Asian horror

Matango

matango

Matango (1963)

On a sailing excursion, a mixed group of disenchanted socialites and working class sailors get caught in a storm. With their communication and navigation equipment destroyed, the group drift for days until they come upon a seemingly uninhabited island. While searching for food on the island, they discover an abandoned ship run ashore on the other side of the island.

Inside the moldy vessel loaded with radiation research equipment, a captain’s log records the crew losing their sanity over the lack of food. The log also warns against eating the matango mushrooms that grow on the island because they cause insanity. While the group struggles to find food and repair the sailboat to escape the island (especially after some ghostly apparitions appear one night), some become too hungry and consume the mushrooms despite the warnings. Before long, symptoms far worse than insanity begin to plague the matango eaters and the remaining crew must fend themselves against unimaginable horrors.

This has got to be the strangest motion picture from Toho Films in the 1960s (aside from Frankenstein Conquers the World). Ishiro Honda, director of the original Godzilla and many other Kaiju (giant monster) films, brings the wild and weird Matango (AKA Attack of the Mushroom People AKA Fungus of Terror) to life. With sumptuous cinematography and a genuinely tense and creepy atmosphere, this is definitely not your average mushroom-horror film.

Another lavish part of the film are the sets and the locations. The magnificent tropical island blends seamlessly with the dank jungle where the matango thrive. The abandoned ship which the castaways use as their home on the mysterious island is very detailed and creates many opportunities for spooky moments, none of which are missed. The costuming and the makeup on the mushroom creatures as well as the humans in the process of turning into giant mushrooms are both top notch.

The cast is awesome and expertly conveys the growing tension aboard the claustrophobic quarters they find themselves as well as their terror as they begin to realize something is terribly wrong on the island. It’s hard to imagine a cast looking at the script for Matango and not jumping ship (literally). From the gratuitous musical number(s), overtones of sexual repression, hallucinogenic mushroom use, and seven and half foot laughing phallic symbols, these folks had their work cut out for them.

Matango is custom made for fans of creepy horror films or just plain freaky Japanese cinema. With themes of urban decay and the loss of innocence poured into its already intoxicating concoction, this film is impossible to ignore and will no doubt be showing up time and again on the shelves of J-horror and Toho buffs. I implore you. Please, do not eat the mushrooms.

 

Evil Cat

evilcat

Evil Cat (1987)

A construction crew unwittingly frees an evil cat spirit when they move an ancient stone tablet. Master Cheung (Lau Kar-Leung), the descendant of the mystics sworn to fight the cat, shows up to try and destroy his enemy once and for all. Things look bad as the cat spirit invades the bodies of unsuspecting people, gives them supernatural strength, and then uses them for evil until it casts off their bodies in an explosive spray of body parts. Cheung enlists the help of loser limo driver Ah Long (Mark Cheng), whose boss was possessed and destroyed by the cat spirit, to help him put an end to the evil feline.

This is just what I needed! While it is far from a groundbreaking film or an essential Hong Kong genre classic, Evil Cat is perfect for shaking out the cobwebs. From director Dennis Yu (Beasts, The Imp) comes this wild and fun blend of supernatural horror, slapstick comedy, kung fu, and explosive action. Oh man, some of those stunts looked pretty painful. And yes, this flawed beast also comes loaded with goofy special effects, ridiculous makeup, shrill female characters, stupid cops (and security guards), tame sex scenes (it’s only a Category II after all), ideas lifted from a dozen other films, and a wicked cheesy synthesizer score.

The lunacy of Evil Cat works thanks to some great performers. Lau Kar-Leung is excellent as Master Cheung, a man who has waited fifty years for his chance to prove himself against a supernatural foe. Mark Cheng (Peking Opera Blues) is perfectly cast as Ah Long, limo driver, wannabe playboy, and reluctant hero. And the very silly Jing Wong (Tricky Brains) is awesome as the main source of comic relief: Inspector “Handsome” Wu. Not much can be said for actress Lai-Ying Tang who plays Master Cheung’s daughter. She brings a bland performance to an even blander character.

Folks looking for some really weird and energetic entertainment will dig on Evil Cat. Don’t expect a life-changing experience, just enjoy the ride. The bloody rampage in the police station, the pursuit through some labyrinthine tunnels, and the surprisingly downbeat ending are all highlights of this eccentric flick. Watching this film with Ngai Kai Lam’s The Cat, an even more insane horror-action-sci-fi-whatever film, would make one hell of an amazing double feature.

