Japan's Suicide Forest is IRL scarier than anything that has ever come out of Japan

Insano Steve sent me this little Vice documentary on YouTube during work hours which I watched in it's entirety in one sitting. Truly fascinating stuff in a weird, morbid way. I had heard about Japan's infamous Aokigahara forest and did a bit of research myself and found the most disturbing pictures which you can find here. There are more graphic photos just by Googling.

The documentary is fascinating in it's tale. According to the description via Vice:

The site holds so many bodies that the Yakuza pays homeless people to sneak into the forest and rob the corpses.

Clearly this must have been the inspiration for Ryûhei Kitamura's Versus as convicts escape to a forest full of Yakuza zombies and do battle.

Other Japanese movies (some by Takashi Miike) have shown bullying in Japan is catastrophic more than it is in America. What's baffling is the men and women who've taken their lives were inspired by a the novel Kuroi Jukai, in which a young lover commits suicide in the forest which resulted in people started taking their own lives there at a rate of 50 to 100 deaths a year.

We'll never know why one does the unthinkable but the remnants of these lives in haunting pictures will without a doubt leave a lasting impact.

In the doc, they visit the forest in the day and I must admit, I'd be scared shitless to do that. What's more scarier are the ribbon trails so people wouldn't get lost. Would you follow a ribbon to the end?

If I ever visit Japan, I know one place where I'm NOT GOING. Such a peaceful place to have a horrible reputation.

You can watch entire documentary below.






Let me know your thoughts!

Categories: documentary, japanese, japanese bullying, japanese horror, suicide, suicide circle

Karate Robo Zaborgar (Review)

Karate Robo Zaborgar

Karate Robo Zaborgar (2011)

Directed by Noboru Iguchi

[part of the NYAFF 2011, NEW YORK PREMIERE]

See? The Japanese are just like Hollywood. Sometimes you run out of ideas and have to remake old TV shows. You didn't think America was the only country to take a cheesy 70s television show and remake it for the big screen did you?

Karate Robo Zaborgar from the outtakes at then end of the film seemed like a 60s Batman meets robot anime kind of TV show. Who else but Noboru Iguchi
would remake this into a full fledged movie. Iguchi who has given us RoboGeisha and The Machine Girl (whose trailer went viral in America) is not new to the half robot half human dynamic. It's a Japanese WTF film pure and simple. You either love em or hate em.

I absolutely enjoyed the shit out of The Machine Girl but somehow KRZ is a little too wacky and cheesy in my book. That's not to say it doesn't have it's moments. Full of flying robots, human/borg hybrids, 90 foot tall Japanese teenage girl cyborg and bulldog tanks, I was fully awe inspired by the idiot-tacracy of it all. But I thought back to recent Japanese WTF films which I thought blew my mind. Big Man Japan is an absolute classic awesome WTF film that is coherent at it is crazy.

KRZ is also way to long running at 140 minutes! What you are essentially watching is 2 hour long episodes of a remade TV show. KRZ is 50% wacky and 25% absurd and 25% WTF. You have to make sure you brain is shut off to enjoy the film and when you do, it somehow gives you laughs you are shocked that you enjoy.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Daimon (Yasuhisa Furuhara) and his motorcycle/robot pal/karate expert, Zaborgar, protect the citizens of Japan from flying cyborg heads and samurai kissing monsters. But when Daimon falls in love with the villainous Miss Borg (Mami Yamasaki), the two buds have a falling out that could ruin everything. Any further summary would read like the scribblings of the world’s coolest, most cracked-out 13 year old: the plot is a 50 car pile-up of smackdowns, wild comedy and robot rugby girls with chest dragons. Iguchi, finally armed with a real budget, packs the screen with gonzo spectacle and delivers the kind of movie that leaves your ribs bruised from giggling and your face aching from grinning too much.

It’s not all wine and robots, though: when the film jumps ahead 25 years to show what happens when a hero is forgotten, Iguchi’s not kidding around. Like all of the wildest dreamers, he wants you to believe as much as he does. As Daimon himself, now a slouching schlub with an aching back (Itsuji Itao), proclaims, “Though diabetic…though over the hill…if one keeps trying, one can fight until the last moment.” That’s the spirit, and it’s the message of Iguchi’s joyously retro rock-out.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

You read the plot above? Go ahead I'll wait. Done? OK good.

