Updates

There will be a distinct lack of updates in the next 2 and a half weeks as I’m going off to Japan on Wednesday. Normal service will be resumed after April 9th.

See you then!

Read Full Post »

Ju-On:The Girl In Black

Ex idol and former Morning Musume member Kago Ai stars as a nurse in the 2nd movie to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Ju-On franchise. Her character Yuko is taking care of a young girl called Fukie who has a mysterious cyst inside her body which is in fact a leftover grudge from a baby that died. Now the cyst is materialising itself as an evil girl in black that torments Yuko and is determined to extract revenge on Fukie’s family.

This was another good Ju-On movie. Kago did well in her role and she looked great in her nurse’s uniform and for those that have seen her Kago Channel DVD we know that already! Whilst it might not be the best entry in the franchise there’s enough chills and scares to keep everybody entertained.

No trailer as it’s shown on the other Ju-On movie entry posted earlier.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Lupin III:The Castle Of Cagliostro (1979)

An early masterpiece from Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki and probably master thief Lupin III’s most famous story. It involves him infiltrating a Count’s castle to rescue a young girl which is full of devious traps. It also contains that infamous car chase sequence which is a favorite amongst anime fans. I found this movie to be a rollicking great adventure full of excitement, action and a little bit of comedy thrown in.

Sadako’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Godzilla vs Mothra (1964)

When a giant egg is washed ashore with a greedy businessman eager to exploit it for all it’s worth, 2 emissaries from Mothra Island (acted by popular j-pop idol duo at the time – The Peanuts) come to ask for it’s return. When this do not happen and they return empty handed, Godzilla awakens from his slumber and proceeds to raise hell. Now the humans seek Mothra’s help from Godzilla who threatens nearby cities and Mothra’s unhatched egg.

The 4th Godzilla movie is one of the best from the Showa era. Great SFX for the time with a coherent storyline and the fight scenes between Mothra and Godzilla are pretty well done.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Synesthesia (2005)

Also known as Gimme Heaven. A killer called Picasso targets a man who has a rare sensory disorder called synesthesia into his deadly web using an online game and involving a young girl.

This is a bit of a slow burner which takes it’s time to build up the storyline. The cast is OK but Aoi Miyazaki is good as always. I really enjoy watching her movies. Synesthesia isn’t a great movie by any means. The script is somewhat weak but the art direction and cinematography is excellent. I still found it to be an intriguing and interesting thriller. Some might find it boring. The ending is a puzzle that’s up for interpretation.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Phone (2002)

An investigative reporter, who has recently published a controversial article about sex scandals, begins to receive a series of menacing phone calls. In an effort to escape these calls, she changes her number, but the calls keep coming. When a friend’s young daughter innocently answers the ringing telephone, she begins to exhibit increasingly crazed behavior. As the mystery of the calls is uncovered, a terrifying secret is revealed.

Jumping on the Ringu bandwagon, Phone is a great scary Korean film with a nice little twist at the end. The little girl in this movie has this look of evil on her face that freaks the hell out of me. Worth checking out.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Ju-On:Old Lady In White (2009)

This is the 1st of 2 movies to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Grudge franchise. It revolves around a family massacre that happened due to a son failing his bar exams. He’s very creepy especially when he tries to molest his little sister and provides a couple of shocking moments. The story jumps from the past to the present and it never explains properly who was under the grudge. There’s nothing to link this with the previous Grudge movies apart from a fleeting appearance from Toshio. Bad acting apart, this was a nice little chiller which was fairly scary although it can never live up to the 1st Grudge movie. It’s a shame it was so short at 60 mins, I wanted more.

This is the trailer for both Ju-On movies that came out in 2009.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Entrails Of The Beautiful Woman (1986)

Very bad Japanese pink-horror. A young female psychologist is tortured and humiliated by the Yakuza and injected with a drug called Angel Rain. The side effects however turn her into a nasty blood demon who extracts her own brand of justice.

Everything is crap from the acting to the special effects. This movie is decadent, sleazy and at times vile. I suppose there are fans of this type of movie but I thought it was a pile of cack! For J-horror completists only.

Sadako’s Rating: 1 out of 5

Read Full Post »

The War In Space (1977)

The year is 1988. Aliens from the Empire of Galaxies establish a base on Venus and launch a surprise attack on Earth. As the invaders’ spaceships quickly defeat the world’s armies and destroy New York, Moscow, Paris, and London, a United Nations Space Bureau team led by Professor Takigawa manages to finish construction of Earth’s last line of defense, the space battleship Gohten. The Gohten makes short work of the alien fleet, and the crew decides to take the battle to the enemy but not before Takigawa’s daughter Jun is kidnapped by the aliens and taken to their flagship which is based on an old Roman sailing ship complete with oar-like laser guns. Can they rescue Jun and defeat the alien ship?