“No lady will like you. Go back to your working place.”

Embalming

embalming

Embalming (1999)

Reiko Takashima plays Miyako Murakami, an embalmer who discovers a needle in the eye socket of the corpse of a young man named Yoshiki, the son of a prominent official, believed to be a suicide. The same day, Miyako is threatened by a religious crackpot named Chief Jion (Kojiro Hongo) because he believes that embalming is a sin. While she is away at this meeting, thieves using knockout gas steal Yoshiki’s head from his body from the hospital in broad daylight.

Her suspicions raised, Miyako shows the needle to Detective Hiraoka (Yutaka Matsushige) who is now convinced that there is more to the case than simply suicide. One of the key suspects is Dr. Fuji (Toshio Shiba), a once-prominent surgeon who now works in the black market organ trade. Soon, clues point to the Yoshiki’s girlfriend, Rika (Hitomi Miwa), as the one who not only stole the head but also has an even more awful secret to hide. As Miyako and Hiraoka dig deeper into the details of the case and the number of suspects grows, they enter a situation even more dangerous than they could have imagined.

Shinji Aoyama masterfully directs this enthralling and complicated film. EM – Embalming evokes a cold and clinical theme with its emotionally detached characters, brooding music, and nonchalant presentation of an embalmer’s trade. The camera never shies away from the gruesome tasks of Miyako or Dr. Fuji and the effects are well done.

The acting in the film is top notch. Reiko Takashima is a fine actress, able to portray a character confronted with death on a daily basis but still vulnerable to uncovering her past. Veteran actor Kojiro Hongo (Wrath Of Daimajin, Destroy All Planets) puts in an unsettling performance as the hypocritical and Jim Jones wannabe, Chief Jion. The scene-stealing award goes to Yutaka Matsushige (Ringu, One Missed Call) whose sniffling and wisecracking Detective Hiraoka adds some much needed noir-inspired characterization to the ensemble. The part of Rika is played by Hitomi Miwa (Ju-on, Crazy Lips) and is no easy task given the complexity of the character. The cast is rounded off by a dual role from Masatoshi Matsuo (Tomie: Replay, Kaïro).

The outrageous plot contains layers of storyline, numerous flashbacks, and even doubling of certain characters to keep the audience on their toes. The mystery of EM – Embalming may be confusing the first time around but not unpleasantly. This is a wholly satisfying film and is rewarding with each viewing so picking up those missed details doesn’t feel like a chore. This is a challenging film but one that delivers with its grotesque embalming scenes and moments of extreme violence. Gorehounds will be richly rewarded by these sequences but this film has so much more to offer. The grim tone is effectively contagious and will stick with the viewer long after the film is over.

Eccentric characters, a haunting soundtrack, and clever cinematography also serve to make EM – Embalming an unforgettable film experience. It’s plotting is over the top but is braced with rich imagery and impeccable performances from the cast. Although director Shinji Aoyama has been at work for many years, this film is a sign that he has much more to offer Japanese film fanatics in the future.

 

The Stewardess

stewardess

The Stewardess (2002)

Ken Ma (Sam Lee) gets lucky one night (or so he thinks) when he meets the beautiful airline stewardess, Apple (San San Lee). After what Ken thinks is a one night stand, Apple takes charge and brings him to meet her father who just happens to be the notorious Dragon, leader of the Triad gang. Dragon threatens Ken with castration if he doesn’t stay faithful to Apple. Despite constant surveillance under not only his new girlfriend but from the Triads as well, Ken actually manages to cheat on Apple with another airline stewardess, this time a Japanese one named Yurei (played by Seina Kasugai). Of course, Apple finds out about Ken’s indiscretion and tells her father. Thinking his situation can’t get any worse Ken quickly realizes that the Triads and the spiteful Apple are the least of his worries. Now, Armed with a butcher knife, a meat cleaver, and a sharpened toy airplane, the seemingly unstoppable and very psychotic Yurei is hot on his heels.