Basically set as a 2 part episode, KRZ follows young Daimon and his adventures with his motorcycle transforming Zaborgar as they battle the evil Sigma who wants to basically destroy Japan. Dr. Akunomiya is the evil mastermind behind Sigma and he has a beautiful Miss Borg as his #1. As we see Daimon and ZABORGAR!!!! (who he can order to change into a motorcycle and fight in various martial arts styles) battle the evil henchmen, he also has to decide which is the greater evil. Sigma who murdered his father or the Japanese bureaucracy who are evil and greedy as well.

From bulldog tanks, football robot vixens to diarrhea robots, Daimon and Zaborgar battle with quirky karate and flying boomerang blades. I mean the fembots have monster demon heads coming out of their boobs and butt. You kind of know what the deal is when it comes to the Japanese. They love over the top cheesiness. It makes Troma look like a Michael Bay film.

The movie jumps 25 years later and the world is again threatened by Sigma. But now he's battling his son and his daughter, a unforeseen union by Miss Borg and himself. More wackiness ensues climaxed by Akiko his daughter being transformed into a skyscraper tall half robot half human killing machine.

The movie follows what seems to be the plot of the TV children's show. In the outtakes at the end, we see the same scenes from the movie as they were first aired on the TV show. It's hilarious bad in terms of quality but this is from the same industry that had a man in a dinosaur suit smashing cardboard cutouts of a city.

I'll admit, I liked KRZ for it's inexplicable way it can show me something I've never seen before. I indeed laughed a few times at some crude jokes as well as some timely social pop culture humor. Also seeing a giant robot muy thai another robot makes me smile. We often watch something on YouTube that comes from Japan and we usually go "Oh those wacky Japanese!" Well this is a movie where Western audiences will overload in all that is completely wacky and fun about fighting robot motorcycle transformers.

Like I said, it's a little too long and there really is so much you can take when you have to watch 2+ hours of this. Karate Robo Zaborgar is Sushi Typhoon and Iguchi's wink to Western cult audiences. You watch the trailer and you say "I gotta see this crazy Japanese movie! It looks fuckin awesome!" And it's clearly as awesome as advertised. But then you also realize the jokes are corny and the humor a little tasteless. And it's really really over the top.

It starts to remind you of a certain American robot movie.

See?

American and Japan aren't so different after all.

Gore-ipedia

Some light arterial spraying

WTF moment

Diarrhea monster?

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

NYAFF 2011 film festival opens on 7/1. I've created a list of films to check out at this year's festival.

Head over to the official site for more info.

The Vitals

• The official site via NYAFF 2011

Rating:


Check out the trailer.

Categories: cyborgs, japanese, japanese anime, japanese exploitation, machine girl, Noburu Iguchi, robots, sukeban boy, wtf films

Ninja Kids!!! (Review)

Ninja Kids!!!

Ninja Kids!!! (Nintama Rantarô) (2011)

Directed by Takashi Miike

[part of the NYAFF 2011, WORLD PREMIERE]

Keeping up with all the films Takashi Miike makes is like a full time job. I just haven't had time to watch his recent flicks. I've got The Great Yokai War sitting on my computer, I passed up multiple chances to see Miike's latest film 13 Assassins and for some unknown reason I keep figuring I'll checkout Yatterman eventually.

So I decided I wouldn't let Ninja Kids!!! World Premiere at the NYAFF pass me by. The film isn't even out in Japan yet! So I was one of the lucky people last weekend who would be the first to see Miike's latest flick. Miike's been all kinds of serious with his samurai movies (13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai are critically acclaimed soon to be masterpieces). But I was itching to see vintage weirdo Miike. Where was my Ichi/Happiness of the Katakuris/Zebraman/Dead or Alive Miike? Well it seems he was saving all his WTF crazy and put it all into Ninja Kids.

Ninja Kids is like Spy Kids on acid. Think Harry Potter but with over the top ninjas and slapstick comedy. It's a cute Japanese family film with a Miike insanity mixed in. And it works from start to finish. It's super duper funny, has some dog poop humor and a ton of CGI madness that only Miike could think up. Based on a long running Japanese TV show called Rantaro the Ninja Boy, it's filled with humor that's international in the LOLs. It's got visual wackiness, self aware parodies and villains that are basically clowns with swords and ninja stars.

