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Retirement home horror was never something that I considered could be particularly unnerving, but this freaked me the fuck out!

Leaving John Lithgow’s complete unhinged performance aside for now, the cinematography, the sound design, and the general vibe of this film is so cleverly off-kilter that I was on edge nearly every minute! 

Just when you think you have a hand on what’s going on, things get even weirder. Truly it’s one of the strangest scripts I’ve seen produced in a long time. 

Will I ever watch it again? Absolutely not!
Do I recommend you watch it? Abso-fucking-lutely!
You won’t see anything else like it anytime soon!

This was high up on my most anticipated list for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’ve heard from a few people that the YA horror novel it is based on is actually really really good. Secondly, and more importantly, Eli Craig made one of the most refreshingly meta horror comedies of the last 20 years in Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

Whilst I enjoyed my time with this film I think I had my hopes a bit too high. It is standard slasher stuff with a couple of cool set pieces, but a slow start and a predictable ending make it able fun rather than a new firm favourite.

Take a couple of classic 80s Stephen King stories (IT / Children of the Corn) and mix them with a couple of modern small town slashers (Thanksgiving / Founder’s Day) and you’ve pretty much got this to a T 🤡

I liked Happy Death Day and really liked Freaky, so I went into this giving Christopher Landon the benefit of the doubt after seeing the awful trailer. Sadly this one was not for me. 

If you told me this script was written by AI I would believe it. Silly premise, nothing characters, predictable plot beats. There were a couple of interesting scenes but overall I left this one feeling like I would never think about it ever again. 

Seems I’m in the minority though as it’s getting mostly decent score from everybody else 🤷‍♂️

Hereditary meets Evil Dead by the nutters who did Talk To Me! 

Whilst this didn’t leave me breathless like their feature debut, it’s a really grim and nasty piece of horror cinema that definitely lived up to the hype. I’m so glad I steered clear of all the promo stuff cause a lot of this was shocking as hell! 

Also, as someone who lived in Australia for nearly a decade I can confirm the flawless Aussie accent work from the Brits Billy Barratt and Sally Hawkins 😅

It’s been a while since a film lived up to the hype as much as this for me. It grabs you from minute one and just gets better and better. The performances are all exceptional, the music is transportive, the cinematography is stunning, the setting and the history all feel so authentic, and the inevitable chaos that builds is absolutely delicious. It’s just very smart filmmaking and probably my favourite Ryan Coogler project since Fruitvale Station! I can’t wait to watch it again!

Once you get used to the inherent cheesiness there’s actually a lot of over the top fun to be had with this reboot. I was a big fan of the original back in the day, and whilst I haven’t really kept up with the franchise much since then I had a really good time with this silliness. 

Tony Todd’s final performance is a bittersweet touch too 🥲

I mean, it’s not as good as the original but my kid absolutely loved it so I can’t complain too hard. It’s also easily the best live action adaptation Disney has put out recently

As someone who played the original game for countless hours, as well as The Quarry and all The Dark Pictures Anthologies, I was interested to see how they would adapt it to the big screen. Unfortunately without the branching stories and interesting moral choices all that was left was a pretty hollow retread of tropes that have been done better elsewhere. If you haven’t played the game then this might entertain, but aside from a couple of funny set pieces I was mostly bored by this

As a lifelong fan of summer camp slashers I had a good time with this. It’s not the game-changing throwback that the promo hype promised, but as a comedic retread through the tropes there are worse ways you could spend 90 minutes. 

I think Bryk and Wolfhard are probably a good choice for the Idle Hands remake. It’s another film that meant a lot to me back in the day, so fingers crossed.

Whilst it isn’t as depressingly bleak as THE KING OF PIGS, it’s the closest thing to the pitch black animated stuff he became famous for back in the day 🙏

$320 million 😬

Bong Joon-ho’s MICKEY 17 is a silly sci-fi romp, and I mean that as a compliment! The mixed reviews had me going in with measured expectations, but I ended up having a great time with multiple Robert Pattinsons in this overtly anti-capitalist eco-conscious story.