This hilarious horror comedy from director Tak-Sam Leong happens to be one of my favorites. The plot is constructed just enough to keep the laughs coming and would have been disastrous had it been meant to be a serious horror film. Every time something remotely creepy or serious happens it only takes a moment before the wackiness returns ten fold. Director Leong Tak Sam uses time-lapse photography, slow motion, split-screen, freeze-frame, and digital effects to convey its story, which is completely ridiculous and satirical from the first frame to its tongue in cheek ending.

The cast is completely at home in this comedy. Miss Hong Kong 1996, San San Lee (My Left Eye Sees Ghosts) plays the bitchy Apple almost too well as she treats Ken like a slave from the first moment of their relationship. Yiu-Cheng Lai (Human Pork Chop) is hilarious as Ken Ma’s sleazy friend, George, and whose best scene is when he goes home with the most unattractive girl at the bar. Even Suet Lam (Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters, The God of Cookery) makes the most of his small part as Uncle Fatty, the Triads best but laziest torturer and coercer, with some great moments of improvisational comedy.

Seina Kasugai’s Yurei is a very interesting character. Obviously new to film acting, the gorgeous Kasugai does her best to portray a complete lunatic with only brief moments of seriousness. It would be an understatement to say that she overdoes her role because I suspect that was what was asked of her. Yurei cackles, giggles, screams, and gibbers through her scenes more and more maniacally as the film reaches its conclusion. This may get on some viewers’ nerves but in a film that’s already nuts, she isn’t out of place at all in my book. Kasugai even manages to tone things down during the few effectively creepy moments the film has to offer.

The real star of the film is the super talented Sam Lee (who played Crazy Bee in Bio Zombie). This odd looking fellow is a great comic actor that makes every scene he’s in completely memorable. Ken is such a jackass that you can’t help but root for him. The montage after he finally manages to cheat on Apple is incredible. The whole film turns into a bad beer commercial and Lee doesn’t miss a beat. He keeps getting himself into more and more trouble and you’ll ask yourself “How many times can this guy get the crap beat out of him in one movie?”

The Stewardess is an awesome comedy and a pretty crappy horror movie but I think that’s the point. There is no nudity and very little gore but this very entertaining flick isn’t hurt by any of that one bit. Sam Lee’s performance alone is worth the watch. The DVDs of this film have been difficult to obtain since there were some legal issues concerning its release but I can’t stress enough that the folks that go the extra distance to find this flick will be in for a treat. Oh yeah, and you’ll get enough gangster nipple twisting to last you a lifetime.

The Shock Labyrinth 3D

shock-labyrinth

The Shock Labyrinth 3D (2009)

Ken (Yuya Yagira) returns to his hometown to catch up with some old friends, Motoki and Rin. During a thunderstorm, Yuki Tomoya (Misako Renbutsu), a girl that he and his friends thought was dead, comes back after being missing for nearly a decade. Years ago, as children, Ken and his friends went into an old haunted house by themselves and got scared out of their wits. They all escaped except for Yuki.

In the present, they try to reunite Yuki with her family but her mother is insane and her sister Miyu just can’t believe this girl is actually her sister. Yuki ends up falling down a flight of stairs but when they get her to the hospital, they find it deserted. Before long, Ken and the gang realize that they are trapped in a place that is both the haunted by the past and as dangerous as the present. I’m not sure what that sentence means.

I get why people don’t like this movie as it is rife with horror cliches but honestly, The Shock Corridor is so weird (and occasionally unsettling) that I can’t help but dig on it. The digital photography is slick, perhaps a little too slick but very colorful. The special effects are kind of corny but strange enough that they get a pass from me. The ambitious plot is successful at jumping back and forth through time without getting confusing. I went into this film with low expectations but I was charmed by what director Takashi Shimizu has been up to lately.

“Haven’t you figured it out? This is the house of horrors where it happened!”

Tomie is Mine

tomie-article

[This article contains less than 65% spoilers.]

“I will show you the girl who cannot die.”

What is everyone’s problem with Tomie, anyway? She’s just a love demon! So maybe the love she inspires drives men to kill. Is that so wrong? We are not here to judge you, Tomie my dear. We are here to help us help you help yourself. Tomie is the creation of horror manga master Junji Ito and has made quite a mark for her evil self onscreen. Out of the 8 Tomie movies (so far), Tomie: Replay is easily my favorite. Instead of picking up from either the original 1999 film (directed by Ataru Oikawa) or the awful direct-to-video Tomie: Another Face, this film, released in February of 2000 (just in time for Valentine’s Day!), jumps right into the freaky end of the pool.