What you get is a family comedy that leaves you feeling freakin awesome after you leave the theater. Ninja Kids is heartwarming Japanese wackiness, the Miike way.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Exchanging noble samurai for kid ninjas has let Miike get back in touch with his wild side. This big budget, big screen version of popular Japanese kid’s show Rantaro the Ninja Boy (running for 1,437 episodes and counting!) this is like Harry Potter if Harry Potter was a ninja who hid underground and killed people with bamboo darts and ninja bombs.

Young Rantaro is from a family of low class ninjas and he’s sent off to first grade at Ninja School by his parents who hope that one day he’ll grow up to be a respectable middle class ninja. But he’s hardly at school for five minutes when a classmate – literally – has the snot beaten out of him, the headmaster starts exploding and more wild and wooly ninja tricks than you can hit with a throwing star are zipping off the screen.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Seishirô Katô is a popular child actor in Japan. In Ninja Kids!!! he plays Rantaro, who goes off to Ninja School so that he can fulfull his parents wishes of becoming a great ninja instead of a "low class ninja". Here he meets his classmates who range from a sleepy kid with snotty nose to a soon to be gun marksman to an orphan who brings his babysitting work to class!

Suffice it to say, they go to each class and learn the ways of the ninja. From ninja stars to climbing to explosives, it's all in a school day when training to be a master ninja. They are taught by Mr. Doi, their sensei and a dean of students who has a knack of dodging ninja stars and landing in dog poop.

Rantaro has some Ferris Bueller qualities. He breaks the 4th wall and talks to the audience. The film is totally self aware. In the middle of battles a mysterious disfigured ninja breaks through the setting literally and explains a particular weapon. It's completely WTF and it's just plain super awesome. Ninja Kids is full of other wacky moments and you never know what you'll see next.

As Rantaro and his fellow 1st graders learn from their masters, they also start observing the other grades. 2nd to 5th are all represented and are getting quite good at their art. From the art of deception to explosives to booby trapping and also plain old kicking ass, the ninja academy is quite the student body.

Well eventually we get a plot which to say the least isn't the best in the world. From what I can gather, some other ninja clans are out to kill friends of Mr. Doi. This leads to some assassination attempts that are foiled by the students. In the final scenes, the masters enact a contest where the evil ninja clan must race with the 1st graders to ring a bell on top of a mountain. It's a hilarious conclusion where Grades 1-5 outsmart their not so smart and hideous looking henchmen ninjas in a variety of ways. Along the way we're treated to various WTF moments that could only come from across the Pacific on those islands of Japan.

The humor is top notch, never losing anything in translation. All the jokes hit the mark and others well they hit the outer rings. When our bad guys get pounded, we see bright red ping pong balls on their head which represent their "lumps" in a cartooney way. Sure, not all the jokes work but Miike has a way of figuring out what Japanese and Western audiences will find funny and when somebody falls in a hole with his bomb, that's just universally cartoon funny.

Ninja Kids!!! is a Japanese family film I'd take my 10 year old and 6 year old nephews too. I saw a lot of kids in the audience and people of all ages. The crowd was laughing in pure ecstasy from all the visual gags and one liners that were relentlessly onscreen.

Sure I'll be catching up on all my Miike films eventually. I hear 13 Assassins has a insane hour long battle scene and Yatterman is also an live action anime filled with craziness. I prefer my Miike with a side of WTF and a steaming cup of cuteness. Takashi Miike is sort of like the Robert Rodriguez of Japan. Rodriguez will follow up a grindhouse masterpiece like Machete with Spy Kids 4. The only difference is Miike makes more films in a year than R.R. does in 3.

And his kid's flicks are just plain better.

Gore-ipedia

Cartooney violence without the anvils

WTF moment

Snot kid's snot is elastic

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

NYAFF 2011 film festival opens on 7/1. I've created a list of films to check out at this year's festival. You can catch Ninja Kids world premiere on Saturday July 9th at 6pm at Japan Society (333 East 47th St)

Head over to the official site for more info.

I'm going to give this 3 and a half spinkicks. I'm only knocking half a spinkick because the plot was a little too goofy for my taste. Also, there were a few moments of musical flashbacks that didn't click for me and weren't that funny. Maybe something lost in translation?

The Vitals

• The official site via NYAFF 2011

Rating:
1/2

Check out the trailer.





Teaser trailer with English subs!

