Strange Circus (Japanese) 2005, Poster, Synopsis, Plot and Strange Circus Official Trailer

Aka: Kimyô na sâkasu
Year: 2005
Directed: Sion Sono
Genre: Horro/Mystery/Thriller
Runtime: 108 mins
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Cast: Masumi Miyazaki, Issei Ishida, Rie Kuwana, Mai Takahashi
Imdb: Kimyô na sâkasu

Synopsis / Plot

From the director of the cult hit Suicide Club comes an unsettling look at the life of a sexually-abused adolescent whose inability to distinguish her mother’s pleasure from her own pain sends her down a dark and surreal path. Sexually molested by her father Gozu (Hiroshi Oguchi) and mentally tormented by her jealous mother Sayuri (Masumi Miyazaki), twelve-year old Mitsuko (Rie Kuwana) is locked in a cello case and forced to watch her parents perform a series of intimate acts. When Mitsuko’s mother dies as the result of a fatal fall, the deeply disturbed young girl begins to believe that she has, in fact, been transformed into her own mother. Read more …

Gwoemul (The Host), Plot, Cast, Production, Special effects, Filming, Political Background and Trailer

The Host (괴물, Gwoemul - “Monster”) is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who also co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun.

Starring in the film as members of an unremarkable family thrust into the middle of extraordinary events were Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona and Ko Ah-seong. A rare combination of blockbuster plot and political commentary, the film also deals with the implications of America’s military presence in Korea.

Following the success of the director’s previous work, Memories of Murder, The Host was heavily anticipated and hyped. It was released on a record number of screens in its home country on July 27, 2006 and broke box-office records throughout its domestic run. By the end of its run on November 8th, the film had been seen over 13 million times, making it the highest grossing South Korean film of all time, beating the previous leader The King and the Clown, which had attracted 12.3 million people. The film was released on a limited basis in the United States on March 9, 2007, and on DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats on July 24, 2007.

Plot

The film opens with an American military pathologist commanding a reluctant Korean assistant to violate protocol by dumping over 100 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain, which leads to the Han River. Read more …

Strange Circus 2005 (Japanese) Poster, Summary, Cast, Trailer

Synopsis / Plot

From the director of the cult hit Suicide Club comes an unsettling look at the life of a sexually-abused adolescent whose inability to distinguish her mother’s pleasure from her own pain sends her down a dark and surreal path. Sexually molested by her father Gozu (Hiroshi Oguchi) and mentally tormented by her jealous mother Sayuri (Masumi Miyazaki), twelve-year old Mitsuko (Rie Kuwana) is locked in a cello case and forced to watch her parents perform a series of intimate acts. When Mitsuko’s mother dies as the result of a fatal fall, the deeply disturbed young girl begins to believe that she has, in fact, been transformed into her own mother. Her father viewing the death of his wife and mental malaise of his daughter as a motivator to ramp up the incestuous relations with his increasingly unhinged offspring, Mitsuko eventually ends up restricted to a wheelchair following a failed suicide attempt. Later, it begins to appear that the preceding events were nothing more than the details of a new novel by reclusive, wheelchair-bound author Taeko (also Miyazaki). When Taeko’s trusted editor places his fey personal assistant Yuji (Issei Ishida) in charge of the successful writer, the probing Yuji launches a clandestine investigation into Taeko’s background while simultaneously being forced to satisfy her deepest and darkest fantasies. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide Read more …

Game of Death (Thai) 2006 720p BluRay, Ploster, Pot, Cast and Trailer

Aka: 13 Beloved | 13 GAME SAYAWNG
Year: 2006
Directed: Chukiat Sakveerakul
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Runtime: 108MiN
Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Subtitles: English

Cast: Krissada Terrence || Achita Wuthinounsurasit || Sarunyu Wongkrachang || Nattapong Arunnate

Plot: 13 is a new and very secret competition offering a grand prize of 100 million Baht. The contestants are chosen from those most afflicted with problems involving work, money, family and love. Read more …

BEN (1972, US): I Recently Looked at The Original Rat-Attack Classic Willard

BEN (1972, US)

I recently looked at the original rat-attack classic Willard, but unlike the 2004 remake, the 1971 film instantly spawned a sequel.

In the early seventies, movies were slow to get to TV and of course couldn’t be scrutinised on home video. This meant that film-makers making sequels could re-use footage, and flashbacks could be unecessarily long. Ben opens with a hefty recap from the climax of Willard running under the opening titles.

The story then picks up at the moment when the police arrive at Willard’s house. Almost immediately, it’s a different kind of movie – with all the police cars and crowds, this one has scale rather than character-driven claustrophobia. It’s about the police and the city taking on a new type of rat problem – an intelligent rat directing thousands of others…

Ben is big budget but far less even than the first. On the plus side there’s more rat action, special effects on an almost disaster movie level, flame-throwers in the sewers… Read more …

THEM (2006) - French horror filmed in Romania, Poster and Trailer

THEM (2007, France, aka ‘ILS’)

On region 3 PAL DVD from Thailand (PMEG)

There haven’t been many French horror films until recently. This is one of the ‘new wave’ of hard-hitting and effective genre movies from France, like Switchblade Romance (aka Haute Tension), The Ordeal (Calvaire) and even Brotherhood of the Wolf. It’s received quite a decent release worldwide, considering it’s a low-budget movie shot on video, and has been reviewed extensively, but I’d like to add the following…

A French couple have settled down in a large remote house on the outskirts of Bucharest, while teaching French in a Romanian high school. Little do they know, there’s been a mysterious murder nearby, and at night it’s their turn to be victimised, frightened, then hunted…

The opening scene, of a car breaking down on a forest road, builds nicely to a somewhat cliched climax. Read more …

Nightmare Detective (2006) a Tsukamoto Classic, Poster and Trailer

NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE (2006, Japan, on IMDB as Akumu Tantei) Region 2 PAL Italian DVD (RaroVideo)

The films of director Shinya Tsukamoto are always interesting but usually challenging. His two films of Tetsuo the Iron Man were extreme and disorientating, Haze was short and experimental, Hiruko the Goblin and Gemini bizarre and surreal.

Nightmare Detective appears to be his most mainstream, high profile project. A short plot summary looks accessible enough - a psychic who can enter other people’s dreams doing battle with a nightmare killer. This sounds familiar, in the vein of the many Elm Streets, but appearances can be deceptive…

Detective Keiko Kirishima (played by Hitomi) arrives on the scene of a suicide, but is suspicious that it’s not as it appears. When the case is linked to another violent and bloody death, her colleagues are astonished when she insists that it’s not only a murder case, but also in need of a psychic to solve it. Read more …