BLACK HOLE REVIEWS: Search results for green slime

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query green slime. Sort by date Show all posts

January 25, 2011

THE GREEN SLIME... finally on widescreen DVD!

THE GREEN SLIME
(1968, Japan/USA/Australia)

Greeeen Sliiiiiiiiime!

There was something of a geek-frenzy when this debuted on DVD last year, so I'm sure you know about this already. But I couldn't not have Green Slime somewhere on these pages.

A one-eyed, tentacled monstrosity unafraid of a spaceman's raygun. Even as a black and white photo in A Pictorial History of Horror Movies, this was already one of my favourite movie monsters. But it was twenty years before I saw it in action on a Turner movie channel. It's been another fifteen years before this widescreen DVD release from Warner Archive. I think they've been surprised at quite how popular the response has been to this nutty monster movie, proving there's gold in them thar archives...

The story predates several familiar sci-fi action films. A space probe lands on a distant asteroid and unwittingly picks up a parasite that multiplies tribble-like when the probe docks in Earth orbit with a military space station, (the flimsy-looking Gamma 3). As the aliens' number increases, the space soldiers have to fight this bizarre deadly menace both inside and outside the satellite station...

The Green Slime begins by scampering through the plot of Armageddon (1998) in under thirty minutes - with a desperate mission to save Earth by landing on the asteroid to plant explosives.

The story then morphs into Alien as one of the demolition crew unwittingly picks up a strange slimy lifeform. It then shifts into Aliens as the soldiers have to tackle the multiplying threat in their orbiting base.

Originally an adult-only 'X' certificate in the UK, there's little here that would scare the average Doctor Who fan, but its generous with bloody make-up jobs and close-up electrocutions. It's the super-serious acting when faced with rubber monsters and furious pacing helps make this so enjoyable.

The aliens' blood is dangerous, as are their electric tentacles, but these monsters often look far less threatening than their publicity photos as they casually stomp around.

The tempo of the soundtrack rarely accelerates beyond weird space atmospherics - a fast-paced action theme would really have helped the frantic (and bizarre) outer space battle. The most memorable music is of course the blistering acid rock theme, belting out the immortal chorus "Greeeeeen Sliiiiiime".

This was an unusual Japanese/American hybrid production, with a solely western cast (the only Japanese actors are inside the monster suits). Richard Jaeckel (Grizzly) and Robert Horton are a treat to watch, butting heads over Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball) who has little to do besides add a ton of glamour. While Jaeckal adds gutsy realism to his heroics, Robert Horton plays an incredibly bullish commander, consistently and unpleasantly pulling rank.

With no Japanese actors, and substandard model work (the space rockets, satellites and launchpad all look tiny), there's really little to betray that this was filmed in Japan. Made by Toei Studios, the director was no less than the Kinji Fukasaku - the genius who gave us Battle Royale (2000).

The Green Slime has been available widescreen on laserdisc and DVD in Japan, but the Japanese version was 15 minutes shorter than the US, Japan opting to prune back the dialogue scenes to keep the action moving. Added to this, the Japanese home video releases didn't have English subtitles or language tracks, despite totally being filmed in English.

Released at the end of 2010, the new Warner Archive DVD (pictured at the top) is special for being digitally remastered, and for making the 2.35 widescreen of the US cut finally available. For years, The Green Slime has been seen on TV (and VHS) as a cramped 1.33 pan-and-scan version, making the space battle climax a confusing mess. Well, even more of a confusing mess.

I'm still a little nervous about shelling out full price for a DVD-R. Hopefully Warner Archive's best-sellers will eventually get normal factory-pressed DVD releases. Maybe even special editions? But for now, I'm just thankful it's been remastered, and I had the chance to see it properly.

If the trailer doesn't make you want to see it, you're already slimed...

May 04, 2009

GRIZZLY (1976) - with the emphasis on grisly

GRIZZLY
(1976, USA)

Finally, I get to see an uncut version of Grizzly. This was the first to cash in on the bloody wake of Jaws. Cinemas were then deluged by a carnival of killer animal movies, mostly aquatic (Tentacles, Orca The Killer Whale, Piranha, Alligator...), but also landlubbers (Prophecy, The Swarm...). Although Grizzly was first out of the gate, it's one of the best in the genre.