Seiji Tanaka’s DEMON CITY is a flashy adaptation of Masamichi Kawabe’s ultra-violent manga series “Onigoroshi”. It’s a vengeance story but with a cool demonic possession twist, and Tanaka shows real skill as a director of close-up combat! Some of the set pieces are brutal 👺👹

I instantly fell in love with Tanaka’s inventive debut MELANCHOLIC, and whilst his unique style and personality from that film is almost unrecognisable here I’m so glad he’s getting to play with bigger budgets now. Who knows where this kind of global exposure will take him next!

I should absolutely love this! Slashers are 100% my jam, and I’m not averse to rom-coms, plus I dig Josh Ruben’s other stuff. As it turns out though this is a fine piece of throwaway fun that was pretty forgettable the minute I left the cinema. A couple of funny lines, a couple of cool kills, but nothing particularly special. 

The killer has a cool aesthetic that definitely adds something, especially the titular glowing red eyes! The big twist however… 😬

That being said, I hope this makes all the money because slashers need to keep coming back!

I had a blast! It’s a lot goofier than I was expecting, but not necessarily in a bad way. It felt a bit like FINAL DESTINATION meets THE GREASY STRANGLER. You can definitely feel James Wan’s influence as Producer. Theo James is awesome though and has gone way up in my estimation!

Shimizu has had a tough time living up to the promise of the seminal work he did with the JU-ON series. The J-horror genre in general felt tired for a long time, resulting in mediocre retreads of ideas and tropes. This film almost feels like an attempt to try something different! The problem is that it just drags through the generic again. It starts interesting enough, and the final act tries to escalate things a bit, but there’s a whole hour in the middle that sags so unbelievably hard. Having these J-horror jams be 2 hours long just doesn’t make sense 😬

If you’re a fan of Shimizu’s recent stuff like his “Village” trilogy, IMMERSION or SANA then you’ll likely vibe with this. For me though, I adore his more warped avant garde early stuff like MAREBITO and REINCARNATION. Ultimately this was more of a shrug than a shriek for me.

Michio Yamamoto’s THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970) feels like a Japanese take on Hammer House of Horror. A stunning shadowy mansion, an ominous score, a gothic family mystery, and plenty of creative camerawork. It’s an interesting take on vampirism too! A slow burn but a fun ride for sure!

The first 15 minutes are fantastic, and set the scene perfectly! I was surprised that so much time was taken showing us the fate of the missing brother before introducing the real lead characters of the story, especially with the film only running 71 minutes, but it works great!

Yukiko Kobayashi as the titular vampire is only onscreen for a short time, but every time she appears she makes an impact! I wouldn’t say this film is scary, but it definitely has an uneasy vibe and it’s amazing what you can evoke with some glowing eyes and a disconcerting smile!

This is the first part of a thematic “Bloodthirsty” trilogy alongside LAKE OF DRACULA and EVIL OF DRACULA. I am a sucker for a good vampire story, and this one definitely felt different enough to make me want to check out the other two, even if they are more Dracula themed 🧛‍♂️

Hisayasu Satô’s SPLATTER: NAKED BLOOD (1996) is an exploitation horror of a different kind. One of the sickest films I’ve seen in a while! A scientist develops a drug that turns pain into pleasure, delivering disgustingly deranged results on his subjects. A must watch for extreme horror fans!

Whilst it’s got all the blood and nudity the title suggests, there’s actually way more going on here than you might expect! I was surprised how dreamy and existential it was outside of the horrifying set pieces. There’s a tragic tale of loneliness surrounding the gross out scenes. 

The ending itself is so wonderfully WTF as well, it left me feeling like Satô made something quite special here. Taking everything from sci-fi and body horror to existential dread and poignant social commentary, it genuinely made me think. I’m surprised it’s not better known tbh.

Outside of his segment in RAMPO NOIR this is the first feature I’ve seen from Satô, but this has definitely intrigued me to see more! He is known for his "sledgehammer" filmmaking style, and using his exploitation career to tackle serious subjects! He’s an interesting director for sure 😅

Kurzel’s best film since Snowtown, hands down!

The script is pulpy and a bit by the numbers, but the execution is absolute perfection!

Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult are great too!

Takeshi Kitano’s BROKEN RAGE is a perfect little amalgamation of the silly nonsensical humour he cut his teeth on back in the day mixed with the violent existential Yakuza stuff he became synonymous with down the line. For a fan like me it was 66 minutes of pure nostalgic joy 🥰

Think if OUTRAGE had a baby with GETTING ANY? and you’re nearly there with this playful lampooning. Takeshi Hamada’s cinematography has fun shooting the ridiculousness within serious aesthetics, and Shinya Kiyozuka’s breezy score manages to find a nice balance between the two.