Categories: japanese, japanese anime, kung fu, ninja kids, ninjas, takashi miike

NYAFF 2011: Top Movies to Check Out

Summer is upon us and I know you want to head outdoors and enjoy the sun and the grass but starting next month you may want to head indoors to see some awesome Asian flicks courtesy of the New York Asian Film Festival.

They've just released their schedule and it's packed full of choice flicks from love stories to horror flicks to plain old crazy WTF films. Check out the full schedule. Also head over to the official site for more info.

I've perused the list and here are the top flicks that you really need to check out. I haven't seen them all but I've been itching to see the one's below. There are plenty of other flicks on the schedule, so be sure to check out all of them.

Ticket prices this year will be:

• $13 general / $9 students & seniors / $8 members for Lincoln Center
• $12 general / $9 members, students & seniors for Japan Society
• Japan Society will be running a special “buy 5, save $2 off each ticket” deal (in-person or telephone purchases only).
• Lincoln Center will again offer their Ten Film Pass for $99 general / $79 students & seniors / $69 members.

CHINA

BUDDHA MOUNTAIN (China, 2010, North American Premiere, 105 minutes) - gobbling up festival awards around the world, Sylvia Chang stars as a suicidal landlady who rents an apartment to three irritating young hipsters in this transcendent drama from Li Yu (LOST IN BEIJING) one of the only female directors working in China. Popular actress, Fan Bingbing (SHAOLIN), stars as one of the hipsters, but it¹s Sylvia Chang, the most important woman in Chinese show business in the 70¹s and 80¹s, who owns this movie.

PUNISHED (Hong Kong, 2011, International Premiere, 94 minutes) - the latest movie produced by Johnnie To, this is a hardcore revenge drama featuring a powerhouse turn by Anthony Wong as a real estate billonaire whose wild child daughter has been kidnapped. Bullet-to-the-head action the way Hong Kong used to do it.

RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (Hong Kong, 1991, 91 minutes) - the classic HongKong midnight action movie about prison privatization and monsters who strangle you with their guts. Rarely seen on the big screen, this is a full-on, ridiculously crazy mind-melter full of crucifixion, flaying, classic kung fu combat and prison wardens who keep breath mints in their glass eyeballs.

JAPAN

13 ASSASSINS: DIRECTOR'S CUT (Japan, 2010, 141 minutes, New York Premiere) -
the complete UNCUT version of Takashi Miike¹s samurai masterpiece. With 17 minutes of original footage restored.
***One of the movie¹s stars, Takayuki Yamada, will be at the screening

BATTLE ROYALE (Japan, 2000, 114 minutes) - a celebratory screening of Kinji Fukasaku¹s masterpiece now that it finally - after 10 years!!!! - has a new distributor who wants people to actually see it. Presented with Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema

KARATE-ROBO ZABORGAR (Japan, 2011, New York Premiere, 106 minutes) ­ Noboru
Iguchi (Robo Geisha) makes his best film yet. Not just that, but this is the best-looking flick from label, Sushi Typhoon, yet. Slick, big budget and almost family friendly, it¹s based on an obscure TV show from the 70¹s about a young, bright-eyed police officer and his karate robot (who transforms into a motorcycle) fighting crime. But in Iguchi¹s version, the two split up and have to reunite years later after middle-age has taken its toll.

NINJA KIDS!!! (Japan, 2011, World Premiere, 100 minutes) -
Centerpiece Presentation. Takashi Miike's latest flick.

Presented with Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema

VERSUS (Japan, 2000, 120 minutes) - a tenth-anniversary celebration of the Japanese zombie action film that launched a thousand horror/splatter/action flicks.
***Star and action choreographer, Tak Sakaguchi, and writer, Yudai
Yamaguchi, will be at the screening.

YAKUZA WEAPON (Japan, 2011, New York Premiere, 105 minutes) - stuntman-turned-director, Tak Sakaguchi, turns in a high calibre, action-heavy riff on Robocop all about a robot yakuza out to put his fist through the skulls of the bad guys. From Sushi Typhoon, purveyor of movies like Alien vs. Ninja.
***The movie¹s director and star, Tak Sakaguchi, and co-director and writer,
Yudai Yamaguchi, will be at the screening

Presented with Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema

KOREA

BEDEVILLED (Korea, 2010, New York Premiere, 115 minutes) - part of Sea of
Revenge focus.

