The Best Reviews from Maggot Video

I was reading this review of the ultra fucked up Japanese nihilism film All Night Long and I came upon this section of the entry.

Prior to it receiving a DVD release with English subtitles it was heavily distributed on the Video Tape exchange circuit. The film gained a cult status amongst fans due to the films over-the-top violence and disturbing nature.

Ahhh the Video Tape Exchange circuit. Seems so fancy when you say it that way. Basically in other words, it was called horror trading. And people exchanged lists where you would trade your badly dubbed horror movies with their badly dubbed horror movies. I've documented this before.

As one of the sites that inspired this one, Gore Maggot Video was one of my go to guys to trade. Sure I know his real name, but to me and Insano Steve, he'll always be GoreMaggot. And his reviews on his list are legen....wait for it....dary.

We would trade up to 7 movies over postal mail with this guy. Insano Steve would head to Chinatown, get some VCDs, dub them and make trades. It was the ONLY way to see cult and crazy fucked up movies in the late 90s and early 00's. This died down when torrenting became crazy prevalent as well as YouTube but I still have a collection of VHS tapes from my horror trading days. Alas the irony is I have no VHS player to ever watch them again.

Maggot Video reviews sold themselves. I've collected a few below for you to enjoy but first check out. Enjoy!

I CAN DO D.V.D.'s NOW!!!!!!!!....Same prices as the videos,so let me know what you want.all titles are from international source, from one collector to another, no rights implied or given.I'm always getting new cool stuff so check back every couple of months.Thank you.

all titles come in clam-shell case with cover-art and printed disc's(with only a few exceptions).If you don't care about the color cover & case, I'll sell you as many as you want for only 8.00 $ each!

videos and D.V.D.'s are  recorded  in  SP  mode on high quality tapes & D.V.D.R's for best picture and sound quality

$10.00 per title (plus shipping, please see shipping rates)
get any 10 flicks for 80 bucks postage paid!
 
Great reviews of "Extreem" films. The spelling errors were part of the charm in my opinion.

DAS KOMABRUTALE  DUELL--WOW!!!!!! This is one sick puppy! I just got this in not too long ago ,once again ,its in German with no subs....but who gives a fuck!!!this shit rocks. This flick ranks right up there with PREMUTOS for unrelenting ultre gore and insanity.They use more fake blood in this than any flick I've seen in a long time(Maby the most ever) definatly one of the goriest flicks on this site. There is a scene where a guy sneaks up on a pregnant woman sitting on a bench in a park(I think its the broad from the picture below),he comences to kill her very brutally...then he cuts out her twin fetuses...throws them down and does a tatter masher stomp on them.This movie is sick.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR SICKO'S

Great reviews of Takashi Miike films. 

CITY OF LOST SOULS--Yet another kick ass flick by Takashi Miike(VISITOR Q) This one is an action flick on the same lines as Time & Tide but alot bloodier,plus he had a 4 million doller budget for this one and the F/X are awsome!You gotta see the CGI kung fu cock fight,it's like a MATRIX chicken fight.CRAZY!!!
 
GRAVEYARD OF HONOR—Cool Takashi Miike flick with lots of Yakuza violence ,abused women and drug induced insanity.

VISITOR Q--This is a very fucked up flick by Takashi Miike (Fudoh: A New Generation,Audition)This is his answer to GUMMO & REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.Lets just say this is the disfunctional family flick to top them all,This is way sicker than those other flicks though.If you are currently happy with your family situation,DONT! let your wife see this movie(or any of the guinea pigs for that matter 

Sometimes, you don't know the titles.

DEAD BABY DOLL (DONT KNOW THE TITLE FOR THIS ONE SO I MADE UP THIS )

I've seen this film and I agree.

DR.LAMB--Sick!sick!sick!cat.3(serial killer flick)

Sometimes he didn't have subs on his movies.

EROTIC NIGHTMARE—H/K Cat. 3 with Anthony Wong (Untold Story ,Ebola Syndrom) chinese language only. Sorry. 

MU ZAN E---THIS GROUP OF FLICKS STARTING WITH THE RED ROOM ARE PART OF A NEW LINE OF TOTALLY FUCKED UP FETISH/GORE FLICKS COMEING OUT OF JAPAN.SAID TO BE "THE NEW GUINEA PIGS" THESE FLICKS ARE WAY OVER THE TOP FUCKED UP.ALOT OF MENSTRAL FETISH SHIT IN THESE FOR SOME REASON(LIKE SUCKING A MOUTHFULL OUT & SPITTING IT OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE. SICK! THESE FLICKS ARE ABOUT AN HOUR EACH ,IN JAP. WITH NO SUBS,SORRY....PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW THOUGH.

