take a look at this month than Takashi Miike’s AUDITION (1999).  It stars the beautiful Eihi Shiina, who has become a rising star in Japanese horror films.  Shiina starred as Ruka, the top “engineer” hunter, in TOKYO GORE POLICE (2008), had a cameo role as a vampire in VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (2009) and played the Zombie Queen in HELLDRIVER (2010).  She has become somewhat of a muse for Yoshihiro Nishimura (he directed her in all three movies).  Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1976, Shiina began her career as a fashion model and got her big break in 1995 working for Benetton.  She got her first movie role in 1999’s DOG FOOD.  Miike cast her as Asami in AUDITION in 1999, and Shiina has since become a popular horror actress in Japan and developed quite a cult following in the West.

Based on the novel of the same name by Ryu Murakami, AUDITION tells the story of Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) a widower who has raised his son Shigehiko since the untimely death of his wife to illness.  Seven years have passed since Ryoko’s death and Shigeharu has decided to marry again.  The problem with this is he has no prospects.  He discusses his desire to marry again with his friend and business associate Yoshikawa who comes up with a brilliant (or so he thinks) idea.  Yoshikawa puts out a casting call for actresses between the ages of twenty to thirty for a movie being developed.  The audition is really a ruse so Shigeharu can find a suitable wife.  After going through hundreds of resumes Shigeharu picks thirty women for the audition but seems to have already settled on one just based on what she wrote on her resume.  After the auditions are over Yoshikawa tells Shigeharu that he doesn’t like his choice but can’t put his finger on why.  Shigeharu waves him off and tells him basically that he’ll be fine.  He doesn’t know how wrong he is.

When Shigeharu does call Asami it appears as though she has done nothing but sat and waited for his call.  We also see that the room in which she is sitting has nothing but a phone and a large sack.  When the phone rings the sack moves but Asami ignores it.  Over several dinner dates between the two, we see them falling for each other.  When Shigeharu tells his son about Asami, he says that he has decided to ask Asami to marry him while on a weekend getaway.  While at the hotel, Asami shows Shigeharu some of her scars.  They make love, but when Shigeharu is awakened by the front desk calling he discovers Asami is gone.  He attempts to call her but she doesn’t answer.  When he asks his friend Yoshikawa for help finding her, Yoshikawa berates him for being an old fool.  Now the fun begins.  Shigeharu finds the ballet school where Asami studied and finds a bitter old man in a wheelchair who tells him nothing.  He then goes to the bar where Asami said she worked only to find it closed.  A man tells him that the owner had been killed and her body mutilated but that the police also found extra body parts.  The visual of those extra parts is very cool and a bit disturbing.

Shigeharu goes home and after having a drink, passes out.  What happens next is a beautiful bit of visual storytelling by Miike.  There are a series of flashbacks to some of the dates Shigeharu and Asami have had and we get much more of the conversations they had about her childhood.  There’s also a scene where Shigeharu introduces his dead wife to Asami and his wife tells him that Asami is no good for him.  The scene then changes to Asami’s home where we see what’s in the sack she keeps there.  I won’t say what happens next because I want you to be as uncomfortable watching it as I was.  I will say that I found it very difficult to watch and that’s saying a lot.  When Shigeharu finally wakes up he is on the floor of his living room and Asami is in the house.  Asami proceeds to torture Shigeharu telling him that pain can be trusted but words are lies.  It’s chilling to hear her say “kiri, kiri, kiri…” which translates to “deeper, deeper…” while using acupuncture needles.  This is one truly twisted chick…her demeanor is calm, methodical and even giddy.  The ending itself is truly bizarre.

AUDITION is easily my favorite Japanese horror film and Takashi Miike is one of my favorite directors.  His visual storytelling is dark and visceral, yet beautiful to watch.  The scenes of torture are cringe-inducing and filmmakers such as Eli Roth, John Landis and Rob Zombie have said they thought it was difficult to watch.  The band My Chemical Romance even condensed the movie into a four-minute video for their song “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us”.  Shigeharu is a manipulative but sympathetic character.  He’s unlikeable in the beginning of the film because he’s using the ruse of an audition to find a woman to marry, unbeknownst to them.  He becomes sympathetic because later on he has fallen in love with Asami but is now being manipulated by her.  He’s just a lonely man looking for someone to ease that loneliness.  Unfortunately for him he’s chosen the wrong woman.  Of course there is the question, “Did Shigeharu get what he deserved?”