A little girl is rushed into surgery when a giant mysterious tumor growing on her stomach threatens to kill her. When Dr. Kenzô Morita (played by Shun Sugata) makes the first incision, the tumor moves and he accidentally slices his thumb with the scalpel. Suddenly, the tumor begins to turn inside the girl’s distended stomach revealing a human eyeball peering out from the incision. The doctors and nurses are aghast as a young woman’s head springs forth from the little girl and says “I am Tomie.” Damn, homegirl knows how to make an entrance!

After that, Dr. Morita disappears and his daughter Yumi (played by Sayaka Yamaguchi) shows up to try and find out just what happened. Yumi meets up with her father’s mistress and even reconnects with her estranged mother Yoko but neither of them can provide any answers. Dr. Tachibana (Kenichi Endo), one of Dr. Morita’s colleagues present the night that Tomie entered the hospital, hands Yumi her father’s journal detailing the events of Tomie’s discovery and then jumps off the roof of the building.

Next we meet Fumihito (played by Yôsuke Kubozuka), a hunky dude in the hospital for dialysis and his nerdy friend Takeshi (Masatoshi Matsuo). While Fumihito is taking a long pee (he should really NOT be drinking beer in his condition), Takeshi meets a naked Tomie (played by Mai Hosho) wandering around the hospital. He instantly falls in love with this mysterious girl and takes her home seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth.

As luck would have it, Yumi meets Fumihito while they are both searching for Tomie, the girl at the center of the disappearances of Dr. Morita and now Takeshi. As the mystery surrounding this monstrous being becomes darker and more horrifying, a romance begins to blossom between Yumi and Fumihito. Will this newfound love be able to withstand Tomie’s power or will these two young people be crushed as countless others have by her irresistible and deadly charms?

Full of outrageously ghoulish setpieces and some grisly violence, Tomie: Replay is a unique horror movie that refuses to behave itself. Director Tomijiro Mitsuishi kicks all kinds of ass in his first film (and only screen credit to date) and screenwriter Satoru Tamaki keeps things bizarre and very unpredictable. While all of the scenery and the sets are beautifully shot, the sequences in the hospital is where the film really shines in all of its sickening glory. The soundtrack by prolific composer Kôji Endô (One Missed Call, Gozu) is quite haunting and really adds to the somber tone of Tomie: Replay.

Everyone in the cast is quite good and there are a few familiar faces mixed in there as well. Most notably is Takashi Miike regular Kenichi Endo (of Visitor Q and Deadly Outlaw Rekka) as the mad Dr. Tachibana. Even though he doesn’t have a major role here, I have to mention this duder. Endo starred is one of my favorite Japanese because he looks so dang weird and always plays psychos, complete screw-ups or a combination of the two. Another complete freak is Moro Marooka of “The Great Horror Family” and Infection who plays the father of the little girl who was bursting at the seams with Tomie.

Speaking of our title character, Tomie is played by the lovely Mai Hosho (of Suicide Club) who is not afraid to get down and dirty and even gives the monster some complexity and pathos. Our two romantic leads (I still can’t believe there is a romance in this one), Yamaguchi and Kubozuka, are excellent actors and give their all to roles that could easily have been completely droll and expendable in less capable hands. Super creepy points go to Shun Sugata (Ichi the Killer, Organ, Marebito, etc.) for his portrayal of Dr. Morita, a man reduced to a quivering shell in the face of all that sexy evil.

So is constantly being killed and reborn getting Tomie down? Well yeah, with all her teasing, taunting and that maniacal freakin’ laugh, she’s kind of a complete bitch. Apparently, decades (or centuries?) of shallow graves has instilled in her a significant dislike of insects. Worse still is her opinion of human beings. It is easy for her to ensnare men with her charms but they always disappoint her. At first, her suitors are willing to kill for her but then she grows bored with them and their jealousy turns deadly. Women hate her for stealing their men away and the men eventually go insane and cut Tomie into little pieces. In Replay, Tomie complains that men “break so easily” and one gets a sense of her morbid disappointment with the human race.