The cast are all class too! Kitano is clearly having a blast revisiting his ‘Beat’ roots, and definitely still has it when it comes to physical comedy. There are also hilarious turns from Tadanobu Asano, Nao Ômori, Hakuryu, and many more.

I really enjoyed this silly little flick! Definitely not a traditional film, but it plays with the fact that movies aren’t what they used to be anymore, and for 78 years old Kitano still knows how to have a good time! I hope he continues to work because he’s truly one of the greatest to ever do it 🙌

Such a good time! It takes the tried and tested premise of Tucker & Dale and injects some fun and silly Korean humour on top. It even decides to swerve in its own direction in the final act! It’s such a random remake, but as Nam’s directorial debut it’s pretty damn impressive!

Where T&D went for more of an Ash Vs. Evil Dead vibe I felt like this was giving Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That’s not me throwing shade, just an interesting exercise in choice of artistic license. The cast are fun, especially the two leads who are both genuinely hilarious actors!

TOKYO POP is a cool, cute and charming little fish out of water story set in the 80s Japanese rock scene. This 35th anniversary 4K restoration looks and sounds fantastic, and the breezy story wonderfully flits between kooky and sweet. It’s a lovely snapshot of a time and place 🥰

I went into COMPANION blind other than knowing it was the producers behind BARBARIAN, and that was definitely the way to go! Whilst it’s not as clever or subversive as that banger, it is still a lot of violent fun with plenty of little twists and turns. Black Mirror fans will stan!

A slow look at a fractured family through the perspective of a lost spirit. Felt like David Lowery’s A GHOST STORY by way of Gus Van Sant’s ELEPHANT. Soderbergh’s cinematography is as smart and measured as you’d expect, and is the main star here really. Koep’s script is a bit clunky but overall I think the film achieves what it sets out to do. I’m glad I saw it at the cinema as you really feel the camera movements in a unique way.

The first hour of this was quite a slog, and I was genuinely surprised at how barrel scraping the humour and references were. Luckily there’s a nifty twist that results in a tonal shift that makes the final act far more enjoyable. If Frost and Haars had somehow managed to inject some of that final act energy earlier then I think this would have worked so much better. As it stands though it’s a completely throwaway piece of horror filmmaking that sits uncomfortably somewhere between a spoof and an homage.

Separately Uchida flits between idiosyncratic indies and arthouse prestige whilst Katayama makes incredibly dark and challenging films, but together they cooked up this wild comedy sci-fi crime mystery that is all over the shop but so much fun. Such a unique blend of cool talent!

The first half is a funny mashup of surreal ideas, whilst the last half is far bleaker, but both parts have merit. Sairi Ito is as amazing as always, and the rest of the cast all take big swings. I’m here for more directors to forces and cook up something bonkers like this! 

This has everything from an alien in a basket, the FBI, a serial killer, a pair of sister assassins, a disgraced Yakuza strongman, and a budget ninja. It’s a mad film for genre fans made by genre fans 😅

The prolific Japanese director Yukihiko Tsutsumi is back working in genre cinema, and I couldn’t be happier!!! Already destined to be a cult classic! This film is mad as a box of frogs and nuttier than squirrel shit! I’ve used the word “Bonkers” to describe films before, but this one might take the cake. That being said, I’d expect nothing less from the creative powerhouse behind 2LDK!

It’s a weird mix of detective murder mystery with idiosyncratic vignettes and wild non sequiturs. Oh, and the murders are all seemingly being done by psychotic goldfish 😅 Whilst it doesn’t all make sense, if you can get on the film’s silly wavelength then there’s a hell of a lot of fun to be had. 

The goldfish kill scenes are all an absolute blast, and perfectly walk the line between gory and hilarious. The cast all sell the silly really well too, toeing the line between melodrama and comedy perfectly. It’s a pretty challenging and crazy story but it worked brilliantly for me!

Can’t wait for this to hit a wider audience so we can see how it hits. It’s definitely not going to be for everyone, but for fans of films like SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, SHARK SKIN MAN AND PEACH HIP GIRL or SURVIVE STYLE 5+ I think this is going to be film of the year territory!

