tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86025360637725106332024-11-06T02:44:47.336+00:00Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-85888202539599014432012-10-14T09:56:00.002+01:002013-11-25T07:14:23.849+00:00

aka NOSUTORADAMUSU NO DAIYOGEN aka CATASTROPHE 1999 aka THE LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH Directed by Toshio Masuda In 1853 Japan, school teacher Nishiyama Genta foretells of disasters as predicted by the French healer and alleged seer, Nostradamus. Decades later, a Nishiyama descendant in WW2 is arrested for spreading the potential gloomy gospel of Nostradamus. Years later in 1974, the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-58485760730916355932012-10-05T19:05:00.001+01:002012-10-05T19:05:50.441+01:00

aka KONCHU DAISENSO aka GENOCIDE aka WAR OF THE INSECTS Directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu  One of the more intriguing responses to the monster movie (kaiju-eiga) boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s was the one undertaken by Shochiku. The studio was more commonly associated with the prestigious and formally precise productions of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu, and the burgeoning formal

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-45470292129740821092012-10-02T05:06:00.001+01:002012-10-02T11:35:20.453+01:00

BLACK MAGIC 2 aka REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES aka ANG WAN GONG TAU Directed by Ho Meng Hua Doctor Zhong Ping moves into a spacious home nestled within a Southeast Asian city where his medical colleague, Zheng Sheng resides. Bizarre, unexplainable maladies have gripped the city and all the clues lead to a frightening brand of black magic, the Tame Head Sorcery. As soon as Zheng and his wife

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-29455401169755507872012-10-02T02:08:00.000+01:002012-10-02T11:30:22.433+01:00

  BLACK MAGIC aka GONG TAU Directed by Ho Meng Hua Shan Jian Mi, an evil magician, earns a living by casting love spells for the heart-broken and death spells for the vindictive. Despite paying for his services, no one is truly free of Shan's black magic. Luo Yin (played by erotica starlet Tanny), a wealthy and horny young widow, lusts after Xu Nuo, a hunky construction worker (

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-64091308615303163402012-09-28T21:07:00.000+01:002012-09-28T21:25:11.979+01:00

aka CHIKYU BOEIGUN aka DEFENCE FORCE OF THE EARTH aka EARTH DEFENSE FORCE Directed by Ishiro Honda Released originally in Japan under the title Chikyû Bôeigun in 1957, Ishirô Honda’s second major foray into science fiction after the success of Gojira (1954) was picked up for distribution in the United States by MGM and released in 1959 under the title The Mysterians. No doubt the

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-70087201207241447142012-09-26T00:23:00.000+01:002012-09-27T18:59:08.626+01:00

aka GOYOKIBA aka SWORD OF JUSTICE Directed by Kenji Misumi Sword of Justice is the first film in a trilogy of pictures exploring the controversial character Hanzo the Razor. Hanzo was the brainchild of Kazuo Koike who brought his adventures to life in a series of Manga publications. Koike is perhaps best known however for his Lone Wolf and Cub series, which ran to twenty eight

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-14929781645304065262011-09-08T05:20:00.015+01:002012-09-26T21:29:15.010+01:00

aka WU DU  aka FIVE DEADLY VENOMS Directed by Chang Cheh The dying master of the feared Poison Clan sends his last disciple on a mission to find a former and now reclusive clan leader who hides the location to a vast treasure accrued over the years through the clans misdeeds. The young acolyte--trained in all five styles, but master of none--is ordered to persuade the old man to donate

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-1379538329240220912011-08-21T19:13:00.000+01:002012-09-28T16:40:35.150+01:00

aka YOIDORE TENSHI Directed by Akira Kurosawa This beautifully constructed and expertly composed noir gangster film was Akira Kurosawa’s eighth production as director. Prior to Drunken Angel it is fair to say that Kurosawa’s career had been one of interesting, but ultimately forgettable films. Kurosawa himself believed that Drunken Angel represented a major creative breakthrough,

