Tag: film review
It is no mystery to seasoned J-horror fans that many of the most prolific directors of the genre started their careers making low-budget short films for television or straight-to-video productions, otherwise known as V-cinema. Takashi Shimizu of Ju-On fame, for example, dipped his toes in the waters of V-cinema with 4444444444, In a Corner, and
There’s something thrilling about watching a seasoned director’s first film. It’s like discovering the blueprint of what’s to come—a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the voice they’ll refine over the years. Sure, it may be rough around the edges, but you start spotting those telltale signs: the themes, the tone, the obsessions that will come to
Hotspring Sharkattack (also known as Onsen shâku) is a 2024 Japanese action comedy film written and directed by Morihito Inoue in his feature debut. There have been cases of mysterious disappearances of onsen visitors in Atsumi city in S prefecture. The victims were eventually found dead with signs of severe injuries to their bodies resembling
Did you know Hideaki Anno, best known for Evangelion, has also tackled themes of inner turmoil and depression in live action? If you don’t, no one can blame you. It’s easy to associate Anno with mechas, apocalyptic imagery, and psychological breakdowns. But in his 1998 live-action debut Love & Pop, he trades in the esoteric
Missing Child Videotape is a 2024 Japanese supernatural horror film written and directed by Ryota Kondo with additional writing from Suzuyuki Kaneko. Known for directing the short films Akai tegata (2010) and Kyouran (2010), Ryota Kondo has also collaborated on the horror anthology Hyakki Yobanashi (2023), featuring the segment “Oni no Yobigoe”. Whereas Suzuyuki Kaneko
Director Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel) has carved a niche for himself as a purveyor of slow, dreamlike horror steeped in dread. Longlegs, his latest film, promises to be his most ambitious project yet: a serial killer procedural dripping with Satanic overtones, shot through a grainy 90s lens, and headlined by a
Urotsukidoji II: Legend of the Demon Womb is a 1991 adult-oriented sci-fi horror anime film written by Toshio Maeda, Shô Aikawa, and Kôichi Ôhata, and directed by Hideki Takayama. The film is the second part of the anime adaptation of the infamous ero guro series, comprised of Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989), this film,
Visceral: Between the Ropes of Madness (also known as Visceral: Entre las cuerdas de la locura) is a 2012 Chilean extreme horror film written, directed, and starring Felipe Eluti. Previously, Felipe worked as an editor on the Spanish-language drama La Mujer de Iván (2011), and went on to act in Lucio A. Rojas’ Trauma (2017).
To me, the greatest American rock and roll band will always be The Cramps. Led by singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach, draped in vintage Frederick’s of Hollywood outfits, fueled by their schlocky B-movie obsessions, and lyrics brimming with enough double-entendres to make Mae West blush, the Cramps delivered a masterclass in glorious
The Ugly Stepsister (2025) is Norwegian writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt’s debut feature that combines a reworked fairytale with stomach-churning body horror while satirising the appalling steps women must take when gaining a wealthy husband is the highest aspiration a woman could have. This Cinderella tale is shown from the point of view of Elvira