He used the "kick ass" alot in his reviews Which is how that phrase ended up in my reviews. 

FEMALE CONVICT SCOROION: JAILHOUSE 41----Kick ass,good quality,letterboxed,English subs(these flicks are cool,they look like they came from the same era as the babycart flicks,70's for sure.Beautifully shot..nice and violent and exploitational)

Some of his movies weren't for kids and he'd let you know. 

GAMERA 3,THE REVENGE OF IRIS--AWSOME!AWSOME1AWSOME1not for kids,blew me away!
GAMERA,GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE--TOTALLY AWSOME!NOT FOR LITTLE KID'S 

We horror trader bootleggers suffered from copying the same dubbed copy over and over again and trading that shit.

ICHI THE KILLER--SUPER ULTRA GORY TAKASHI MIIKE FLICK! KILLER CGI GORE F/X ,TWISTED STORY. THE QUALITY ISNT THE BEST,BUT ITS WATCHABLE.THIS IS THE PRINT THATS GOING AROUND,IF YOU KNOW OF A BETTER PRINT THAT LET ME KNOW. HIGHLY RECOMENDED. 


Sometimes movies only needed one word reviews.
 
THE RAPE MAN- cool!
 
 And sometimes he gave you a fuckin screenplay for a review.

PSYCHO: THE SNUFF REELS aka. TUMBLING DOLL OF FLESH--Thomas Takanawa, Richard Fujimoto and Harold Akira are three lonely Japanese teens bored of their middle-classed existence. But before you can say American Pie, Bettie Hirohito enters the picture. She is young and effervescent; a robust example of youth and vivacity. “Hey guys!,” exclaims Thomas. “I’ve got my dad’s video camera. Let’s make a movie!” “What kind of movie?,” ponders Bettie. “A porn, of course,” shout all three males in unison; their wistful synchronicity and pleading eyes eventually persuading a begrudging Bettie. Harold, being the most endowed of the three plunders Betties hirsute vagina while the other boys shout words of encouragement and film the act. However, everyone knows that promiscuity and pornography lead young strays like our protagonists down a menacing path of illicit deeds and murder. And thusly, Yellow Love turns into the Slant-Eyed Slaughter. Bettie is tied down and forced to endure a bizarre mélange of physically sexual depravities. Bettie is chopped, diced and pureed into a mishmash of pulverized flesh and splintered bone. Psycho delivers a deluge of spilled blood and butchered flesh; its undertaking is another sick, but pointless endeavour where flesh is pitted against sharpened steel and as always, comes up short. While the film takes far too long to finally bombard you with some wonderfully vile acts, Psycho: The Snuff Reels is a hilarious romp that eschews typical pornography and gore motifs by combining the two styles; Psycho is a tumor rooted in Guinea Pig/Flowers Of Flesh And Blood and August Underground Mordum. It is an exciting Japanese gornography epic with a modicum of verisimilitude hindered only by annoying genital fogging.SICK!!SICK!!SICK!! Japanese language only. 


 I'll do a second part if you enjoyed this one. So who traded horror back in the day? Sound off if you did. 

Categories: gore, horror trades, horror trading lists, ichi the killer, muzane, rapeman, splatter, takashi miike

Insano Steve’s One Sentence Reviews-O-Matic (Slice and Dice Japanese Edition)

It's this week's Insano Steve's one sentence review-o-matics. If you missed the previous editions, check out Perverted Militant Edition and Japanese Militant Edition. I tasked Insano Steve to review every movie in his DVD collection but instead he gave one sentence reviews (lazy bastard).

This week's edition: Slice and Dice Edition! Enjoy.

• 2LDK - 2 female roommates end up fighting each other to the death for trivial reasons. Over the top madness. Another classic.
  
  
• Azumi series - Female Japanese swordplay movie. Cute girl. An overall fun series, even though the action scenes are dubious, with the sword probably weighing more than the actress.
  
  
• Versus - Samurais. Yakuzas. Zombies. Interdimensional portals. This is what started my Japanese fixation in the first place.
  
  
• Battle Royale series - Part 1 was great. Part 2 sucked. The idea's been copied to death. I own both movies. .....on VCD!!!
  
  
• Ichi the Killer - Just because. The best manga/anime inspired movie ever. Miike at his best.
  
  
• Naked Blood - A scientist creates a drug that turns pain into pleasure. Has a spectacular vaginal trauma climax (see what i did there?)
  

Yummy eyeballs!

Categories: 2ldk, azumi, battle royale, battle royale review, ichi the killer, insano steve, steve's movie review of the day, versus

Psychological Mastermind: Takashi Miike

[this feature is brought to you by guest writer Camiele White, and no she's not an intern. The Jaded Viewer is to poor to have interns.]