PHILIPPINES

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED (Australia, 2010, New York Premiere, 84 minutes) -
from the people who made Not Quite Hollywood, comes this definitive documentary about the Filipino exploitation film bonanza that erupted in the 70s and 80s.

CHECK OUT THE JADED VIEWER'S REVIEW OF MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED!

THAILAND

BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT (Thailand, 2010, New York Premiere, 105 minutes) -
Tony Jaa¹s mentor, Panna Rittikrai, will school you now. This exploitation stunt-tacular features all his best stuntmen and women unleashing muay thai, capoeira, dirt bike fu, shovel beatdowns, fights on fire, fights in the water, fights under trucks, fights in mid-air, and two back-to-back
climactic smackdowns that have to be seen to be believed.

CHECK OUT THE JADED VIEWER'S REVIEW OF BKO: BANGKOK KNOCKOUT!

***********************************************

Ninja Kids and Machete Maidens Unleashed are my top priority. Once I check em out, you'll see my reviews here starting next week.

Are you psyched yet?

Then check out the trailer.

Categories: 7th Annual New York Asian Film Festival, battle royale, china, festival, filipino horror, japanese, korean horror, muay thai, NYC screenings, nyc movie, takashi miike, versus, yakuza

Insano Steve’s One Sentence Reviews-O-Matic (Japanese Hipsters 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, Japanese Militant Edition, Slice and Dice Japanese Edition and Koreans are Wacky 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: Japanese Hipsters Edition! This is probably the last of the IS Review-O- Matics. Enjoy.

• Suicide Club - there's lots of turnover in this club. i can't imagine how depressing the club meetings must be. can you guess how this movie ends? only in japan!
  
  
• Stacy - another average japanese zombie movie. in sailor moon outfits.
  
  
• Pulse - print screeno! otherwise, just a terrible movie.
  
  
• Tomie - girl kills boyfriend. dies. gets reincarnated. kills new boyfriend. dies. repeat cycle. wildly ambiguous ending!
  
  
• Party 7 - from the makers of funky forest. about a party with 7 people. all of them obnoxious. lots of screaming. lots of posing. a japanese 'jersey shore'.
  
  
• Stereo Future - another hipster japanese movie about samurais, oxygen bars, mute girls, and being hopelessly ambivalent. but i liked it anyway.
  
  
• Messengers - my favorite quirky japanese film. it's a movie about bike messengers. and the women who love them.
  
  
• Eko Eko Azarak series - 3 movies about a japanese teenage witch. a staggering lack of nudity.
  
  
• Blister - about japanese otakus/fan boys that fight to the death for a super rare action figure. not that bad. not that good either.
  

Categories: hipsters dying, insano steve, japanese, movie review of the day, steve's movie review of the day

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

Insano Steve’s One Sentence Reviews-O-Matic (Perverted Japanese Edition)

It's this week's Insano Steve's one sentence review-o-matics. If you missed the previous edition, check it out here. 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: Perverted Japanese Edition! Enjoy.

• Bounce Ko Girls - a fun story about 3 underage girls as they: 1.) entrap pedophiles on the internet, 2.) run from the Yakuza, and of course, 3.) sell their used underwear to perverts at a profit.
  
  
• Zero Woman series - a Japanese secret agent that fights crime armed only with giant breasts. Series stars a different girl in each movie. Her mission: to infiltrate and destroy an international sex slave cartel. Lots of nudity. Minimal plot. Comical action.
  
  
• Perfect Education series - The story of some sicko, who kidnaps a promiscuous young girl, so that she may be reformed through the cleansing power of rape. a common theme in Japanese film.
  
  
• Red Room 1 & 2 - the story of a Japanese game show where contestants rape and kill each other. very much fucked up. mtv is currently working on an American version.
  
  
• Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl - a Japanese hipster saves a girl from certain incestuous peril. Bonnie and Clyde hijinks ensue.
  
  
• Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 - Japanese grindhouse movie. a female in prison escapes to kill again. Features random stabbings in Tokyo streets. Awesome movie.
  
  
• Pinocchio 964 - the black & white Japanese cyberpunk classic. in the near future, a cyborg sex slave is lobotomized and thrown out in the streets by it's owners after failing to maintain an erection. The cyborg then meets a criminally insane homeless girl. Complete and absolute insanity ensues.
  