I actually like Asami.  I love the way she is written and the way she is played by Eihi Shiina.  She is quiet, shy, mysterious….but very dangerous.  I was thrilled to see a strong female antagonist and doubly pleased that she was flesh and blood, not a ghost.  Miike has said that the core of his movies is the family unit.  In this case it is how Asami’s early family life shaped her.  She is the product of a broken family and an abusive childhood.  Shigeharu, on the other hand, lost his wife but maintained a good relationship with his son, who nudged Shigeharu into finding a wife.  What issues are also at the core of this story is loneliness, trust and betrayal and how our main characters deal with those issues.  Asami and Shigeharu deal with these points very differently.  Shigeharu believes he can handle any problems and trusts Asami from the start.  Asami, on the other hand, feels betrayed by him and is now out for revenge.  AUDITION is a normal movie in its beginning, but changes just when the viewer gets comfortable with what they think is happening and going to happen.  The second half of AUDITION is a very different film with some very disturbing twists that make the viewer uncomfortable…which is exactly what a horror movie should do.

While I have mentioned in previous columns about the iconic image of the female ghost in Japanese horror, let me get into it a bit more here to explain some of the social commentary.  The female ghost has had many social and political implications in both film and literature in Japan for centuries…..actually all over Southeast Asia.  The sexual revolution of the West didn’t reach Asia, so women are still viewed as inferior in many Asian countries.  If they aren’t married by the age of twenty-five, women are considered a failure no matter how successful they may be in their careers.  The ghost is viewed as the spiritual power of a woman come back to get vengeance for some betrayal—usually by a man—although the target is never the man who actually betrayed her.  It is the poor unfortunate people who happen to get in her way.  She also represents the power of women in society in general.  Japan is clearly a patriarchal society but what would happen if women gained more power in that society?

What’s so different about AUDITION is that Asami is no ghost.  She begins the movie as the perfect woman for a wife in the eyes of Asian men, as evidenced by the conversation between Shigeharu and Yoshikawa early in the movie.  Reacting to a group of women laughing in the bar Yoshikawa says they have “No class and (are) stuck up,” to which Shigehura replies “Where are the good girls?”  Yoshikawa’s reply is “Japan is finished.”  Asami initially reflects how women should be, at least according to the men.   However she proves to be extremely dangerous, targeting the man who she feels betrayed her—and she didn’t have to die to do it.  Her character is the flesh-and-blood incarnation of the female ghost, and she is just as powerful.  While Takashi Miike has said there is no social commentary in AUDITION—he says that about all of his movies—there is clearly a message here.  The power of a woman is seen as potentially dangerous to the patriarchal society.  As they say “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”  However I prefer “Hell hath no fury like a woman.” Period.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

Eihi Shiina shines as Asami in Takashi Miike's 1999 film AUDITION.

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The Geisha of Gore takes on RINGU!

Posted in 2011, Asian Horror, Classic Films, Geisha of Gore Reviews, Ghost Movies, Japanese Horror with tags , , , , , , , , , on January 20, 2011 by knifefighter

The Geisha of Gore Takes On: RINGU
by Colleen Wanglund


RINGU (1998), directed by Hideo Nakata, is the movie that put Japan’s horror movie industry back on the map. It is based on the novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki, published in 1991. RINGU is the highest grossing horror film in Japan, earning the equivalent of $137.7 million. It was remade in America in 2002 as THE RING, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts. It has spawned several sequels as well. RASHEN (1999) is a little-known sequel by Nakata based on Suzuki’s second book in his Ring Trilogy (Ringu {1991}, Rashen {1995} and Rupu {1998}). It wasn’t received well so Nakata wrote and directed RINGU 2 (1999) with an original story picking up a day after RINGU leaves off. The American remake also got a sequel THE RING 2 (2005) and there are plans in the works for a RING 3D. Both of the American remakes follow the original Japanese movies very closely (almost scene for scene) but what’s interesting is that Hideo Nakata directed the American sequel.

