Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)

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 next Nishiyama, a research scientist and pediatrician, attempts to thwart the predicted, and ever escalating cataclysms that possess the potential of wiping out all of mankind in the year 1999.

Genocide - War of the Insects (1968)

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 experimentation of the politically motivated Japanese new wave. But in the late 1960’s the studio produced four science-fiction/horror/fantasy productions in quick succession in order to reap the fertile and profitable soil sown by the likes of Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra, King Kong and Ghidorah. 

The Mysterians (1957)

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 abominated bastardisation that Gojira experienced when released under the title Godzilla, King of Monsters! (1956) prompted US distributors to keep a keen eye on the development of Japanese science-fiction/monster movies, even if ham fisted dubbing and subtitle translation reduced the enjoyment and power of the films. The Mysterians was particularly fitting for US distribution because it is an invasion narrative, and it fed nicely into the fears and anxieties of the day. If Gojira borrowed numerous plot elements from King Kong (1933), then the major influence on The Mysterians is War of the Worlds (1953). What is most distinctive now is the wonderfully expansive use of Tohoscope, which gives the film an epic grandeur, some impressive model work, and the rich colour cinematography of Hajime Koizumi. The combination of these stylistic elements gives the film a look that would be repeated for many years in numerous Japanese monster movies. In this respect The Mysterians holds a significant position in the influence of Japanese science-fiction, a position that is somewhat underappreciated in the west.

Hanzo the Razor - Sword of Justice (1972)

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 instalments, and over 8 million sales. The success of this series spawned six feature films that showcased the stoic talents of Tomisaburo Wakayama, and found their way to the West via the hotchpotch efforts of Robert Houston and David Weisman under the title Shogun Assassin (1980). The enterprising pair grafted twelve minutes of the first picture Sword of Vengeance (1972) onto the vast majority of the second picture Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), gave it a contemporary electronic soundtrack by Mark Lindsey, dubbed it into English, and enjoyed a notable success. Koike also created the character of Lady Snowblood, and though not as successful as Lone Wolf and Cub, still ran for fifteen instalments, and led to two feature films starring Meiko Kaji as the titular lady who seeks revenge for the rape of her mother, and the murders of her mother’s husband and son. All of Koike’s most famous Manga creations are marked by grand stylisation and extreme violence, and the film adaptations do not skimp in these areas. But Hanzo possesses a grotesquery that the others do not, and this is largely due to the Policeman’s novel interrogation technique, which sees him target mistresses, whom he then fucks into such a lather of ecstasy with his oversized penis that they are begging to spill the beans in order for the pleasure to continue.

Bullet Train (1975)

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 avoid collisions with other trains, derailment and other assorted perils, Aoki, the trains conductor, attempts to keep the passengers calm while the police frantically search for both the terrorists and the location of the bomb.

 

Visitor Q (2001)

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 the six films, five vanished without trace into the abyss of celluloid history, but the sheer outrageousness of Visitor Q, and the increasing cult reputation of its director, ensured a limited theatrical run beyond the confines of the series for which it was intended. Miike was no stranger to controversy at this point in time. His cinema marked by excessive violence, bizarre sexual perversity, and a refreshingly rebellious attitude toward past traditions. Miike embodied a punk ethic, and a particular gift for offensive grotesquery, the like of which had rarely been distributed in the west. In many ways Visitor Q is Miike’s ultimate work of transgression, a vile cocktail featuring one abhorrent event after another. The challenge to social taboo is nothing new, even if Miike piles it on with typical exaggerated relish. The problem with Visitor Q lies in the fact that for much of its brief running time it is uproariously funny.

Onibaba (1964)

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 Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Ozu remains a mystery. His early films are slightly more visible in the West. In recent times we have enjoyed pristine DVD presentations of The Naked Island (1960), Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968) and they have afforded us a glimpse into a highly stylised and expressive formal style that is both challenging and invigorating. The latter two titles have also illustrated Shindô’s ability to meld this formal eloquence with popular genres and past theatrical traditions. However the unavailability of Children of Hiroshima (1952) still remains a mystifying aberration. It is certainly the case that as the 1960’s wore on Shindô’s work became less distinctive and his interest in social purpose took a back seat to explorations of sexuality. But as we saw in Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976), sex in its purest form can be a potent political and social weapon. The success of his quasi historical horror film Onibaba isn’t particularly surprising as it retains just enough generic signifiers to satisfy western audiences, and possessed the added draw of an unusually frank exploration of frustrated sexuality.

Samurai Wolf (1966)

aka KIBA OKAMINOSUKE

Directed by Hideo Gosha

A 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 wandering samurai. Not long after, a duplicitous and conniving businessman named Nizaemon comes to Ochise with a new job to deliver 30,000 ryo to the magistrate's office in Imagawa. Nizaemon has designs on Ochise's business and this new plot leads him one step closer to crushing the staunch blind woman. Kiba agrees to help her with this enormous task. But Nizaemon isn't the only obstacle in the way as Akizuki Sanai, a formidable swordsman and a guileful brothel madam have plans of their own.

Scandal (1950)

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 1951. Kurosawa was soon heralded as an artistic genius and feted by art cinema enthusiasts eager for something outside their experiential world. The historical films of Kurosawa often betray their indebtedness to Hollywood, Rashomon however is the most atypical of his historical adventures in its attitude to point of view and subjectivity, which perhaps accounts for its art circuit success. Personally I have always found Kurosawa’s contemporary set social dramas to be more interesting, and as a representation of the complexities, anxieties, and dilemma’s of a Japan occupied by a foreign force Scandal emerges as a more important film than Rashomon from a socio/historical point of view.

Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell (1968)

aka KYUKETSUKI GOKEMIDORO aka BODYSNATCHER FROM HELL aka GOKE THE VAMPIRE

Directed by Hajime Sato

Ordered 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 encounters a UFO. Crashing in a remote location, the varying personalities bicker over what to do till the assassin comes to and escapes into the night. Happening upon the glowing UFO, the hired killer is beckoned inside where his body is overtaken by a blobular creature. Now possessed by an alien force that thrives on the blood of its victims, this space vampire proceeds to stalk and suck the blood from the remaining survivors who wait desperately for a rescue party to arrive.

Kuroneko (1968)

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 class and social divisions and the tragic effects of a corrosive sexual jealousy. For Kuroneko Shindo recycled the basic premise of Onibaba (in which two resourceful women lure samurai to their death for material gain) and retained the same historical setting, war torn landscape and aesthetics of hunger. Kuroneko is a more conventional horror film in the sense that it foregrounds aspects of the supernatural, demon curses, and the quasi-mythical image of the cat. It makes use of the Kaidan or avenging spirit motif which unites much traditional Japanese horror and is brought to atmospheric life by beautiful monochrome cinematography and a formal eloquence that marks it out as one of Shindo’s most visually elegant productions. Despite these familiar signifiers however the film is still strange and otherworldly, and in its attention to traditional theatrical modes of narrative address possesses an inherently alien quality which is eminently fascinating.

Godzilla (1954)

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 enormous creature makes its way to Japan and tramples cities under foot while scorching both buildings and escaping civilians with its radioactive flame. Dr. Serizawa, a reclusive scientist, has developed a weapon even more terrifying than the rampaging Gojira--the Oxygen Destroyer. Beseeched by others to use the devastating weapon against the monster, Serizawa must make a decision that will either save, or possibly destroy the planet as we know it.

Evil Dead Trap (1988)

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 of the whole proposition. Ishii went on to much more interesting things as a writer and director, films such as the Takeshi Kitano starring Gonin (1995) and the unusual rape/revenge thriller Freeze Me (2000). The director Toshiharu Ikeda remains something of an obscurity in the west, Evil Dead Trap being the only film of his that had reasonable trans-national distribution. It is incredibly easy to see why it achieved this. The title itself is a reference to Sam Raimi’s irreverent gore soaked debut, and the film abounds with the echoes of other filmmakers and films. Perhaps the most notable influence here is the hyper-stylised baroque fantasies of Dario Argento. This imitation includes maggots falling from the ceiling onto an unsuspecting woman’s head, the use of red, green, and blue filters, and the irritating repetition of a central musical theme courtesy of Tomohiko Kira. Unfortunately shoddy prints have lessened the effect of Ikeda’s colour schemes, but despite the derivative nature of the film, Evil Dead Trap is still highly inventive, and perhaps more importantly for cult enthusiasts, incredibly gory.

A Snake of June (2002)

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 carefully constructed world often explores the human body undertaking an act of revolution in the face of urbanisation, technology and the banality of capitalist society. Although Tsukamoto’s vision is a unique one, it is couched within stylistic terms that evoke the nightmare logic of David Lynch and the body horror of David Cronenberg. Tsukamoto is fiercely independent and through his production company Kaiju Theater has contributed some of the most challenging films in modern Japanese cinema. In terms of narrative A Snake of June has to rate as one of his most straightforward films. The story unfolds in a manner which is largely understandable. This aspect of the film will not present audiences with a challenge, but the perverse sexual content and the blue tinted monochrome stylistics might.

Uzumaki (2000)

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 sick of long haired phantoms exacting their revenge through modern technology. With the benefit of hindsight one can now see how few moments of originality there were. Even the South Korean examples were rarely anything other than pallid imitations. This makes Uzumaki all the more exceptional. There is a genuine spark of inventiveness and creativity in director Higuchinsky’s handling of Junjo Ito’s manga source material. This was Higuchinsky’s directorial debut and he brought to his feature films a visual sensibility honed from a career producing music videos.

Audition (1999)

aka ÔDISHON

Directed by Takashi Miike

Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike made his international breakthrough with this mischievous and beautifully controlled examination of spectatorship, generic expectation, and gender relationships. With its subtle hints that eventually lead to a nightmare world of sadism and torture Miike proves himself to be a filmmaker that audiences cannot trust. The slow burning narrative build up of the first half affords the male characters an opportunity to express their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. For widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) his emotional frailties centre on the persistence of his son in finding a replacement for the wife who perished several years before. Aoyama still loves his departed wife, but the idea of a sexual partner, and a housewife to keep everything in order is very attractive. Aoyama’s sexism is outmoded and old fashioned, but he is essentially an harmless individual. He doesn’t possess the same level of vitriol and spite his friends do at the rising number of women in the work place. Despite the dubious morality of holding a fake audition in order to find himself a suitable wife, Aoyama scarcely deserves the shocking punishment he suffers at the end of the film.

Shura (1971)

aka DEMONS aka PANDEMONIUM

Directed by Matsumoto Toshio

Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai cast out as an Asano clan retainer is given a second chance to join his brothers in arms to become the 48th Ronin against the Shogunate. His faithful servant gathers the 100 ryo required for his acceptance. Gengobe is also in love with a greedy geisha named Koman. About to be sold to another man, Gengobe learns that for him to keep her, her debt is exactly 100 ryo.