Categories: insano steve, japan av stars, japan av stars nude, japanese, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, japanese porn, red room, Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl

Insano Steve’s One Sentence Reviews-O-Matic (Japanese Militant Edition)

I'm introducing a new feature. This one is Insano Steve's one sentence review o matics. I tasked Insano Steve to review every movie in his DVD collection but instead he gave one sentence reviews (lazy bastard).

They're still hilarious when broken down into different editions. This will definitely be a reoccuring segement on the jaded viewer. This week's edition: Japanese Militant Edition! Enjoy.

• Kichiku - Militant Japanese students fuck and kill each other. yes, in that order, you sicko. has some graphic hari kari scenes! very underrated.
• Fudoh: The New Generation - a girl shoots poison darts out of her vagina. otherwise, it's the usual Miike manga inspired madness
• Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 - Japanese grindhouse movie. a female in prison escapes to kill again. features random stabbings in Tokyo streets. awesome movie!
• Battle Royale series - part 1 was great. part 2 sucked. the idea's been copied to death. i own both movies....on vcd!
• Female Inquisitor - a Japanese "interrogation company" uses rape and torture to acquire sensitive information from targets. with all parties involved having big breasts.
  

Categories: battle royale, battle royale review, insano steve, japanese, japanese exploitation, japanese horror, takashi miike, ultraviolent japanese action movie

Things I Learned Researching Japanese Genki Porn on the Internet

After my random discovery of this YouTube subculture that embraces sick and twisted fucked up films, I have to say I applaud some of them for owning the sickest shit I've ever heard of. I mean many films on their list are now commonplace in the world of mainstream underground horror. Guinea Pig Series, August Underground trilogy and your standard rape and revenge flicks are now readily available for purchase. Back in the day, the only way to get these flicks was through horror trading and conventions.

Call me a fuddy duddy, but it was a little exciting back in the day to get these movies via VHS through a 3rd generation dub, but with the advent of the intertubes anybody can download them from a torrent site or through eBay.

But it seems even the hardcore of the hardcore obtain films that have not made it yet to the mainstreemy underground. Most of the YouTubers mentioned owning Genki porno films. I was vaguely familiar with this Japanese subgenre but it seems its just standard for these hardcore underground enthusiasts.

Japanese have their scat porn and their genki porn. It's a double whammy and honestly I've seen neither. I do not want to actually see this and my only viewing of shit eating was everybody's shared YouTube experience of 2 Girls, 1 Cup. So let's talk about the latter. Genki porn is the genius of Daikichi Amano who takes this fetish so far off the edge, I can't believe this actually exists on Planet Earth.

Daikichi started off doing straight Japanese AV, moved on to dog on human female porn then to bug eating and fish insertion in the hoohaa porn. But my discovery of the site where you can view this sick shit is mesmerizing to say the least.

Genki-Genki.com

I implore you to not click on this link if you're not prepared to see photos of some of the grossest shit ever put on the web. Thank the horror gods the videos are pay to see. One of the most interesting and hilarious things on the site are the Engrish translations of the titles.

• The crunch a cockroach and abuse it with lechery

• The red iron is eroded by a beating cockroach and earthworm
  

• The insect that a cockroach makes noise in witty greed
  

• The cockroach is jealous of an earthworm in a vagina to dislike

• The helpless eyes by the neck torture

• The earthworm is vagina in an adhering to desire and a spiral

• Obscene doll that fritters white sigh and drops to black dripping

• The tragedy that earthworm is bitten to skin and shouted
  

OK that's a few of these insane titles. The pictures that accompany the movies are dry heaves that will make even the most jaded viewer squirm. And squirmfest you will. Yikes. Never in my wildest imagination would this type of porn be a turn on.

But to each his own. If you ever said to yourself "Hey I always wanted to have eels and fish eggs inserted into my vagina or asshole" YOU to can star in your very own Genki!!! All you have to do is fill out a form. Ahhh the simplicity of the internet. Connecting fucked up porn fetish enthusiasts together.

"If you want to remain anonymous on film we will find a way to do that."

See? They're concerned about your privacy! Not like those bastards at Facebook. I mean your face is not going to be in most of the movie y'know?

I mean wouldn't you want to tell your parents you were in an actual motion picture?

Daikichi Amano is a weirdo.

Daikichi Amano is an odd man himself. His photos are quirky weird to say the least as you can see by clicking here to head to his official site. Lots of eel on woman, eel on man, cocoons, dolls and just overall weirdness. I mean his photos are sometimes happy. See happy Japanese girl eating earthworms!!!