RINGU opens with two teenage girls, Masami and Tomoko, discussing a videotape made in Izu that is supposed to carry a curse. If you watch the tape you get a phone call telling the viewer they will die in seven days. The tape was supposed to have been made by a boy while on vacation with his family in Izu, who died soon afterwards. Tomoko then admits to having seen the tape with three others at a summer cabin. The girls are startled by a phone call from Tomoko’s mom and the Tomoko is attacked by something in her house.

Next, we meet a reporter, Asakawa Reiko (Nanako Matsushima), who has been interviewing high school girls on the story of the cursed movie. Asakawa then receives word that her niece Tomoko and three of her friends have died under mysterious circumstances. She talks to some friends at the funeral and hears more about the tape, as well as learning that Masami went crazy and is in a mental hospital. Asakawa’s reporter instincts take over and she is determined to find out about the tape. Developing pictures that Tomoko had taken she sees the faces of the dead teens are distorted in the photos. She goes to the cabin where the kids had stayed and finds the tape. After watching it, the phone rings and a voice tells Asakawa that she will die in a week. Not knowing what to do, she calls her ex-husband Ryuji (Hiroyuki Sanada) for help. Ryuji apparently has some supernatural gifts. He watches the tape as well, but receives no phone call. Ryuji takes Asakawa’s picture and he face is distorted in the photo, just like the teens. Asakawa makes him a copy so he can analyze it for any clues to its origin.

The tape is full of disturbing images and Asakawa and Ryuji are able to hear a warning on the tape. There are also confusing Japanese characters on the tape that they translate as describing a volcanic eruption. There is a woman who appears in the tape along with the image of a girl in a mirror. Ryuji learns that this woman is Shizuko, a great psychic from the island of Oshima and the girl in the mirror is her daughter Sadako.

Forty years ago, Shizuko predicted a volcanic eruption. A doctor named Ikuma had gone to the island to study Shizuko and Sadako (played by Kabuki actress Inou Rie). In a flashback sequence Shizuko is demonstrating her psychic powers to some of the villagers who immediately declare her a fraud. One of the men drops dead and it appears that Sadako is responsible. Shizuko throws herself into the volcano and Dr. Ikuma takes Sadako away for her safety. Ryuji decides to go to Oshima but not before the divorced couple learns that their son Yoichi has now watched the tape. Upon their arrival to the island they find out about the mysterious Shizuko, her history with Dr. Ikuma, and her daughter Sadako who seemed to have inherited some very powerful psychic abilities. Unfortunately Sadako has disappeared without a trace. Asakawa and Ryuji go back to the cabin in Izu hoping to find some clue to help them break the curse and save themselves and their son from certain death.

There has been a lot of hype about RINGU, and the U.S. remake The RING, with many people seeming to think they are the scariest horror movies they’ve seen. Chiller TV recently listed RINGU as the scariest movie of the previous decade and it was ranked #69 in Empire magazine’s “The 100 Best Films of World Cinema” in 2010. It’s a good movie, but far from the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. The story is actually a very good one and RINGU doesn’t deviate too much from the original novel. It is also typical of the female ghost stories of Asian horror—the ghost doesn’t do anything to the man who caused her demise but visits her revenge upon anyone who happens to stumble into her path. And by typical I do not mean boring. What is unique about RINGU is that the horror is not visual…no blood, guts or scenes of murder. Hell we don’t even see the ghost that much. The horror is the anticipation of what’s to come. The entire movie is all about atmosphere and the filmmakers were very successful in creating a spooky atmosphere. The weird movements of Sadako walking from the grave were done by filming Inou Rie walking jerkily backwards and then playing the film forward. This proves to be a very effective technique. It certainly makes her even creepier. There are also moments in the film that attempt to make the viewer uncomfortable. The scene where Yoichi meets his father, Ryuji, is quite unsettling because neither father nor son says anything to each other. Yoichi just walks away. There is also plenty of discomfort between Ryuji and Asakawa throughout the film. The grainy feel to the videotape enhances its disturbing images. RINGU has been credited with reviving horror filmmaking in Japan and that’s as good a reason as any to watch it. If you get a chance to watch the original Japanese version, you really should check it out and decide for yourself.