Psychological Mastermind: Takashi Miike

Who would ever imagine that there could be beauty in the mind of a psychopath? If there is such a thing, it’s most certainly found in the imagination of Takashi Miike. He has the eye of a painter with the mind of a serial killer --bloody guts and gore with an uncanny bit of grace.

Coming from a working class area in Yao, Osaka, Japan, Miike had a very normal upbringing. His father was a welder and his mother, a seamstress. He graduated from the Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film, under the tutelage of one of the most celebrated directors in Japan, Shōhei Imamura. With technical knowledge and an eye on the boundaries of the film industry, Miike shook up the world with some of the most shocking, lurid, creepy, and over the top work to come out of Japan.

Though he’s never been one to toot his own horn, it’s plain to see that Miike is an artist of gore and black comedy. Though his work takes a particular taste, you can’t deny that his work leaves the world in awe at every single turn. At his most shocking, he doesn’t allow you to settle. The nerves are always dangling by fingernails on the edge of the proverbial cliff and just when you think he’s going to step on your fingers and watch you fall to the rocks below in a lump of blood and brain matter, he reaches out his hand and pulls you back just long enough for you to take a few gulps of clean air before being shoved right back over.

Some of the most beautiful films to come out of the early 2000s seemed to come from the chainsaw of Miike. Well, I suppose I’m biased. The first taste I got of Miike was from his infamous film, Audition. One of those films worthy of cult status. I think the first time I actually watched the film I couldn’t believe how disgustingly gorgeous it was. Miike knows just what to expose to get you involved in the film. And just when you’ve found yourself caring about the characters in a way that’s too close for comfort, he slaps you in the face. No, fuck that! He straight up molly-wops you in the skull! It’s the kind of film that could catch you so off guard that it keeps you awake at night for months afterwards --maybe not out of fear; more out of a constant throbbing feeling of unease that just when you think everything’s beautiful, something’s going to sneak up behind you and kick you in the arse.

I think that’s what’s so brilliant about the psychotic brain matter of Takashi Miike. Yes, he’s all about the blood and gratuitous sexual perversity. However, for someone who delves deep into the human flesh, he sure knows how to make it gorgeous! I think the most touching aspect of Miike’s style is that he has the eye of a photographer and the hand of a gifted painter --he sees the beauty, but doesn’t force it. It may seem like he squeezes ever drop of weirdness possible out of every scene, but he has an exceptional eye for sensitivity. There’s a reason why Audition has been described as a “romantic horror”. That’s the kind of contradiction that Miike works with --perhaps romance and horror aren’t so different?

In Ichi the Killer, you’re not simply dealing with a killing machine whose only real goal is to destroy the ruthless Kuchisaki-oona faced Yakuza maniac, Kakihara. It’s the story of an orphan named Ichi who’s been brainwashed from childhood with the idea that he’s nothing without his natural urge to kill. There’s a depth and a care taken with each character. That’s the brilliance of Miike --the audience gets so close to each character (even those who seem to be the most gruesome) that at you can’t help but get involved in their stories. And at the crucial moment of intimacy between the audience and the characters, there’s a feeling like being pushed in front of an oncoming diesel train. Scenes of complex emotional thickness between Ichi and anyone he encounters are followed by unethically violent scenes of torture and violence (the slitting of a woman’s nipples, a man’s face cut clean from his skull and splattered across a blood-soaked wall).

It’s this push and pull that is indicative of the range and imagination to make some of the most entertaining children’s films (Zebraman and The Great Yokai War) and the most touching and intellectually complex films (Sabu and The Bird People in China). Miike’s desire to delve deeper than what the mind initially wants to tackle is what sets him apart in the film industry among an elite few that manage to teach as well as repulse. He pushes the boundaries of violence, sexuality, and intellect to a pulsating breaking point.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so repulsed and so educate about raw and unapologetic beauty than with Miike. He’s a master that is, surprisingly, underrated in the film industry. Those close to film tout him as a genius. Those just meeting him for the first time are driven crazy to the point of murder. Whichever side of the saucer you spill, there’s no way that you can avoid being affected by the psychological mastermind that is Takashi Miike.

There is pure beauty in everything. I have a keen interest in all things that shed light and colour in this dark and, at times, uninspiring world. I love film, all film --ranging from Japanese and Korean horror, to nonsensical action films. The one qualification is that it must, must entertain me. As much as I love watching film, I love even more to write about it.

Right now, I get my jabberjaw jollies writing about Halloween costumes. If you want to give me a buzz, I can be reached at cmlewhite at gmail [dot] com.

Categories: audition, ichi the killer, japanese, japanese gore, japanese horror, takashi miike, ultraviolent japanese action movie