The version we saw in UK cinemas in 1976 had most of the blood (and flying limbs) censored. Despite the amount of gore that was allowed in Jaws, the censor wasn't nearly as lenient with Grizzly. The wonderful Shriek Show 30th anniversary DVD has been my first chance to see the film in its entirety. Getting a 'guilty pleasure' like this, widescreen, uncut, with a commentary track, behind-the-scenes footage, and new interviews, make the Special Edition extra special.

Campers start dying in a state national park. When I say dying, I mean 'getting torn apart'. The ranger thinks a bear is to blame, but no one believes him when he reckons an abnormally large grizzly is responsible - it's just too far south. As the hunters become the hunted, he enlists the help of a helicopter pilot and an eccentric bear expert to try and end the carnage.

Director William Girdler's background was in low-budget horror movies, and Grizzly closely resembles an early slasher film, with the emphasis on slash. The intensity of the bear attacks puts Jason Vorhees to shame, using gore and close-ups of screaming victims backing away from the camera, in a way that recalls Italian giallo. There's as much blood in the uncut version of Grizzly than many Friday the 13th movies, and there's that familiar forest ambiance too. All this and helicopter action. Hey, I happen to like helicopters. So did 1970s action cinema. Had to have a helicopter.

Part of it's continuing watchability today is due to the extensive use of a real-life, full-size grizzly bear running around. (The DVD extras mention the solitary electrified wire that separated it from the cast and crew).

If this were made today, the scriptwriter would have to work hard to avoid the bear being simply anaesthetised and lovingly relocated. But this is a monster movie made in Texas, so the only solutions considered are strictly guns and ammo.

As a bonus, the cast are very good, adding convincing drama to a simple story, but are more familiar from TV. You may have seen Christopher George (the park ranger) star in Lucio Fulci's zombie classic City of the Living Dead (1979), vigilante slasher The Exterminator (1980), or even Girdler's next nature-revenge movie Day of the Animals. Richard Jaeckel (the eccentric tracker) for me is forever the star of Kinji (Battle Royale) Fukasaku's delirious The Green Slime (1968), as a military astronaut defending a space station from, um, alien monsters from the green slime...

As a prime example of bad-taste, low-budget, exploitation cinema gone mainstream, Grizzly is hard to beat. Girdler would try and match it's success with Day of the Animals (1977), but his last film was my favourite, The Manitou (1978), which I reviewed here.

Check out more abut William Girdler's 'Texploitation' movies here.

In the UK, Grizzly topped a double-bill with Drive-In, a good-natured Texan teen comedy. It was like American Graffiti, but in 1970s Dallas. It includes a movie-within-a-movie playing at the drive-in, Disaster '76, an early satire of catastrophe movies, made before Airplane. It's not on DVD, but Drive-In can be seen in its entirety here on GoogleVideo.

November 05, 2006

INFECTION (2004) J-Horror Theater #1

INFECTION (2004, Japan, aka Kansen)
J-Horror Theater #1
Region 1 NTSC DVD (Lions Gate)

Don't like hospitals?

Infection begins in a rundown hospital in the middle of a crisis. Too many patients, supplies running out, staff not paid. You almost think that the infection in the title is already over-running the city outside (which we never see).

Of the remaining staff and patients, each one has a different problem. One of the nurses is having trouble giving injections (she keeps missing the vein), two patients have fallen out of their beds and injured themselves, one patient sees people in mirrors who aren’t in the room...

The busy doctors, torn between an operation that's going wrong, and an ambulance trying to leave an extra patient in E.R., things start going very wrong. As an unknown infection turns the patient into green slime, everyone in the building suddenly finds themselves at risk of a fate worse than death, as the hospital dissolves into chaos…

The film cleverly distances itself from TV medical dramas with a ‘look’ that’s not quite right for a hospital. It’s not quite ramshackle or dirty, it just looks wrong. The nurses seem to be careless, distracted. The doctors nervous and stressed.

A sense of unease and uncanny is quickly established that soon put me on edge and creeped me out. The many storylines that are established with each of the characters, slowly start to pay off. For a long while I wasn’t sure just which direction it was going to go, which made it even more intriguing.

The clever lighting and cinematography achieves an unusual and unique look – a crystal clear image, but with queasy, green-edged shadows.