The novel it is based on takes place in modern Japan, but takes its inspiration from a Japanese folk tale called Bancho Sarayashiki, whose origins are unknown. It tells the story of Okiku, a servant in the house of a samurai who wished to take her as a lover, Okiku repeatedly refused, so the samurai hid one of ten important plates to trick her. Okiku finally goes to the samurai to admit she “lost” the plate. He says he’ll forget about the incident if she sleeps with him. Okiku refuses again and in his rage the samurai throws Okiku to her death down a well. She becomes a vengeful spirit, tormenting the samurai by counting nine plates and then shrieking over the tenth and supposedly missing plate. This is where the origin of Sadako’s ghost coming out of a well, as well as the betrayal she suffered to so enrage her spirit, comes from. The ghost story dates back centuries in Japan and has influenced many books and movies. The female ghost is an Asian horror icon because it comes from a culture that believes if the spirits of the dead are not properly appeased they will come back and wreak havoc, although this usually comes in the form of bad luck. Sadako is probably one of the first real Japanese ghosts Western audiences have seen.

While other similar films have been made, RINGU was the first to get such wide distribution outside of Japan. Aside from the sequels mentioned above, there is also the prequel RINGU 0: BASUDEI (2000), based on short stories by Koji Suzuki, as well as a Korean remake THE RING VIRUS (1999) and a TV show. The stories have also been turned into a Japanese manga. All three of the novels and the manga have been translated into English, so you can read the original story and see how scary the books are, too.

© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

Sadako is looking for you!

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The Geisha of Gore’s BEST MOVIES OF 2010

Posted in 2011, Best Of Lists, Colleen Wanglund Reviews, Geisha of Gore Reviews with tags , , , , , on January 7, 2011 by knifefighter

The Geisha of Gore’s Best Movies of 2010
by Colleen Wanglund

This is a hard list for me to do because I don’t go to see too many new releases. Most of my outings to the movie theater this past year involved seeing midnight cult classics. However I did see a few new releases and I have also included some movies that were released on DVD in 2010. Not all of them are Asian horror flicks, either. The first four picks were new releases and the other six are movies that were on DVD. This list is in no particular order, because that would be asking a lot.

One of the few new releases I got to see this year was MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD. It played in July at the New York Asian Film Festival and it was a fun night. Directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura, Iguchi Noboru, and Tak Sakaguchi this is splatter horror at its finest. A teenage girl discovers she is an alien and is being hunted down by citizens and government forces alike when Kisaragi brings her to his “coven” of aliens. Kisaragi is training them to be a hit squad so he can wipe out the government and take over Japan. Ultimately the girls turn on him. What I love about this movie is the signature special effects by Nishimura and the comedy. Chock full of blood, guts and laughs MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD is a must for any horror comedy fan.

I loved SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD. Directed by Edgar Wright, it’s a quirky little movie about a boy who falls for a girl but he has to fight the League of Evil Exes if he wants to date her. All of the characters were fun but my favorite was Kim….a female drummer and a wiseass to boot! Watching SCOTT PILGRIM was like watching a live-action anime…..and I love my Japanese anime. The fight scenes between Scott and the various exes are done as though they were in a video game and it worked so well. There’s also a really cool soundtrack to go with it.

Another new release I got to see in the theater is ALL ABOUT EVIL, directed by Joshua Grannell and starring Natasha Lyonne as a mousy little woman who wants to save her dead father’s single-screen movie house. She mistakenly shows footage of herself murdering her step-mother instead of the feature movie….but the crowd loves it. Deborah taps her inner serial killer and decides to make her own snuff films. Her homemade movies pack them in night after night. With a cast that boasts John Waters’ alum Mink Stole and Cassandra Peterson (Elvira herself!) this was one great horror comedy. Joshua Grannell as his alter-ego, drag queen Peaches Christ, put on a fantastic pre-movie stage show and Peaches is larger than life! This was a great flick and a great night spent at the theater.

