FOR CLIPS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Twitch, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing a third downloadable English-subtitled clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai”.

Zombie Self-Defense Force had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd of last year. It had its North American première at the Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th of last year. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th of last year. Gold View Co. Ltd. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû) is the international sales agent for it.

Continue Reading "3rd clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (ZONBI JIEITAI)"...

FOR CLIPS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Twitch, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing a second downloadable English-subtitled clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai”. (Note: The end of the first clip and the beginning of the second one overlap.)

Zombie Self-Defense Force is scheduled to have its German première at the Weekend of Fear (WOF) 2007 in Erlangen, Germany on the morning of April 29th at around 4:00 a.m.. It had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd of last year. It had its North American première at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th of last year. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th of last year. Gold View Co. Ltd. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû) is the international sales agent for it.

Continue Reading "2nd clip from Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (ZONBI JIEITAI)"...

FOR CLIP, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai” - is scheduled to be screened at the Weekend of Fear (WOF) 2007 in Erlangen, Germany on the morning of April 29th at around 4:00 a.m., as part of a zombie double feature with Scott Phillips‘ The Stink of Flesh.

Zombie Self-Defense Force had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd of last year. It had its North American première at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th of last year. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th of last year. Gold View Co. Ltd. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû) is the international sales agent for it.

Continue Reading "WOF: Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (ZONBI JIEITAI)"...

Distribution rights for Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai” - are to be offered for sale by Gold View Co. Ltd. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû) at this year’s European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin, Germany. The movie had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd of last year. It had its North American première at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th of last year. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th of last year.

The screenplay for Zombie Self-Defense Force was written by Tomomatsu and Chisato Ôgawara. The movie’s cast includes Miyû Watase, Hisakatsu Ôya, Jun Yamasaki, Shun Saeki, Mihiro, Kenji Arai, Yûya Takayama, Masayuki Hase, Kiyo Yoshizawa, Eriko Nagamine, and Yû Machimura.

Continue Reading "EFM: Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (ZONBI JIEITAI) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai”"...

Thanks to Twitch’s own logboy for bringing the following to my attention: Unicorn Entertainment International Limited is scheduled to release Noboru Iguchi’s Sukeban Boy (Oira sukeban) on DVD (NTSC, region-free, English subtitles) in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 1st). King Record Co. Ltd. (Kingu Rekôdo K.K.) released the movie theatrically in Japan on February 4th of last year, and on sale DVD (KIBF-361; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) there on March 8th of last year. The movie was screened at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal on July 16th of last year.

As was previously reported here and there on Twitch, the screenplay for Sukeban Boy (Oira sukeban) was written by Iguchi, based on the eponymous manga serial Oira sukeban by Gô Nagai. The movie’s principal cast is as follows (listed order corresponds to Japanese DVD covers): Asami, Emiru Momose, Saori Matsunaka, Shizuka Itô, Demo Tanaka, Chisa Imai, Shô Sawamura, Kaori, Miwa, Kentarô Kishi, Hiroaki Murakami, and Beat Arima (Bîto Arima). The rest of its cast apparently includes Atsuko Miura, Kôichi Ôhori (on top), Risa Mizuki (Miduki Risa), and Junna Ayukawa.

Continue Reading "DVD: Noboru Iguchi’s SUKEBAN BOY (OIRA SUKEBAN)"...

Distribution rights for Naoyuki Tomomatsu‘s Zombie Self-Defense Force (Zonbi jieitai) - a.k.a. “Zombie Jieitai” - are being offered for sale by Gold View Y.K. (Y.K. Gôrudo Byû).

Zombie Self-Defense Force had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 23rd. It had its North American première at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Canada on July 24th. GP Museum Soft K.K. (K.K. GP Myûjiamu Sofuto) released it on sale DVD (DMSM-6652; NTSC, region 2, no subtitles) in Japan on April 25th.

The screenplay for Zombie Self-Defense Force was written by Tomomatsu and Chisato Ôgawara. The movie’s cast includes Miyû Watase, Hisakatsu Ôya, Jun Yamasaki, Shun Saeki, Mihiro, Kenji Arai, Yûya Takayama, Masayuki Hase, Kiyo Yoshizawa, Eriko Nagamine, and Yû Machimura.