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-46628101751496956172011-08-19T23:58:00.011+01:002012-10-02T12:08:18.231+01:00

 aka SHAN KOU Directed by Dennis Yu A group of young people on a camping trip are terrorized by a band of psycho's. When a young girl is raped and her boyfriend killed, the gang is arrested, but get off on a technicality. Enraged, the father of the defiled girl decides to take matters into his own hands by hunting down the cruel thugs, killing them off in brutal fashion. The grueling

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-27103938434453004872011-08-11T20:08:00.002+01:002012-09-26T21:42:34.262+01:00

aka AKMARUEL BOATDA Directed by Jee-woon Kim South Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim continues to enjoy a remarkable level of distribution in the West. His latest film I Saw the Devil was paraded around the festival circuit, before receiving relatively wide distribution in the both the US and the UK. Kim first emerged as a name of note with his debut film The Quiet Family (1998) a comedy/

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-10038841269833003322011-08-10T02:02:00.002+01:002012-09-26T21:49:28.481+01:00

aka SHINKANSEN DAIBAKUHA Directed by Junya Sato A trio of despondent revolutionaries led by Tetsuo Okita have planted a bomb somewhere aboard Hikari 109 threatening that the device will detonate should the train drop below 45 mph. Tetsuo demands a ransom of 5 million in US dollars be paid in exactly 70 minutes which means Hikari 109 will not be able to stop anywhere. Amidst scrambling to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-20949329423127748352011-08-08T17:39:00.003+01:002012-09-26T21:53:15.323+01:00

aka BIJITA Q aka LOVE CINEMA VOL.6 Directed by Takashi Miike When prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike was invited to contribute to the Love Cinema series, few could have predicted the outcome would be the highly controversial Visitor Q. Love Cinema was a series of six direct to rental films from independent filmmakers, which were all shot on digital video for ultra low budgets. Of

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-52097966729171086232011-08-06T02:00:00.013+01:002012-09-26T22:00:25.442+01:00

aka WAN REN ZAN aka KARATE EXTERMINATORS aka LIGHTNING KUNG FUDirected by Kuei Chi HungThe honorably bloodthirsty royal constable, Leng Tian Ying is hired by the Empress Dowager to hunt down a group of gold thieves who have absconded with two million taels of government gold. Constable Leng gathers a select cadre of his finest officers for the mission. Along the way, Leng discovers a much

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-58520300984484859222011-07-15T16:09:00.001+01:002012-09-30T18:04:24.627+01:00

aka DEVIL WOMAN aka THE HOLE Directed by Kaneto Shindô Legendary Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindô directed his 45th feature film Ichimai no Hagaki in 2010 at the tender age of 98. Born in Hiroshima in 1912 Shindô has also written some 158 screenplays, making him easily one of the most prolific filmmakers in world cinema. Shindô’s failure to secure the type of distribution enjoyed by

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-47655914533877911482011-07-12T20:59:00.012+01:002012-09-27T18:58:17.671+01:00

aka KIBA OKAMINOSUKEDirected by Hideo GoshaA destitute ronin bearing the name of Kiba Okaminosuke wanders into a tiny, impoverished hamlet run by Ochise, a blind woman who owns a troubled messenger service--a business whose profits barely keep the meager town going. Delivering the corpses of two of her escorts he found on the road, Ochise explains her dire and desperate situation to the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-10705770712869553142011-07-06T18:01:00.001+01:002012-09-27T19:08:19.504+01:00

aka SHÛBUN Directed by Akira Kurosawa 1950 saw the release of two films by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The first Scandal has largely remained an obscurity in Kurosawa’s filmography, far overshadowed by the second film of the year Rashomon. The latter introduced western audiences to a new world of Japanese cinema when it scooped the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-38667658295503330032011-07-04T04:54:00.013+01:002012-09-30T18:05:05.017+01:00

aka KYUKETSUKI GOKEMIDORO aka BODYSNATCHER FROM HELL aka GOKE THE VAMPIREDirected by Hajime SatoOrdered to return to Haneda Airport after a bomb is reported to be somewhere aboard a passenger plane, an assassin makes his presence known and demands they change course for Okinawa. Shortly after the sky turns a blood red color and a number of suicidal birds dive into the windows, the plane