Some are cute with a hint of yucky.



Then some are just outright vomitorium pics.




And finally others are just WTF?!?!




An Inside Look into Daikichi Amano and his world of Japanese eel porn.

Finally, the most informative thing I found was Viceland's video of Daikichi with a group of Americans as they got an inside tour of Japan and their obsession with anime and genki. This video gives a behind the scene look of Daikichi's creation of his "pornos"





If the video doesn't work, click here to watch it.

So now you know what I know. Are you now ill and feel nauseous now? Jeez, I am. I mean I feel like some of these photos are burned into my brain. The one final question you might be asking is:

WHAT THE HELL DOES GENKI MEAN?

Well this dude happily gives us the definition.





Well isn't that ironic. It means happy and full of life. I thought it meant "fucked up fuckedupness". Be genki!!!

Sorry folks, there will probably no reviews for genki porn on the jaded viewer. It's a line that I won't cross. What's yours?

Categories: genki, japan av stars, japan av stars nude, japanese, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, nudity, porn, pornstar

When Roommates Attack: 2LDK (Watch the entire film!)

How do I find some of the movies I watch? It's usually via 6 degrees. You watch one film from a director (in this case Kitamura) and that leads to another film which leads to another, etc. Or then again, I ask Insano Steve what he's been watching.

2LDK is one of those films.

Part of the Duel Project (read about that here) Yukihiko Tsutsumi's 70 minute roommate versus movie is part black humor part chick on chick violence. And it's fuckin awesome on so many levels.

So what's this about?

Nozomi and Lana share an apartment in Tokyo. They have both auditioned for the same role in a movie, and know that the shortlist has been cut down to just the two of them. As they wait the night before finding out who will get the role, their personality clashes erupt into an all-out battle.

Just pure hatred by Nozomi and Lana as they fuck up each other's shit and battle until the last woman is standing. Seriously, this is a hilarious, twisted flick on so many levels. If you've ever had a roommate, you know what its like to have somebody get under your skin. But usually it doesn't involve katanas, chainsaws and knives.....or does it?

Enough talk. Somebody has put the entire movie (with English subtitles!) on YouTube. Shhhhhhhhhhhh. Now you can watch it too. I've posted all the parts below. Get your katana out and slice and dice!

First, the trailer.





OK here is the entire movie. Tell me what you think if you watch the entire movie. It's only 70 min!

Categories: 2ldk, arterial spraying, gore, japanese, japanese bullying, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, ryuhei kitamura, splatter

The Legend of Red Room

Sometimes an underground film becomes legendary becomes it avalanches into something more.

During Insano Steve and myself's heyday of looking for the most fucked up films to watch, we'd have to make contact with horror traders to get our fix. I documented this in a post about Horror Trading circa 2002. It was a weird time and the standard protocol was this:

• You'd dub a movie on VHS in SP mode and make sure to tell your trading counterpart the quality (1st generation dub, 2nd, 3rd, etc)
• You'd trade lists and each person would choose what they wanted (this would entail 1 for 1's, 2 for 2's and sometimes 5 for 5's)
• Send it out as quickly as possible

Of course there were bad traders that burned you (you'd send them stuff but they wouldn't or take their sweet fuckin time to send the tapes to you), but your reputation grew on news groups and message boards if you were a prolific trader. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED was a term you wanted.

But this brings us to how we got two Japanese films called Red Room and Red Room 2. After searching for this movie at horror conventions, we met up up with a one GoreMaggot (a legendary trader) at Chiller. After getting his trading list, many trades were initiated. But I believe Insano Steve initiated a trade for the Red Room double.

Trade for a fucked up Japanese film we've never heard of? Yes we want that! The fact we traded for a movie with no subs and was only in Japanese made it exciting.

Here was my original review from my trading list:

you want underground mofo? this is it. straight from the motherland of sick shit...Japan. holy depravity batman! let's start off by saying this flick had no english subs, no dubbed version...just straight Japanese language. so this negates what i know of the real plot. the movie starts off with an extreme closeup of 2 women french kissing while a guy watches and you know what. anyway 4 people (3 girls and a guy) are trapped in a "red room" and seemingly are talking, arguing and playing a card game. the game consists of 4 cards 3 of which are numbered 1,2, and 3 and the 4th has a crown on it. they each pick a card. the person who selects the crown card gets to order 2 participants to do very sexual and depraved shit to each other. this is where we enter guinea pig territory.