Here’s a description of Zombie Self-Defense Force from the Fantasia Festival website: “It’s an ordinary day in the Japanese countryside - a day of sightseeing for tourists, photo shoots for a pop-star model and her crew, routing training for a squad of JSDF soldiers, treachery for an adulterous couple and sudden murder for gangsters. Everything changes, though, when a UFO crashes and releases some form of strange radiation. Confusion turns to sheer terror and the grim, blood-soaked will to survive when the dead rise and attack the living in a mindless cannibalistic frenzy! Soon, the soldiers and a handful of civilians are holed up in a secluded hotel, surrounded by the zombie hordes. There are other dark secrets at work, though. One soldier, Yuri, has been having sudden, painful flashbacks to a mysterious operating room, and there’s that spooky legend about the ghostly, ultra-patriotic Japanese soldier from WWII lurking in a local cave… ¶ ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE opens with a sarcastic, faux-fascist voiceover dismissing heinous wartime history, demanding the reinstatement of a true Japanese military and vilifying the USA. Or American militarism, at least - the Yanks, after all, gave the worl[d] hamburgers, rock ‘n’ roll and, of course, the beloved filmography of George A. Romero! Consider this a companion piece to TOKYO ZOMBIE, also screening at Fantasia this year. But where TOKYO ZOMBIE is a wry farce toying cleverly with zombie-movie traditions, ZOMBIE SELF-DEFENSE FORCE is a gleeful, lo-fi leap into lurid lore of the living dead, now unquestionably a global pop-culture phenomenon. And don’t tell us that flying, cackling undead fetus isn’t just the most adorable little thing you ever saw!”

For more information on Zombie Self-Defense Force, see Twitch’s fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.

Gold View: Zombie Self-Defense Force
Twitch: Zombie Self-Defense Force review
Zombie Self-Defense Force Japanese rental DVD cover (192 KB JPEG)

There is something delicate, quaint, tactile and hermetic about stop-motion animation. This is true from the glossy work of Henry Selick, to the homey feel of Aardman Studios to the downright creepy work in Rhinoceros Eyes. I can think of nothing more suitable to capture the feeling of a tea party which those same adjectives (if only to add one more: feminine) could be applied. It makes Jan Švankmajer’s Alice a spectacular re-telling of Lewis Carroll’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Christiane Cegavske’s Blood Tea and Red String goes beyond this and takes Alice, who in these types of fairy tales is the bridge into this stranger world—the character we can relate to—right out of the equation. And yet even further, she removes verbal language, opting to tell the story entirely free of dialogue if you exclude the occasional animal-like squawk. The result is an artistically rendered act of world construction and non-verbal storytelling which jumps directly into Cegavske’s subconscious.

Continue Reading "DVD Review - Blood Tea and Red String"...

Well, here we are with the final piece of Toronto After Dark 2006 business - except, of course, for a few overdue reviews.  cough. - namely our award winners.

Audience Award
Gold:  Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Scott Glosserman)
Silver:  Special (Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore)
Bronze:  Shinobi (Shimoyama Ten)

Jury Award (Short Films)
Gold: Fantasy Beyond (Steven Kostanski)
Silver:  Troll Concerto (Alexandre Franchi)
Bronze: Wat a Wonderful Day (Phillip Eddols)

Special Mention:  Headshot, The Grandfather Paradox, Fuddlebee

Innovation Award
Funky Forest: The First Contact (Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine and Shunichiro Miki)

Yeah, we like this one so much we made up an award just for it ... read on for the full wrap-up press release ...

Continue Reading "Toronto After Dark Award Winners Announced!"...

We’re going to start this DVD review with a recap of Todd’s write-up for this film from the Fantasia Festival this summer… it’s just better to lead in with this

When voluptuous high school girl Liu is kidnapped by a gang of thugs, her family turns not to the police for help, but to the super heroic, sword-wielding, virginal warrior Khun. His task is to infiltrate the apartment block Liu is being held in, rescue her from her captors and return her safely to her family. Making this rather more difficult, however, is the new, military-engineered strain of the SARS virus which has been released into the same building. No simple respiratory disease, this, the new super-virus transforms its victims into shambling, bloodthirsty zombies, and before long, Khun, his master, leather-clad military scientist Dr. Diana and Liu are battling their way through hordes of the undead. Let the bloodletting begin!

Continue Reading "DVD Review: Sars Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis"...