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-35882019733988024492011-06-01T18:59:00.001+01:002012-09-30T18:05:38.870+01:00

THE BLACK CAT aka THE BLACK CAT FROM THE GROVE Directed by Kaneto Shindô Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo is best known to western audiences for his shattering and moving tribute to the survivors of atomic destruction in the drama Children of Hiroshima (1952) and his sultry and sensual historical horror film Onibaba (1964). The latter is an evocative and oppressive allegory of Japanese

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-78497351952204244262011-04-14T20:57:00.013+01:002012-09-30T18:26:40.255+01:00

GOJIRA (GODZILLA [1954]) aka GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS Directed by Ishiro Honda Reports of sinking ships swallowed up in a sea of fire near Odo Island attracts the attention of a Japanese research team. Sent to investigate, the group led by Dr. Yamane find high levels of radioactivity and the shocking discovery of a gigantic prehistoric monster the islanders call 'Gojira'. The

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-47694260537438356812011-04-07T19:57:00.002+01:002012-10-05T16:30:06.063+01:00

aka SHIRÔ NO WANA Directed by Toshiharu Ikeda Evil Dead Trap is an intriguing curiosity that draws on a myriad of western influences, and unusually for a Japanese horror film makes no reference too indigenous traditions. The fact that the screenplay by Takashi Ishii could have been set anywhere gives the film a strange lack of cultural specificity which only goes to emphasise the artifice

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-58215994447309236482011-04-05T21:02:00.015+01:002012-09-28T15:54:10.241+01:00

 aka REN ZHE WU DI aka SUPER NINJAS aka CHINESE SUPER NINJASDirected by Chang Cheh Two warring clans vie for control of the Martial World through a series of matches. The faction led by Chief Hong is disgraced and in his shame, brings in an evil clan of ninja to avenge his lose of face. Challenging the Alliance to a duel at five separate locations utilizing a mysterious formation

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-28772744577507697322011-03-25T23:09:00.001+00:002012-09-28T15:58:30.289+01:00

aka ROKUGATSU NO HEBI Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto Cult Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto has time and again proven himself to be the embodiment of what is understood as an auteur. From the moment he emerged with his dystopian tale of metallic mutation Tetsuo (1989) he has written, directed, produced, and designed a raft of distinctive and unusual feature films. Tsukamoto’s

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-66314279230708763022011-03-18T22:06:00.010+00:002012-10-02T05:07:56.849+01:00

aka DU NU aka POISON GIRL Directed by Ho Meng Hua Chu Ling (Chen Ping) is a vibrant and pretty young factory worker whose life is turned upside down when she's savagely raped by five malicious men late one evening. Before being discharged from the doctor, she is informed one of the men has given her a rare venereal disease called 'Vietnam Rose', a deadly STD brought back from the war. Told

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-57745348315866174442011-03-14T15:08:00.001+00:002012-09-29T13:22:36.808+01:00

aka SPIRAL aka VORTEX Directed by Higuchinsky The boom in the production of horror films in Japan at the end of the last millennium didn’t take long to degenerate into cliché, convention, and predictability. The Kaidan or avenging spirit motif had long been a staple of theatrical modes of address and had popped up sporadically throughout Japanese film history. But by 2000 I for one was

Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8602536063772510633.post-58964341069794309212011-03-13T20:05:00.012+00:002012-09-29T13:28:17.786+01:00

aka HONG QUAN XIAO ZI aka THE HUNG BOXING KID aka INVINCIBLE ONE Directed by Chang Cheh Some time after the Ming rebellion was quelled by the Manchu invaders, Guan Feng Yi (Alexander Fu Sheng), a poor young man with tattered shoes, wanders into a small village seeking his elder brother, Wang (Chi Kuan Chun). Upon finding him, Guan discovers his brother works for a local dye mill that is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0