OK, so this movie is cheesy and the special effects not on a par with Star Wars which came out at the same time but I really liked it. I found it exciting and it ticked all the right boxes for me. It bears some similarities to another Japanese movie Atragon and Space Battleship Yamato. In fact the Gohten does look like a cross between Atragon and the Yamato. As for the good guy characters – they’re a bit emotionless when some of their colleagues die during battle. When a significant character dies right near the climax there’s hardly a tear shed. For the evil aliens which are led by the imaginatively named Commander Hell, there’s a horned Wookie-like creature called the Space Beastman who wields an axe which is funny to see. It’s easy to see where they got the inspiration for that character from! Overall, The War In Space is a good old fashioned space opera which is entertaining and enjoyable.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (2009)

Monami is a gorgeous yet reclusive transfer student who comes to a new school. Keiko is queen bitch of the class, if not the entire school. Her father is the down-trodden deputy principal and she commands a clique of ever-obedient lolitas. Keiko bullies class hunk, but fairly wimpish Jyongo into being her boyfriend, but Monami also has her sights set on him and feeds him a Valentines chocolate laced with her own blood. Monami confesses her love to Jyongo, but also that she is a vampire and now he has tasted her blood, he is beginning to change too. Monami’s blood quite literally has a life of its own and when a drop of it is discovered by the sexy school nurse, she hands it over to Keiko’s father, who is secretly a mad scientist, searching for the secret of reanimation. Monami’s blood might just be the missing piece in the puzzle he has been searching for to bring the dead back to life! Suffice to say, Keiko doesn’t take too kindly to the new girl muscling in on her beau, but when push comes to shove and she ends up eating tarmac, only daddy can put her back together again.

Ever since seeing the trailer for this last year I’ve been itching to watch this movie. From the people behind Tokyo Gore Police comes this hyper violent excessively gory movie. You’ll know in the first 5 minutes of this movie if you’ll enjoy it or not! It’s a bizarre extreme horror/comedy. Very OTT with oddball and weird comedy sequences. It is funny I’ll give it that with such scenes as the National Wrist Cutting Championships but to be honest I was after a serious gorefest not a comedy. Simply disengage your brain, sit back and enjoy this insane fun silly movie.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Train Man (2005)

More popularly known as Densha Otoko. Based on a supposed true story about a twentysomething computer nerd who finds himself in an unfamiliar role as “protector” when he ends up saving a woman from the advances of a drunken salaryman on a commuter train. The young woman finds herself somewhat attracted to the man that saved her. A complete moron when it comes to the ladies, this young computer freak would rather stay in his fantasy land of anime, manga, toys, and computer games than face the real world. Thus, when faced with the proposition of dating this new woman, he goes online where known as “Train Man” he turns to his anonymous chatroom pals for support, asking for tips on what just exactly he should do to win this woman’s heart.

This romantic movie is really enjoyable with some good performances from the cast but I really do prefer the drama series as the story is fleshed out a bit more. By all means take a look at the movie but I would definitely recommend watching the drama series more than this.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Battle Angel (1999)

The story takes place in a distant future about a young female cyborg named Gally, who is found on a scrapheap by the Cyberdoctor Daisuke Ido, who rebuilds her and becomes her surrogate father. Gally has no memory of her past, but soon displays remarkable fighting skills. She starts working as a bounty hunter and meets a young boy Yugo, who has the impossible dream of going to Zalem – a giant floating city in the sky. Not realising that Yugo’s dream can only end in misery, Gally sets out to help him.

One of the finest sci-fi anime movies. A moving, touching, gritty and ultimately tragic story. It has a nice blend of lightning-paced action, emotional drama, and compelling mystery. It’s just a shame it’s so short. Overall, this is a rare gem of an anime. A dark, depressing sci-fi world with superb characters and an excellent story line. I recommend this to any fan of science fiction and anime.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Read Full Post »

The Prince Of Tennis (2006)

Twelve year old Ryoma Echizen is the tennis prodigy from America who has the personal history of winning 4 successive victories at the American Junior Tennis tournaments. His father, Nanjiroh Echizen, a tennis player of legendary status, recalls Ryoma back to Japan to attend the distinguished school of Seishun Academy Middle School. Ryoma, a first year, has his eyes set on being on the regulars team of the tennis club, which the school is famous for. He goes there and defeats all the members of the tennis club of the school except one, the captain of the club. The school tennis club enters a regional tennis tournament to compete with their strongest opponent from Hyotei Academy.

Ridiculous over the top tennis movie based on a manga but it’s great fun. A pity then that the lead character is a miserable and unlikeable person that makes you want to punch his face in!! The way he treats his potential girlfriend in the movie rankles me as well. The other characters are great and likeable but Ryoma is such an obnoxious person. Maybe it doesn’t help that Kanata Hongo has got a face like a slapped arse, constantly with a scowl on it. Does he ever smile? I’ve only seen him in 1 other movie and he doesn’t smile in that either!

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »

The Warrior King (2006)

Kham’s life is turned upside down when an international mafia syndicate, based in Australia, captures his two beloved elephants and smuggles them thousands of kilometers away to Sydney. The two elephants are far more than mere animals to Kham and his father; they are part of his family and were being prepared to be presented as a token of devotion to his Majesty the King of Thailand. The only way Kham can possibly save the animals is by venturing into a foreign land for the first time. Taking on a mafia group to rescue two elephants from a foreign country presents a huge challenge, even for a martial arts master like Kham. Despite the help of Sergeant Mark, a Thai police Sergeant based in Australia, and Pla, a Thai girl forced into modern day slavery, the going gets tough. They must take on the ruthless gang of Madame Rose, whose henchmen include Johnny, a Vietnamese thief and martial arts expert, and the hulking TK. Kham has no choice but to risk his own life for the animals he loves.

Tony Jaa is sensational but I think he was better in Ong Bak. Brilliant bone breaking fight sequences and the little elephant that appears in this movie is so cute.

Sadako’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Read Full Post »

Cursed (2004)

The story centres on a haunted convenience store, the disturbing effect it has on the owners and other local residents, and the grisly deaths of the customers who shop there.

Creepy and atmopsheric J-horror about a convenience store built using gravestones on consecreated land. There’s hardly any plot but as some other reviews on this movie have said it’s miles better than any Hollywood drivel you’ll find these days.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read Full Post »