From the pedigree involved here this is easily one of the most anticipated films of 2025 for those interested in Japanese cinema. Kensuke Sonomura and Yugo Sakamoto are undeniably an incredible team, and unbelievably prolific considering the quality of their output. This is another really cool idea that mixes silly humour with dark themes, and chances are if you have even a ing interest in action cinema you’ll find something to like here. 

It’s a fun little action romp that is high concept and stylish, but for me it doesn’t quite have the magic that made the BABY ASSASSINS franchise so special, or the grit that made HYDRA and BAD CITY such V-cinema bangers. After an absolutely awesome cold open that feels right at home next to the films I’ve just mentioned, it then takes its sweet time setting up the scenario and loses steam a bit. Luckily things eventually build back up again and ultimately it delivers where it needs to, but the speed bumps hurt it’s impact a bit for me. 

Akari Takaishi plays things relatively similar to her Chisato character in BA, and it still works. She’s got great presence and obvious talent in fight choreography. Meanwhile Masanori Mimoto continues to be a weapon and does some amazing work here too. The mix of them essentially fighting in the same body is a little cinematically jarring, but it’s an interesting choice nevertheless. 

I think the hype might have done this one a disservice, especially after BA: NICE DAYS perfectly showed how much fun a violent film can be. I’ll be interested to see where this sits with the rest of the action fans when it gets a proper release here. I’ll definitely check it out again down the line, but I don’t see this being a regular rewatch like the rest of the Sakamoto/Sonomura cinematic universe

This one is so much fun! The warm heart and reverence for Jidaigeki cinema of UZUMASA LIMELIGHT mixed with the humour and energy of a Makoto Ueda time travel comedy! It’s a great blend and genuinely works on so many levels! I loved it and can’t wait for the official release 🙌

Ishii is probably one of the most influential directors in Japan, frequently cited as the inspiration for many filmmakers getting into filmmaking. On paper this 2 hour arthouse experimental film about a man giving up his identity to live with a large cardboard box over his head could be overwhelmingly pretentious, but there is so much more to this film than meets the eye. Thrilling, funny and genuinely thought provoking!

The small cast are all legends having a blast playing in this silly existential sandbox. Masatoshi Nagase is our titular Box Man, Tadanobu Asano is his mischievous doctor, Kôichi Satô is a silver haired general, and cult favourite Kiyohiko Shibukawa plays an unhinged beggar 😅

Ishii has made some of my favourite films!

ANGEL DUST
AUGUST IN THE WATER
THE CRAZY FAMILY
ELECTRIC DRAGON 80.000V
LABYRINTH OF DREAMS

I truly didn’t know what to expect here but it totally grabbed me and it’s one of the most interesting films I’ve seen in ages! Sogo is back!!!

Oh hell yeah! If you’re not well versed in Shiraishi’s elliptic filmography then this may well lose you, but the jarring tonal shift from a stereotypical ghost girl haunted house horror to a hilariously off-kilter battle between good and evil is exactly why I love the man so much!

Setting things up nicely using all the J-Horror tropes we know and love, Shiraishi then bombards us with the madcap energy of his SENRITSU KAIKI FILE KOWASUGI! series but with the brutality of A RECORD OF SWEET MURDER and the tongue in cheek fun of SADAKO VS. KAYAKO. It’s wild 😅

This feels like the start of a new era for Shiraishi! Since his incredible Roman Porno revival SAFE WORD he’s been experimenting a lot, and this feels like his biggest budget and wildest swing in a long time! His next project ABOUT A PLACE IN THE KINKI REGION sounds just as epic.

This god-tier psychoanalysis of the dark underbelly of Americana was the closest precursor we got to TWIN PEAKS before Lynch partnered with Mark Frost and changed the game. It’s a forever dark favourite of mine and infinitely rewatchable!

It’s hard to describe this film except to say that there was nothing else quite like it when it stormed onto the scene in 86. After invariably difficult experiences with THE ELEPHANT MAN and DUNE, Lynch really got the sickness out of him with this psychological noir horror gold!

It hasn’t lost any of its bite over the years. Dennis Hopper’s psychotic performance is one of the most memorable of all time, and the off-kilter style that drips from every scene became synonymous with Lynch’s projects forever more. An absolutely nightmarish masterpiece of work!