Fantasia 2006 has come to a close and this year’s award winners have been announced ... here are the big categories:

Jury Awards:
Best film:
STRANGE CIRCUS - Sion Sono (Japan)

Best director:
Nicolas Winding Refn - PUSHER 3 (Denmark)

Best script:
David Mamet - EDMOND (United States)

Best photography:
Ji-yong Kim - A BITTERSWEET LIFE (South Korea)

Best Actor:
Zlatko Buric - PUSHER 3 (Denmark)

Best Actress:
Masumi Miyazaki - STANGE CIRCUS (Japan)

Public Awards

Best Asian Film
Golden Prize: GREAT YOKAI WAR – Takashi Miike (Japan)
Silver Prize: A BITTERSWEET LIFE - Kim Ji-Woon (South Korea)
Bronze Prize: CITIZEN DOG - Wisit Sasanatieng (Thailand)

Best European / North - South American Film
Golden Prize: BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON - Scott Glosserman (United States)
Silver Prize: WILDERNESS - Michael J. Bassett (England)
Bronze Prize: THE DESCENT – Neil Marshall (England)

Best Animated / Stop Motion film
Golden Prize: FULL METAL ALCHEMIST - Seiji Mizushima (Japan)
Silver Prize: BLOOD TEA AND RED STRINGS - Christiane Cegavske (United States)
Bronze Prize: WORLDS OF WOUNDED CLAY – Robertt Morgan (England)

Most Groundbreaking Film
Golden Prize: FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT - Katsuhito Ishii, Hajime Ishimine & Shinichiro Miki (Japan)
Silver Prize: CITIZEN DOG - Wisit Sasanatieng (Thailand)
Bronze Prize: WILD BLUE YONDER – Werner Herzog (Germany)

Read on for the full press announcement.

Continue Reading "Fantasia Winners Announced"...

Distribution rights for Simon Boyes and Adam Mason’s Broken - a.k.a. “The Hearteater” (working title) - are being offered for sale by Crystal Sky LLC via its Renegade Pictures division. The movie had what appears to have been its world première at Dead by Dawn 2006 in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 22nd, where - as was previously reported here on Twitch - it shared the Audience Award for Best Feature with Robert Krause’s Blood Trails. It was screened at Another Hole in the Head 2006 in San Francisco, California on June 9th and 12th, and at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montréal, Québec on July 19th and 20th. It’s scheduled to be screened at The Zone Horror FrightFest 2006 in London, England on August 27th, and at the 2006 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in late September.

As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for Broken was written by Boyes and Mason. The movie stars Nadja Brand as Hope, Eric Colvin as the man, and Abbey Stirling as the schoolgirl.

Here’s a synopsis for Broken that was on the now-defunct official website for the movie (which was at http://www.hearteater.com/): “Hope (Nadja Brand) and her young daughter are abducted and brought to a remote, terrifying forest by a mysterious and nameless man (Eric Colvin). As Hope is forced to undergo humiliating, violent and degrading trials she fights desperately to escape and discover the fate of her missing daughter. ¶ But the forest is an endless maze and the man is cruel and uncompromising. ¶ When the man reveals the death of Hope’s daughter, she develops a plan to exact her revenge and make her escape. Sacrificing her dignity and humanity, Hope is forced to initiate a series of drastic events which send the delicate balance between captor and slave hurtling out of control. ¶ Hope’s actions lead to a devastating and terrifying conclusion, and a secret so dark that it threatens to destroy Hope entirely. ¶ Will Hope escape the clutches of evil, or will she be Broken?”

Broken large trailer (downloadable 21.8 MB MPEG-4 file)
Broken medium trailer (downloadable 26.7 MB MOV file)
Broken: Abbey Stirling still #01 (100 KB JPEG)
Broken: Abbey Stirling still #02 (80 KB JPEG)

Broken: Abbey Stirling still #03 (108 KB JPEG)
Brand Mason: Broken

Note: Tickets for each of the three movies are sold separately.