Despite melting patients and glops of goo, there’s still much horror left unseen, which would certainly have been shown in an FX fest if this were a western horror film. There are still some excessive scenes, but the director wisely chooses to leave some extreme moments to the imagination. He achieves a fine balance of being subtly gory.

When one of the doctors notes that the hospital is having a very bad day, the film verges on black comedy. This looks intentional though, and it gives the tone just enough distance from the more mundane atmosphere of pain and death of hospital dramas, or indeed hospitals.

An ensemble cast – almost everyone gets euqal screen time – is lead by Koichi Sato (who I last saw as the lead in Rasen (1998) which was the very first Ring sequel, and I also remembered him from Antarctica from 1983).

The director chosen to kick off the horror film series, J-Horror Theatre, is Masayuki Ochiai, who previously made the enjoyable and gruesome The Hypnotist, Parasite Eve and the best story in Tales of the Unusual (2000) about a snow ghost. The second in the series, Premonition (or Yogen), wasn't nearly as good.

This was an unusual Japanese horror, not as extreme or frightening as many others, but certainly gripping and entertaining. Just don’t ask me to explain the ending, I’m going to have to watch it again to find out.

The Region 1 DVD only has two trailers for extras. It's 16:9 anamorphic with good english subtitles. Once again I feel that the Japanese publicity artwork was more stylish and intriguing than the US DVD art.

Do you want to know more?
Masses of screengrabs and an unkind review on Snowblood Apple here.

- - - - - - -

May 11, 2007

Rare horror movie trailers on YouTube

Been finding some great and rare movie trailers on YouTube, mostly for seventies horror films.

I'll post the best links in a new category in the sidebar down the right on the Black Hole Reviews homepage.

Hopefully, the 1972 Tales from the Crypt (reviewed here) and Willard trailers will encourage a whole new audience to demand that these films get a DVD release that they deserve.

It's a futureshock for me that these trailers, recently nothing more than an interesting extra on a DVD or even an old VHS compilation, can now actually do their original job and hype their movies again, albeit in an entirely different arena.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972) original trailer on YouTube...

So here's a list of the first batch of trailers that I'll recommend. I think that both the trailers and the movies are very worthwhile. All these links will also appear in the sidebar on the home page, and I'll keep updating that as I find any others of interest...

- - - - - - -

June 29, 2011

47 RONIN - an epic story, revered in Japan

The Japanese samurai legend being remade with Keanu Reeves

This story is highly revered in Japan and has repeatedly been adapted for TV and film (reportedly 80 times). Its wintry climax has made it a regular part of Christmastime in Japan. Only a handful of the movie versions have been released in the west, but I wasn't aware of the story until I saw an exhibition of 19th century woodblock prints at the Royal Academy last year. Really.

The cinematic look of Utagawa Kuniyoshi's work, and the repetition of his depictions of the story and the characters impressed me that this was a big deal in Japanese culture. It actually took place, but I've no idea how much its been skewed from historical fact into legendary heroism. The actual graves of the 47 ronin are still revered and honoured today.

After the Kuniyoshi exhibit, I looked up the film adaptions. After I'd picked up two of the available movies, the story was announced for a Hollywood remake to be called 47 Ronin, starring Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring, The Twilight Samurai, Speed Racer) and Tadanobu Asano (Ichi The Killer, Gohatto). Expected in cinemas in 2012, it'll be in 3D... (news report here from Metropolis Tokyo). So, as usual, I'll try not to spoil too much about it.

Set around 1702, in and about various castles, it starts with an indiscretion that leads to an outrage. An elaborate revenge can only be mounted with extreme patience and utmost secrecy, sworn by dozens of loyal samurai. Well, disowned samurai are called ronin...

THE LOYAL 47 RONIN

(1958, Japan, Chushingura)

Respectful adaption from Daiei Studios that emphasises the impact of the ronin's revenge

Lord Kira's continual taunting of Lord Asano in his own castle pushes him to breaking point just as an imperial delegation arrives. His punishment sets his loyal men adrift without a leader, but they refuse to give up their castle. Their stubbornness causes rifts with their families and loved ones, while society waits for them to show some self-respect and avenge...

At the core of the story are the very strict codes of the imperial courts, the shogunate and their samurai, at a time when etiquette and dress code were extremely precise. The hierarchy of rank and the value of family name were rigidly defined. Within these almost invisible constraints, the ronin try to prove themselves with unending loyalty and extremes of emotional endurance, led by the stalwart Oishi (Kazuo Hasegawa).

