I know it's been a while since I've updated. But I've been watching a lot of horror and now I soon will have many more reviews to post.
So for now I present to you some classic Insano Steve reviews (J-Horror edition)!
Inugami
Inugami (2001)
Directed by Masato Harada
Rural Japanese village is haunted by ancient spirits of evil which are essentially a scapegoat for all the shit that goes wrong in town. Lady goes through mysterious reverse aging process when she hooks up with new stranger in town. She wishes to leave God-forsaken village but finds it difficult when she realizes she's the cause of a large majority of the haunting.
Very stylistically shot film doesn't have much gore but does have good ole Oedipus Complex (sex with mother for the uninitiated). Movie won various awards whose names escape me at this time.
Kakashi
Kakashi (2001)Directed by Norio Tsuruta
Pretty girl looks for her brother who has become missing. She ends up in a cursed Japanese village which holds scarecrows in high regard. Here, the dead can be resurrected but only in scarecrow form, where they are pretty much the same, only evil. Girl must find brother before he becomes a scarecrow.
This village is probably near the fucked up town in Inugami. If you go to Japan, you'd probably be best advised to stay in the cities.
Pyrokinesis AKA Crossfire AKA Kurosufaia
Pyrokinesis (2000)Directed by Shusuke KanekoJapanese version of Fire Starter, only way better. Another pretty Japanese girl (there are no ugly Japanese girls or if there are, they don't do anything worth making a movie for) is blessed/cursed with power to start fires with her mind. After a friend is killed in a snuff film, she unleashes her revenge pyrokinetically and combusts some ass.
Great scenes of human combustion. You'd swear somebody was killed filming this. The next time a Japanese girl puts her hand in her jacket and squints at you, get the hell out of the way. From the makers of the recent Godzilla movies in Japan. Recommended.
Tomie
Tomie (1999)Directed by Ataru OikawaIf The Ring was the Japanese 'Scream', then this is the Japanese 'Urban Legend'. Underrated flick features title character being continuously murdered then subsequently resurrected. Apparently, girl is so hot, she'll cause guys to kill each other, themselves and/or her. This has been happening over and over for hundreds of years. One really has to bring into question the Japanese ability to solve murders when you hear that. Wildy ambiguous ending!