Fantasia Festival: God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand
Twitch: God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand article
God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand theatrical trailer (downloadable 11.7 MB WMV file)
God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand teaser trailer (downloadable 4.9 MB WMV file)

Shusuke-Kaneko.com: God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand production stills gallery
God’s Left Hand, Devil’s Right Hand official website
Fantasia Festival: Wilderness
Twitch: Wilderness article
Wilderness trailer #2 (downloadable 10.6 MB MOV file)
Wilderness trailer #1 (downloadable 13.1 MB MOV file)
“Dog Biting Arm” video (downloadable 1.1 MB MOV file)
MichaelBassett.com: Wilderness production stills gallery
Fantasia Festival: Meatball Machine
Twitch: Meatball Machine article
GOMORRAHY.com: Meatball Machine (w/ stills & downloadable trailer)

Many thanks to William for pointing out that the trailer for Stuart Gordon’s Edmond is now online.

On the surface this appears to be an odd one ... what on earth is the director of Re-Animator doing directing a script by David Mamet?  But it’s pretty simple, really, with Gordon and Mamet going way back to their early days in the theater and Edmond being a porject Gordon has long been trying to get off the ground.  The cast for this is spectacular - William H Macy in the lead is enough to get my attention - and all reports are that this is the angry Mamet of his youth as opposed to the slightly more subdued version kicking around these days.

Those of you making the trip to Fantasia - and why wouldn’t you? - should note that Gordon will be presenting the film in person as part of the Fantasia program on July 23rd.

Edmond Website
Edmond Trailer (downloadable Quicktime)

The 22-minute version of Lee Gordon Demarbre’s short “Bzzzzzzz” is scheduled to open for Brian Singleton’s feature Forest of the Dead at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montr√©al on Friday July 7th at 11:35 p.m.. (Note: The Fantasia Festival website currently lists the screening times for “Bzzzzzzz” and Forest of the Dead as 11:55 p.m. and 11:35 p.m., respectively; I presume that these listings have accidentally been reversed.) Apparently, a 7-minute version of “Bzzzzzzz” premi√®red at the Digi60 Digital Video Festival in Ottawa on September 16th of last year, and the 22-minute version premi√®red at the Pink Bubble Bath (a travelling film festival) at Barrymore’s Music Hall in Ottawa on February 14th of this year.

As was previously reported here on Twitch, the screenplay for “Bzzzzzzz” was written by Demarbre. The short stars Phil Caracas, Gabrielle Wolfe, Josh Grace, Anna Sharrett, Dave Cherry, Marie-France Courtemanche, Gabriela Svoboda, Marc Charron, and Ian Driscoll.

Fantasia Festival: “Bzzzzzzz”
Fantasia Festival: Forest of the Dead
“Bzzzzzzz" trailer (downloadable 6.6 MB MOV file)
“Bzzzzzzz" poster (see above left - 80 KB JPEG version)
“Bzzzzzzz" still #1 (12 KB JPEG)

“Bzzzzzzz" still #2 (44 KB JPEG)
Odessa Filmworks Inc.

FOR TRAILERS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Aniki (Hajime Ishimine), Katsuhito Ishii, and Shin’ichir√¥ Miki’s omnibus movie Funky Forest: The First Contact (Naisu no mori: The First Contact) is scheduled to be screened at the 2006 Fantasia Festival in Montr√©al on Sunday July 9th at 6:55 p.m. and Thursday July 13th at 7:20 p.m.. The movie had its world premi√®re at the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (LVHIFF) in Honolulu on October 22nd of last year.

The screenplay for Funky Forest: The First Contact was written by Aniki, Ishii, and Miki. As was previously reported here and there on Twitch, the movie’s principal cast (as credited, from left to right, in the downloadable trailers for it) is as follows: Susumu Terajima, Tadanobu Asano, Ry√¥ Kase, Chizuru Ikewaki (Ikewaki Chiduru), Kazue Fukiishi, Machiko Ono, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Kanji Tsuda, Kaiji Moriyama, Mariko Takahashi (b. April 24, 1984), Erika Nishikado, Rinko Kikuchi, Hideaki Anno, Seiji Tanaka, K√¥tar√¥ Shiga, Anri Ban, Shihori Kanjiya, Kaho, Kenji Mizuhashi, Akiji Minegishi, Ikki Todoroki, Aoi Miura, Nana Shimoda, Maya Banno, Ry√ª Morioka, Andrew Alfieri (Andory√ª Arufieri), and Takahiro Sat√¥.

Continue Reading "Fantasia: FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT (NAISU NO MORI: THE FIRST CONTACT), an omnibus movie direc"...