This is primarily a drama, rather than an action film, over its three hour running time. The fight scenes are well orchestrated, but it's distracting not to see any blood after so many slashes from samurai swords. Much like old westerns never show any bloody wounds on even the whitest shirts, presumably the norm for this era of cinema. Seppuku (ritual suicide) is similarly tastefully dealt with, off screen.

As a drama it's impressive and the story kept me gripped till the end, bearing in mind that this was the first version I'd seen, with no idea how it was going to play out.

This is a faithful and straightforward account of the story. This DVD edition from AnimEigo has been praised for its accurate subtitle translations which optionally include extra historical explanations during the film, and in the DVD extras.

A fuller review of The Loyal 47 Ronin, with spoilers, from the Shogun's Mansion.

SWORDS OF VENGEANCE

(1978, Japan, Ako-Jo danzetsu, The Fall of Ako Castle)

Bloodier, action-packed, sloppier version from Kinji Fukasaku

Another epic offering, this time from samurai specialists Toei Studios, boasting Sonny Chiba in the cast, but it must be stressed that he's not the star. The story has a lot of characters! Sonny gets some action of course, but Tetsuro Tamba and Toshiro Mifune are also in there. Again, Oishi has the central role, played here by Kinnosuke Nakamura. Kinji Fukasaku directs, halfway between giving us The Green Slime and Battle Royale...

While The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958) was successfully dramatic, Fukasaku delivers more action and certainly much more blood. This isn't excessive considering how many swords are being waved around, and he shows admirable restraint in the film's most powerful scene, a seppuku...

Other aspects of this very 1970s update are less successful - the opening title music is just plain wrong. It sounds more suitable for a sleazy detective thriller. Thankfully the music during the rest of the film is less jarring, though it rarely enhances the visuals.

The drama is amped up to over-acting and shouting, which often reaches laughable levels. It made me appreciate the acting in the 1958 film more. The story wastes no time and gets straight into the crucial incident which started it all off, with notably more blood than the 1958 version. It never reaches the spurting extremes of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch or the Baby Cart movies. There's an awkward jump cut in the film that I guess was a censor cut, removing a scene of seppuku (during the hair-cutting shot).

With a faster pace, and even voiceovers to keep the exposition rolling along, this still doesn't manage to be much shorter than the 1958 film at 160 minutes long. While the narrative is faster-moving, more and more complex action scenes have been included.

But this is where it falls down for me - the story of the 47 ronin hinges on a long and complex fight. The contemporary use of handheld camerawork made the action harder to follow, because it wasn't particularly good handheld work. I'd even say it's so 'loose' that it misses some of the action. This may be forgivable for viewers who know the story well, but it's a challenge for newcomers to understand what's happening. Handheld camera also intrudes into some slower dramatic scenes, further marred by wobbly zooms.

Swords of Vengeance is an epic showcase for the genre and the era, but the story deserves reverence rather than excess. It's worth seeing for the scenes that really work well, but it's not the best representation of the story.

The DVD from Adness has good subtitles, but the anamorphic 2.35 widescreen picture looks slightly too squeezed throughout.

A much fuller review of Swords of Vengeance here at Wild Realm, full of spoilers, as well as details of many other movie adaptions of the legend of the loyal 47 ronin.

May 21, 2014

DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1978) - Leslie Nielsen in the follow-up to GRIZZLY

DAY OF THE ANIMALS

(1977, USA)

When animals attack... and keep on attacking!

A large group of happy campers prepare for a long trek in California's High Sierras. But after they're dropped off high on a mountain by helicopter, a warning goes out that an anomaly in the ozone layer could alter animal behaviour, and even be dangerous for humans. As the evacuation begins of all the towns at high altitude, the campers aren't expecting it when the many wild animals start behaving strangely...

This wouldn't have been made if it wasn't for Jaws, but like Joe Dante, director William Girdler knows his audience and tries to add surprises to the horror genre, rather than relying on cliche. With the theme of atmospheric damage, this also has a strong dose of sci-fi. It has a grindhouse vibe, but is too well made to be labelled as such.