***SPOILERS AHEAD!!!***

a woman is twirled on a chair until she blows chunks, a man has a hair dryer inserted into his mouth and hot air blows into his brain, the man inserts a screwdriver and bulb into a woman's ummm...well you know. guy beats the crap out of a woman and then rapes her. mr. wang gets separated from mr. rapist guy. and more fucked up shit then imaginably possible.

downright disturbing. totally fucked up. sicko perverted atrocities. the insanity of a movie with no morals. lowest common denominator appeal. underground, bootleg, cancerous disgusting. this is it. guinea pig is still the pinnacle but red room has its moments.

This was one of the movies that had THIS company send me a cease and desist e-mail! After I got this movie I had added it to my horror trading list which led to some bullshit copyright crap. In any case, the legend of Red Room was born.

A ridiculous Japanese gore movie, a horror trade, watching a movie without subs and a cease and desist letter. That is the Legend of Red Room.

Intrigued by this movie? Well here is the trailer and now you'll know why we had to see it!





Isn't that just uber fucked up?

Categories: gore, horror trades, japanese, japanese atrocities, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, japanese horror, red room, splatter, underground horror, underground horror movies, underground splatter

Shogun Assassin (Review)

Directed by Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi

Insano Steve says: Greatest samurai movie of all time, action-wise. Shogun-less samurai wanders countryside with infant boy in baby carriage in search of redemption, revenge and gore. Our samurai cuts and kills people with such efficiency, O.J. Simpson would be proud.

No samurai flick has as much splatter, not to mention the awesome killer cart the baby rides in and some of the coolest bad guys in any movie (3 badasses with pointy straw hats - there is no cooler accessory than a pointy straw hat). Shogun wants samurai dead and has hundreds of men, but samurai is a bad mother fucker with no conscience.

The benchmark to which all other swordplay movies will be judged.

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.

Rating:
The Trailer

Categories: japanese, japanese atrocities, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, samurai

Ringu & Ringu 2 (Review)

Ringu

Directed by Hideo Nakata, Chisui Takigawa

Insano Steve says: The wildly popular Ring is the story of an urban legend where the watching of a certain videotape will cause you to die within a week's time. Female journalist tries to find the existence of this tape and how it came to being. Assisting her is psychic friend who has sight beyond sight which leads to a mysterious island where the secret is revealed. Atmospheric horror neo-classic has unforgettably chilling ending. Be wary of tapes given to you by strangers who have died recently.

See the Japanese version of this film before Hollywood bastardizes the shit out of it.
(oh wait they did and according to Insano Steve, the American version was better!)

Rating:





Ringu 2

Directed by Hideo Nakata

Insano Steve says: Sequel to the Ring explores more of the historical part of the urban legend. Better than the original in many ways, we see a new female investigator trying a bring an end to this curse once and for all. You'd think people would stop watching that tape after so many people died but there probably isn't a whole lot to watch on TV in Japan.

At least Japan is still making quality horror flicks unlike the films defecated out of Hollywood.

Rating:

1/2

The Trailer

Categories: japanese, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, japanese horror, the ring

Audition (Review)

Directed by Takashi Miike

Insano Steve says: Old widower decides he'd like to remarry now in his old age and has his friend (a movie producer) hold a bogus movie audition to find his perfect mate. Old guy finds woman of his dreams but low and behold, she's crazy. Very exciting ending and extremely well crafted thriller. Departure from the usual Miike insanity. Slow but worth the wait.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:

The Trailer

Categories: audition, japanese, japanese atrocities, japanese exploitation, japanese gore, japanese horror, takashi miike

Fudoh: The New Generation (Review)

Directed by Takashi Miike

Insano Steve says: Teenage Yakuza Riki Fudoh has his underage crime syndicate running like clockwork. His team features child assassins and women who shoot vaginal blowgun darts and the usual assortment of misfits. But to claim control of Kyushu island, he must off his father who is the leader of the controlling Yakuza. Fortunately, this can only be achieved violently with as much bloodshed as possible.

Based on a Manga. Gratuitous beheadings, acid burning and hermaphrodites (God bless those sexually gifted freaks) are always appreciated.

Rating:
The Trailer

Categories: horror trading lists, japanese, japanese exploitation, japanese horror, takashi miike