The Yurei
Arguably one of the most celebrated European exploitation subgenres, nunsploitation rose to prominence in the 1970s following The Devils in 1971. Largely driven by Italian productions such as Sister Emanuelle and The Killer Nun, nunsploitation with is irresistibly lurid subject matter, often exploiting themes of sacrilegious lesbianism, was massively influential across the world. Even
This last year of 2022 was a fantastic year for horror – both Asian and Western – however, traditionally horror movies have not been big money earners at the box office. It’s unfortunate that when most people think of Asian horror, they still think of the powerhouse J-horror movies of the early 2000s and
Today, I will explore and rank an iconic character of the horror manga: Junji Ito’s Tomie. Tomie Kawakami is one of Junji Ito’s most popular characters and has become a horror icon. Like other important horror figures such as Dracula, she’s been portrayed by several persons on-screen. I’ll be sharing a personal ranking of the
Many people may be aware of the name Issei Sagawa as well as the sickening crime he committed in France, in 1981 but many may not be aware of Sagawa’s self-produced manga set around his heinous crimes. The Japanese-born student studying abroad in Paris, Issei Sagawa invited Dutch-born student, Renée Hartevelt, to his apartment for
At the tender age of four, Kanako Inuki was handed a shiny new five-yen coin. Promising the same allowance each month, her mother took her to a bookstore and let her choose a manga magazine. Inuki considered a series by Masako Watanabe, but the pull of Kazuo Umezz proved impossible to resist. Despite scaring easily,
If someone from ten years ago told me that I would one day be able to find Junji Ito merchandise at even some of the biggest chain stores, I might not have believed them. Even now, I’m astounded each time I enter my car and see the Tomie air freshener that my niece got me.
LSD Dream Emulator is a PlayStation video game released in 1998 by Asmik Ace Entertainment, based on an MS-DOS program created in 1992 by Osamu Sato. Basically, the game consists of exploring a surrealistic dream world, where the player explores various dreamscapes and interacts with various objects. Despite its PS1 limitations and overall obscurity, a
Maniac Driver is a 2020 Japanese horror thriller, written and directed by Kurando Mitsutake. Mitsutake has worked in many areas of film production but is most notable as the director of Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf (2009) and Gun Woman (2014). Following a personal tragedy, a taxi driver randomly stalks and kills his female passengers
Korean genre cinema has never shied away from violence; from the unrelenting stream of beatings in I Saw The Devil to the eye-wateringly graphic tooth extraction in Oldboy, blood and brutality have long been a staple of some of the country’s best cinematic achievements. Enter Project Wolf Hunting (2022), a movie so drenched in viscera
Despite being one of Japan’s biggest film studios throughout the late 40s and 50s during the golden age of Japanese cinema, Daiei was struggling by the mid-60s and had to slash budgets for their productions. This eventually led to a merger with Nikkatsu in 1970, followed by bankruptcy in 1971. Somewhat overlooked is Daiei’s