Director William Girdler started off making really cheap horror films (like Three on a Meathook and Asylum of Satan) but rapidly progressed to mainstream releases. He rarely strayed from horror films, but maintained a fun creative sense, injecting what are now known as 'WTF moments' that make his later films must-sees. I looked forward to them, and was saddened when he died accidentally at the ridiculously young age of 30.

Day of the Animals, Grizzly and The Manitou deserve to be remastered on blu-ray. At the moment there's only a blu-ray of Grizzly in France and Day of the Animals has just had a special edition blu-ray in the USA, from Scorpion Releasing.

When I first saw this, on a double-bill with The Car, it didn't impress me nearly as much (see my review of The Car here). Watching it again on DVD did little to improve my opinion, but it was a really terrible presentation. Now, seeing it again in 2.35 widescreen, superbly restored, has elevated Day of the Animals to a worthy support feature for Grizzly, which I rate very highly. It could be argued that there's some continuity between the two stories. Day of the Animals could be a prequel, explaining why Grizzly ran amok. The animal attack theme certainly binds these two films together, made in consecutive years. It's certainly a better partner than The Car.

The new blu-ray showcases the production from the opening shots. Even the title sequence looks good, with so many wild animals sitting, waiting patiently in frame for their prey to arrive. The many wild animals on show are impressive because none of them are stock footage. The excessive lens flares and slightly 'hot' overexposure, with some additional filters, cleverly transmit that there's something not quite right about the sunlight.

When the animals start to attack, it looks convincingly fierce. Girdler and his team must have met up with the right people during the making of Grizzly, to be able to film so many different co-operative animals.

While the stuntwork is still very convincing, The budget can't extend to ambitious visual effects, some of which haven't aged well. It's also hard to take the film too seriously with Leslie Nielsen playing a racist bully, shortly before he appeared in Airplane!

Both Christopher George (City of the Living Dead) and Richard Jaeckel (The Green Slime) return fresh from Grizzly, but as quite different characters. Girdler certainly hangs on to the actors he likes. Similarly, Michael Ansara later appeared in The Manitou.

Susan Backlinie was most famous for being the first victim in Jaws, and here he uses her both as stunt performer and an actress. Bobby Porter also performed stunts, but being under five feet tall, he usually doubled children. He also acts and plays a child in this, even though he was 25 at the time! Porter also had a major role as the young chimp in Battle for the Planet of the Apes and memorably a child zombie in Night of the Comet.

Andrew Stevens has a small role in this, just before he landed a major role in Brian De Palma's The Fury. There's also Paul Mantee, star of George Pal's Robinson Crusoe On Mars. He and Jon Cedar are interviewed on the blu-ray edition, adding considerable background to the making of the film and William Girdler's way of working.

As I mentioned, the US DVD of Day of the Animals is ghastly, a blurry, pan-and-scan 1.33 crop from a 2.35 widescreen image.

The new blu-ray shows off the how good the production actually looked, especially it's scenic cinematography, digitally mastered from the interpositive. There's a new 5.1 audio mix of the original elements and a unique isolated soundtrack of Lalo Schifrin's music. All this and reversible cover art.

An action-packed 'animal attack' movie at the height of that craze, and a predictive tale of eco-disaster, I finally loved watching this again.

To see how Day of the Animals looks on blu-ray, visit DVD Beaver for their review and gallery of screengrabs.

GRIZZLY - my look at the superfun 1976 Jaws rip-off, nick-named - 'Jaws on land'

For much more about the films of William Girdler, go to fan site WilliamGirdler.com

December 28, 2010

Another year over and what have you done?

A LOOK BACK

After posting twice-weekly throughout 2009, this year was total upheaval as we moved out of the house for six months of building work. I kept up with weekly posts but am still struggling to improve on that frequency while my reference collection is still in disarray. I used to cope with two movie reviews a week, but I've been getting (over)ambitious in the scope of each post.

It was fun to talk about my earliest horror film books and magazines. I'm planning several more time capsules of 1970s' movie memorabilia and cinema-going...

I also wrote more cross-comparisons of films based on the same source material, like Dante's Inferno, and the Jonestown mass suicide. But those articles took weeks to prepare. Simple reviews turning into three-in-one epics. The idea is always to try and not repeat what's already out there. Why post reviews of Avatar or Inception and compete with a thousand other writers?