Other disturbing aspects of Tomie’s character are thoroughly explored here such as her hatred of all her doppelgangers. If Tomie is constantly dying, being destroyed and then regenerating, then who is the original? The answer is simple: the one left standing. Our favorite unkillable demon reproduces like it’s nobody’s business. A stray hair or even a single drop of blood can sprout a brand new Tomie. I love how the Tomies react to each other with revulsion and always try to destroy one another. In Replay, the new incarnation finds the “original’s” still living head buried in a shallow grave in the forest (no surprise there) and sets it fire! So yes, Tomie has some self-hate issues but with everyone constantly calling her a monster (and just because she is one! WTF?), I’m not entirely surprised.

Guess what, kids? Junji Ito’s recurring theme of body horror (see Uzumaki (manga or film)) is alive and unwell in Tomie: Replay with all them Tomie molecules infecting people. The idea of a contagious evil that first invades the mind and then distorts the body is a joy to behold (if you’re a sick bastard). The human (and love demon) form is warped and twisted in truly sick ways. This film contains some truly nightmarish images which are brought to life by the film’s incredible special effects. Standout scenes include Tomie’s disembodied head growing a new body and the reverse: her headless corpse growing a new head. The nastiest scene however has to be the discovery of Dr. Morita’s rotting body stuffed in a tank of saline solution.

So why do I think this is the best of the Tomie franchise (Tomie: Re-birth is a close second)? For starters, this film still frightens me every time I watch it. There are some great scares, profoundly dark ideas, and a whole mess of freaky shit that just stays with me long after I’ve watched it. Take an unstoppable evil, combine it with hospital horror, and throw in some melodrama and well, you have something really, really special. Young lovers, Tomie: Replay is your date movie.

Wicked City

wickedcity_dvd

Wicked City (1992)

Tokyo has quite a crisis on its hands. There are monsters disguised as humans walking the streets and there’s an epidemic of people addicted to a drug called ‘Happiness’ which has some seriously bad side effects. Taki (played by Leon Lai) is a member of an elite anti-monster task force who has a lot of issues. His partner, Kai (Jacky Cheung), is a half-monster full of angst and his ex-girlfriend, Gaye (Michelle Reis), is a full-blooded monster who is also full of angst.

Taki’s boss has put him in charge of capturing Daishu (Tatsuya Nakadai), a monster who he believes responsible for bringing the happiness drug into Tokyo (and who also happens to be Gaye’s lover). All hell breaks loose when Daishu is captured by the anti-monster squad and Daishu’s son Shudo (Roy Cheung) decides to destroy the city. Can Taki and Kai save the day or will the differences between monsters and humans be too much for them to handle?

That is approximately 33% of the plot of Wicked City (or as I like to call it: Wacky City). This movie has so much going on that it still baffles me after multiple viewings. Double crosses and triple crosses and a duder humping a living pinball machine, this one has it all. Director Tai Kit Mak brings us a visionary splatterfest in primary colors that can barely sit still long enough to tell the viewer what the hell is going on. But then again, it’s also childishly simple in terms of character motivations and it’s pretty obvious that the writers (one of which is director Tsui Hark) don’t give a double goddamn about wallowing in the cheese in order to get this wild ass story told.

Oh, this cast is awesome. Leon Lai is great as the conflicted hero and Roy Cheung of Fight Back to School is perfect as the creepy evildoer. Jacky Cheung of A Chinese Ghost Story III gets all mopey and emo (waaa, I’m half monster, waaa!) but rises to the status of hero when the going gets tough. Prolific Japanese actor, Tatsuya Nakadai (Illusion of Blood), tries to steal the movie as the wise and completely bad ass 150 year old monster, Daishu. (But what about those lovely ladies? First up is Michelle Reis (A Chinese Ghost Story II) who kicks 100 different varieties of ass. She makes me want to find my own Happiness-addicted monstrette to call my own. Carmen Lee of Forbidden City Cop squeezes into her tight white dress oh so nicely which is probably standard issue for female anti-monster squad agents.

If you can look past the convoluted plot, great magic awaits you. The word ‘spectacle’ barely does Wicked City justice. I can pretty much guarantee you have never seen anything quite like this before. Wicked City is the bright green mango cherry Slurpee version of Blade Runner. When you need your fix of eye-popping gore sequences and hyperactive fight scenes, give this one a spin. Oh yeah, be sure to watch the dubbed version for even more insanity and I also suggest you watch Wicked City as a double feature with Johnnie To’s ridiculous epic The Heroic Trio.