Reviews

Cristopharo's third feature film mixes the genres of gothic horror, giallo and erotic cinema a-la italiana, with murders, nudity and sex and showcases some extreme ideas. Although made with a low budget, it has certain values and combines arthouse cinema with pure exploitation, although those not familiar with the director's work or the new generation of Italian horror might not get the point.

Mixing elements from other popular Asian films of black magic from that era (see HEX, THE BOXER'S OMEN, MYSTICS IN BALI), this low budget film offers action, horror and nudity in a delirious package and the finale is absolutely wild. It's a little light-hearted at times but has plenty of bizarre visuals, such as a flying head, supernatural kung-fu, Taoist exorcisms etc, so it's worth it!

Oryo goes to Osaka, where she is caught within a dispute regarding the succession for the leader of a local yakuza clan. The main part of the movie focuses too much on drama, but there is a nice all-out battle in the finale, where we see Junko Fuji, Bunta Sugawara and Tomishaburo Wakayama killing dozens of yakuza enemies. It's not a bad chanbara/yakuza hybrid, but not as good as some of the previous entries in the series.

I saw the movie in a Chinese cinema and I agree with most people that it concludes the franchise in a very satisfying and fitting way. There's nice acting, very interesting martial arts fights (including a brutal Donnie Yen vs.Scott Adkins confrontation) and it also delivers several messages, if you don't mind a touch of Chinese patriotism in your martial arts movies.

Two filmmakers try to make a documentary about a suburban serial killer and the movie just copies the formula of the infamous serial killer classic MAN BITES DOG (Belgium-1992), but in a very blatant and boring way. Few killings, a lot of unnecessary talking and the film's 107 minutes are just a waste of time and money. Try to find the Belgian film instead...

A female vampire encounters a serial killer in an underground sex club and then all hell breaks loose. Gory and sleazy short from Brazil, with nice practical FX and a fun DIY attitude. Recommended for fans of gory shot-on-video horror.

I really liked the first MOJIN film, so I went to a Chinese cinema to see the second one in 3D, but the story and execution were not as good as in the first one. This time the adventurers go to the mystical province of Yunan, looking for a talisman that is protected by armies of large monsters (lizards, scorpions, a killer crab etc), but things end up too melodramatic, although the CGI effects are actually well done.

The director of HEADSHOT, KILLERS and THE NIGHT COMES FOR US returns to the horror genre (from which he started), with a film that combines Asian black magic horror with western possession/demonic horror and a lot of EVILDEAD influences, which is extremely welcome! Solid direction, great horror atmosphere and plenty of gore will offer a great viewing to all fans of pure horror cinema (not of the cineplex type). As an extra note, this movie also honors the great tradition of Indonesian cinema in horror and cult classics like MYSTICS IN BALI, SATAN'S SLAVE, LADY TERMINATOR etc.

Swiss-born music composer makes his directing debut with a zombie movie that reminds us of classics from the 80's and 90's (RE-ANIMATOR, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE KEEP, plus Italian zombie films,-especially those of Bruno Mattei) and has plenty of practical FX and buckets of gore. It's light-hearted but doesn't follow the recent zomedy trends and has its heart in the right place, so zombie fans should give it a try.

Although Greek cinema has no concrete horror tradition, this short film showcases that this director not only has a real love for the genre but also great potential. Set in the byzantine era, SANCTIMONY has nice production values, a good sense of dread and well done splatter effects, so it's a good viewing for all curious gorehounds out there.

Although we are used to Hong Kong vampire horror films like SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS and the MR.VAMPIRE series, that depict Chinese hopping vampires ('jiang shi'), this little gem has a Western vampire ('xi xue gui') and starts with a reporter (a wonderful as always Kent Cheng) confronting the unstoppable monster in a neon-lit 80's Hong Kong. Excellent blend of horror and comedy, with solid direction, nice touches of gore FX and a nice mix of scares and laughs. A perfect midnight screening for fans of 80's HK horror and unfortunately they don't make them like that anymore...

Despite being the debut for this director from Toronto, FLORA has an interesting story and honors the era of early horror literature (Agernon Blackwood, Weird Tales Magazine etc) and it's surprisingly well done, despite the limited budget. In 1929 a team of scientist discover a closed ecosystem with a strange kind of fungus that eliminates any kind of animal life (including humans) and their race for survival begins. For people with a true knowledge of the horror genre (and I mean those who prefer its roots in literature and not those looking for brainless blockbuster atrocities), this is a hidden little gem.