Perversely, I've enjoyed writing about movies that aren't currently available, to raise awareness (and demand) for older films that haven't made the 'leap' to DVD yet. It feels wrong to recommend films that you can't easily see, but at the same time it's about putting out information that's missing from the net, and showing love for the films being left behind. Thankfully this year there's been a fairly steady stream of DVD releases to tick off my 'most wanted' list, most notably The Green Slime!

Twittering has been fun, but I'm not sure that it has fed many readers back into this blog. I've also found it impossible to get reliable recommendations about films from the other Twitterers! There's a lot of excitement and promotion involved, and it's much harder to 'read' where people are coming from. I find it a useful way to get news out quickly, and for posting mini-reviews of stuff that I'm not going to blog about.

Stepping back to look at the site as a whole, I'm planning to restructure it (slightly) to make the archives more navigable. Instead of displaying a list of every film review in the sidebar, I want to turn each category into a more helpful page of recommendations. The idea being that the site is somewhere to come for ideas about what to watch in your favourite genre.

In any case, thank you for reading. I've still got a thousand things I want to write about.

Finally, a word from the cat sitting on the keyboard... xdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

The cat sat in front of the Shat

May 05, 2008

CHOSEN SURVIVORS (1974) - bats and bombs

CHOSEN SURVIVORS
(USA, 1974)

All I knew about this was that it was post-apocalyptic and had vampire bats in it! As it was on the DVD double-bill release with The Earth Dies Screaming, which I simply had to have, I finally got a chance to see it. Earth is a black/white sixties British space invasion, Chosen Survivors is seventies US sci-fi with a TV look and a TV cast. But its adult approach and grim plot elevates it to filmic status. Both films have been hard to see until now.

Chosen Survivors starts with a dozen drugged civilians being dragged from a military helicopter into a cave in the middle of the desert. Down deep inside is a huge, futuristic, self-contained bunker. As the drugs wear off, they get shown a presentation video informing them that the world has just been obliterated in a nuclear war, and they were all pre-selected as experts most likely to help humanity re-populate.

They try to grasp the fact that everyone else in the world is dead (apart from those in other bunkers) and settle down to life together for a few years, until the radiation levels are tolerable again. But if life wasn't tough enough, they discover a problem with their underground sanctuary - killer vampire bats...

It’s not as corny as it sounds. Intelligent plotting, sexual and psychological drama and an offbeat directorial approach make this quite a unique little movie. Director Sutton Roley was obviously trying to break out of TV with this one, though he was a master of top TV shows for decades.

Skewed camera angles are effectively used to show the disorientation of the survivors as they arrive, wide-angle lenses to accent their claustrophobia. There’s also an impressive, experimental, electronic soundtrack by Fred Karlin, just after he scored another downbeat sci-fi, Westworld.

While the cast aren't A-list, there are a few familiar faces – like, Alex Cord (Archangel in Airwolf), Jackie Cooper (Perry White in Superman – The Movie), Barbara Babcock (Hill Street Blues) and Richard Jaeckal (Grizzly and The Green Slime). And once again, Lincoln Kilpatrick gets a tricky climbing assignment, like he did as one of the night-people in The Omega Man.

I’m very glad to have seen this. Now where's the CD release?

- - - - - - -

June 15, 2009

BATTLE ROYALE (2000) - If you only ever see one Japanese movie...

If you haven't been here before, the Black Hole blog recommends all sorts of movies, old and new, from around the world. But half the films are from Japan. I'm so impressed by the quality and freedom of the film-making, the style and imagination and, well, they come up with stuff that no one else does. Sometimes impeccably tasteful, other times, not so. A case in point...

BATTLE ROYALE
(2000, Japan)

If you only ever see one Japanese movie...

...make sure it's this one!

In the near future, 42 schoolkids are abducted and taken to a remote island. They are given a weapon each and told that only one of them will be allowed to leave the island. They have three days to kill all their classmates...

An outrageous scenario with brutal violence that veers between tragedy and black humour. Not visually extreme by today's standards, but repeatedly shocking. It could easily be TV from the near future - as each teenager dies, a scorecard comes up of how many survivors are left. I first watched it in a state of continuous astonishment, and it's the best movie I can think of which would change someone's mind over watching a subtitled movie.

There's a grim introduction, as we see the winner of last year's tournament (clutching a teddy bear) and then the new batch of kids are all too easily kidnapped. We're then clued in to the film's dark humour with the tongue-in-cheek, chirpy video guide to the rules of the game. Their randomly allocated weapons range from machine-guns to kitchen utensils. Oh, and look out for that handheld rice sickle, guys.