The last of the new releases is THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE. This twisted bit of filmmaking by Tom Six is one of the most disturbing films I’ve ever seen. A mad scientist (played by the creepy Dieter Laser) kidnaps three tourists in order to complete his experiment of creating a human centipede. His experiment is a success for him, but not so much for the young people involved. They are stitched together mouth to rectum. What I really liked about this flick is the total bleakness of the story. There is just no hope for these poor tourists. The acting is very good and the pacing was excellent. THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE is definitely not for the squeamish. I’m really looking forward to the sequel….and I don’t say that often.

VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (DVD 2010), originally released in 2009, is another special effects masterpiece by Yoshihiro Nishimura. It takes the original ideas of Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster and spins them on their heads. Monami, a transfer student and vampire, tricks the boy of her dreams into eating some of her blood so he can become a vampire. His girlfriend is none too pleased, but dies while confronting Monami. Keiko’s father brings her back to life by turning her into Frankenstein Girl and the two girls do battle on the Tokyo Tower. VAMP takes shots at teenage fads like wanting to be black and cutting and its pure hysterics. The special effects are great and it’s easily one of my top Asian horror films.

MANIAC (1980) was directed by William Lustig and stars Joe Spinell as a serial killer who targets “loose” women who remind him of his abusive mother. He then takes trophies back to his one-room apartment and puts them on mannequins. Frank then meets a photographer played by the beautiful Caroline Munro, and there’s a weird scene where he visits her on a shoot and the most bizarre music is playing in the background. I got to see this one recently in the theater at a 30th anniversary midnight showing and William Lustig was kind enough to spend an hour after the movie answering fans’ questions. For its time this was a pretty violent film. I especially enjoyed watching Tom Savini get his head blown off in a truly amazing and bloody manner. One of the best horror movies I’ve seen.

HAUSU (1977) was just recently released to DVD through Criterion, and it’s about time. A group of high school girls goes to the house of one girl’s aunt, only to discover the house is haunted. The special effects are cheesy but they totally work. There’s a severed head in a well and a piano eating a girl whole….I guess it didn’t like her playing. It’s horror, it’s bizarro, and it’s one fun movie to watch.

BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD (2010) is a direct-to-video DVD release. It’s another animated adventure for the caped crusader when his old nemesis The Joker returns to wreak havoc on Gotham City once again. There is someone new in the mix fighting both the Joker and Batman, but his style of fighting is vaguely familiar. I love everything Batman so this was a real treat for me. The artwork is really cool and typical of the Dark Night comics.

ZOMBIELAND (2009) was a flick I got to see at midnight when it was first released. Zombies are my favorite sub-genre in horror and after seeing some very lousy zombie movies, ZOMBIELAND gave me new hope for these movies. It’s a horror comedy that balances itself very well. I’m not the biggest Woody Harrelson fan but I thought he was great as Tallahassee, a wiseass cowboy type who just wants to find some Twinkies. Jessie Eisenberg plays Columbus, a nerdy-type trying to get to his family, who has a ton of rules for zombie survival. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin round out this cast of misfit survivors of the apocalypse, and there is a memorable cameo by Bill Murray.

My final pick is a movie that should have been released to DVD a long time ago but unfortunately fans had to wait until this past November to get it. Directed by the great Fritz Lang, METROPOLIS (1927) made history in its original theatrical release. It takes place in a futuristic city where the elite clash with the workers, and the son of the city’s founder falls in love with a prophet who predicts the coming of a mediator to save them all. METROPOLIS is a silent film with beautiful imagery done in the Art Deco style of the day. The movie was the first to depict a robot on-screen. METROPOLIS has inspired countless filmmakers over the decades and it even inspired the video for Madonna’s video “Express Yourself.”

Honorable mention goes to THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) one of my favorite movies of all time. Released on DVD in November of 2010, it stars Robert Mitchum as a killer disguised as a preacher who terrorizes two children in the hopes of finding their dead father’s hidden money. Mitchum is truly terrifying in HUNTER. You’re never sure if he really is a religious fanatic or just pretending to be one. Directed by Charles Laughton, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER also stars Shelly Winters, Lillian Gish, and Peter Graves.

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© Copyright 2011 by Colleen Wanglund

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