The H-Man

Finally got to see this gem of Toho weirdness from 1958. Once again, nuclear fallout has done nasty things, this time turning people into slime that can reconstitute into ghostly, green, glowing glob-men. Intermixed with the horror/sci-fi is a police procedural involving a yakuza gang, one of whose members is a very young Makoto Sato (above, right) in his film debut. The cops include kaiju/samurai regulars Akihiko Hirata and Yoshio Tsuchiya. Great flick, with all the creeping, existential dread of Matango (aka Attack of the Mushroom People) and dialog like this: "The high voltage discharge unit, once deployed, will stop liquid human infiltration upstream at these checkpoints." Unfortunately, dear reader, you will not be able to see The H-Man (aka Beauty and the Liquid Man) unless you're hooked into the Japanese film bootleg underground -- it's not available commercially, at least not yet. Shame that, as it's an absolute must-see for Toho fantasy film enthusiasts. Fortunately this blog is read by all the industry bigwigs, so I'm sure within weeks of this post Criterion, Image, Media Blasters, AnimEigo or some other outfit will be rushing this baby into production. Yeah, right after I turn to slime and drip down the walls of their corporate headquarters ...

Zatoichi '89

I recently screened Zatoichi (1989), the last film in the franchise, and I must say for all its flaws, it's still a great piece of matatabi-eiga entertainment. It's also a gory one. Good lord the blood flows in this film! In one sequence, a wicked yakuza boss is skewered by a dozen attackers and gives forth bursts of crimson gore to rival the mother of all blood spurts at the end of Kurosawa's Sanjuro (1962). Shintaro Katsu was in his late 50's when he made Zatoichi, but he's still got the moves, lopping off heads, arms, even noses with his flashing cane sword. There are also plenty of nods to past installments, the film providing a veritable checklist of series tropes and gags. Regrettably, you have to give your money to Tokyo Shock, but just hold your nose as you fork over the dough, knowing that you've got a solid piece of samurai entertainment that you can enjoy over and over again.

Two Reviews in Asian Reporter

Both of these film reviews were published in the June 12 Asian Reporter:

Satoshi Kon’s Paprika is an anime dream come true

Ping Pong — A manga movie with bounce

Ping Pong actually came out in 2002, but it's going to be playing at a theater in Portland, so they asked me to write it up. Fun manga flick.

Hanzo the manga

Those of you who've read my Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook may be familiar with the ourtragous Hanzo the Razor trilogy (1972 - 4). This trio of period exploitation films starring Shintaro Katsu follows the crime-fighing adventures of Itami Hanzo, the most well-endowed cop in Edo, who doesn't hesitate to use his massive member in the service of justice! The films were adapted from a manga by Kazuo Koike (creator of Lone Wolf and Cub and Lady Snowblood).

Anyhow, a friend in Australia recently sent me these images from the Kamisori Hanzo manga and I thought I'd share:

Yoshiko Kuga

This is a photograph of the divine Yoshiko Kuga, taken by Shotaro Akiyama. Ms. Kuga is noteworthy for having appeared in films by all three of The Big Three. I recently enjoyed her performances in The Idiot (1951, Akira Kurosawa), New Tales of the Taira Clan (1955, Kenji Mizoguchi) and Good Morning (1959, Yasujiro Ozu). Her striking beauty and natural talent make her memorable in any part, large or small. Even in the Mizoguchi film, where her lines are few and the camera never gets closer than a two-shot, her poised grace and strong, feminine presence create a fully three-dimensional character.

She was married to actor Akihiko Hirata, himself a Japanese film veteran who starred in kaiju eiga (Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan) as well as samurai films (Musashi Miyamoto II, Samurai Saga, Sanjuro), until his untimely death in 1984. Hirata and Kuga both appeared in Hiroshi Inagaki's Whirlwind (1964) and Samurai Banners (1969).

Capsule Reviews from SFIFF

Here's the piece I wrote on the 50th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival for the Asian Reporter:

SFIFF shows vitality, variety of Asian film

The Ceiling at Utsunomiya

If you're into Japanese horror, or if you've read Asia Shock (or, hopefully, both), you may have an awareness of Nobuo Nakagawa, Japan's first master of horror (Jigoku, Ghost of Yotsuya, Mansion of the Ghost Cat). I recently enjoyed one of his lesser-known films, The Ceiling at Utsunomiya (1956), a supernatural samurai film that stands as perhaps the first serious entry in Nakagawa's 50's horror ouvre. Great flick, with lots of sword work, plenty of engaging characters, a plot to assassinate the shogun, a bit of foul murder, a vengeful ghost, and the inevitable Tetsuro Tamba. You can get a copy at Super Happy Fun (along with a bunch of other great Nakagawa films).