As the slaying begins, the young contestants pick their initial victims based on schoolyard jealousies, or by bringing down the bullies. But this certainly isn't The Running Man. Not everyone instantly turns into motivated killing machines. The teenagers react realistically - some panic, some crack under stress, some can't face killing their friends.

The only flaw in this almost perfect cult movie, is the under-explained history of the game. There's a huge media frenzy around the winner of the previous game, but no good explanation of why there is a game. Televising it all would have made more sense, but there's no hint that it is. This would also repeat the themes of other legalised murder-sports moves, such as The 10th Victim, Rollerball and Death Race 2000.

After first seeing Battle Royale, I looked up the director's other credits, assuming it was a young film-maker wanting to cause a controversial splash. I was surprised to learn that Kinji Fukasaku was a seasoned veteran with a filmography packed with cult goodies such as The Green Slime and Black Lizard (both from 1968). Remembering his childhood in World War II, Fukasaku had intended Battle Royale to be a reminder of how adults can turn teenagers into killers in times of war. After a fascinating career, this proved to be his last complete film (he'd just started shooting Battle Royale II: Requiem when he passed away).

The hugely respected film star and director, Takeshi Kitano, heads the cast as the sinister supervisor of the tournament. Many of the huge, young cast have since sustained acting careers. Leading man, Tatsuya Fujiwara recently starred in the live-action version of the phenomenon that is Death Note. Actress Chiaki Kuriyama went on to steal her only scene from Uma Thurman, as the schoolgirl assassin in Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1

There are two versions of the film, the original and The Director's Cut - a revised version where Fukasaku added a little more blood to the film. There's an important additional scene that shows the class playing basketball together before they're abducted. It's the only opportunity to see them in a normal situation before the havoc begins.

But see either version. Whichever way, you won't forget Battle Royale in a hurry.

Check out more from the Japanese Blog-a-thon at Wild Grounds.

Here in the Black Hole, there are lists of links to Japanese horror films, anime, monster movies and TV... down the sidebar...

May 21, 2007

More vintage trailers and stuff on YouTube

Here's some more trailers and clips on YouTube, just click on the movie titles below:

HARPYA (1979) a short scary part-animated harpy horror - here in its entirety

Kubrick talks (1968) it's not often you hear Stanley Kubrick speak (especially about 2001) - great voice!

MEL BROOKS' THE CRITIC (1963) a very early animated short, directed and voiced by Mel Brooks

CLASSIC HORROR TRAILERS:

ALIEN (1979) original trailer

CORRUPTION (1968) rare Peter Cushing slasher

The DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968) classic satanic Hammer

DR BLOOD'S COFFIN (1961) rare Hazel Court horror

DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971) bisexual Hammer

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969) the grittiest Peter Cushing baron

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980) Doug McClure meets sex and violence

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) a slasher down the mines

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) from Hammer

RABID (1978) early all-action David Cronenberg bio-horror

TENTACLES (1979) Italian rip off JAWS

TERROR TRAIN (1980) Jamie Lee Curtis slasher

ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS (1979) UK trailer for this Italian gorefest

SIXTIES CULT TRAILERS:

The ITALIAN JOB (1968) original trailer for the original film

The LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1974) Doug McClure vs dinosaurs

The TRIP (1967) director Roger Corman wrestles with LSD, Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern investigate...

NEW FROM JAPAN...

ERGO PROXY (2006) interesting anime opening titles, with music from Monoral

PARANOIA AGENT (2004) astonishing titles sequence from this Satashi Kon anime, with music by Susumu Hirazawa

REINCARNATION (2005) Takeshi Shimizu's scary RINNE - the Japanese trailer

SPEED GRAPHER (2006) opening titles with original Duran Duran music

...and more

BASKET CASE (1982) trailer

BATGIRL test episode (1968)

BATMAN (1966) movie trailer

BEN (1972) killer rat trailer

BEYOND VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

The CASE OF THE MUKKINESE BATTLEHORN - classic short film from The Goons

CHIAKI KURIYAMA interview

CORRUPTION (1968) trailer

The CRITIC (1963) Mel Brooks

DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) trailer

DR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE

EARTH DIES SCREAMING clip