This film is true horror. Absurd, abstract, humorous at times but never anything but twisted. Dreamlike and otherworldly yet entirely recognisable. It’s still just as confounding an experience nearly 50 years on! David Lynch really was dancing to the beat of his own crazy drum!

Visually it is astonishing what Lynch was able to achieve here with such a small budget, but aurally is where it really excels! Watching this in the dark with headphones on I was blown away by the soundscape that envelopes you in every scene. It constantly creeps into your psyche!

Lynch was never reaching out to us with his films, he was allowing us to sink into them. His countless quotes avoiding explanation confirmed this. The directorial vision & written voice is so strong here that it must be in conversation as one of the greatest debuts of all time!

Produced on the budget of a short, shot in the basement of the AFI building, and almost 3 years in the making. This was the embodiment of Lynch’s art life in the 70s, and yet it is still so reminiscent of the rest of his esoteric filmography 🥲

This masterpiece defies expectation at every turn! Lee Chang-dong has a real talent for writing incredibly complex characters and tackling challenging themes in a uniquely powerful way, and this film showcases both of those aspects perfectly!

Sul Kyung-gu and Moon So-ri were both so good in PEPPERMINT CANDY, but their performances here are on a whole other level! Sul playing a character with clear mental disabilities and Moon as someone with severe cerebral palsy, it is astonishing to see them disappear into the roles. 

I can’t recommend this film enough. It is comionate, intelligent, shocking, challenging and upsetting all at once. I love how Lee shoots and edits his films but it is his writing that impresses me most. His films are deep, profound and heartbreaking! I can’t wait for more!

Ooph! This doesn’t get any easier on a rewatch!

For me this might be Lee’s finest hour! It tackles the subject of suicide in such a unique way, and Sul Kyung-gu’s performance is one of the greatest of all time! Some of the most beautiful and powerful cinema you will ever see 🥲

The screenplay and story structure is genius, and having a lead character that you can feel so much empathy and hatred for at the same time seems almost impossible, but Lee Chang-dong and Sul Kyung-gu absolutely nail it! It hurts!!!

Starting with a man at his wit’s end on the day of his suicide, we then get to see 7 pivotal moments in his life showing us a succinct snapshot of the tragedy he has had to endure, but also the pain he has inflicted on others. It’s a sad, harrowing, but truly unforgettable watch!

It’s one of those films that makes you look back and wonder what would be the pivotal moments in your own life that got you to where you are today. It’s a confronting experience but masterfully handled and definitely Lee Chang-dong’s first masterpiece! He went on to his next with OASIS after 😭

Another dose of Giallo-infused J-horror filled with surreal imagery and buckets of bloodshed! New writer/director but same twisted sensibility and if possible even more psychosexual insanity than Toshiharu Ikeda’s original!

I feels like a Lynchian dream logic nightmare with how wilfully obtuse it is, but everything is tinged with a Dario Argento style abstract sensibility. It’s far more erratically paced than the first film, and visually it is even more poetic and bizarre! It’s a great mix of ideas!

I honestly don’t know which of these I like more, but I know I love both for different reasons and 88 Films have done a fantastic job with their releases. It’s hard to describe these films and do them justice, so the best advice I can give is to just check them out for yourself!

Easily one of my favourite horrors of all time! This savage slasher written by Takashi Ishii is the perfect blend of Fulci-esque giallo vibes and surreal supernatural J-horror wrapped in a gnarly unsettling exploitation splatterfest!

The kills in this are absolutely nuts! The plot is bonkers, but the crunchy, bloody, and straight up brutal ways these characters get offed is next level. The traps are diabolical, the villain’s psychotic close quarter kills are graphic, and the practical effects are disgusting!

After Ikeda gifted us one of the greatest examples of woman scorned vengeance cinema with MERMAID LEGEND he went on to create one of the most bizarre and unforgettable slashers with this! The man was a beast! I’m excited to check out much more of his controversial work this year!

My partner and I have such different tastes when it comes to cinema, so when she asked me to watch this with her I went in open minded. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be quite this effective though!

Since losing my mum to cancer about 18 months ago these kind of films absolutely send me, and this one really hit hard! 

The performances are great and the structure is obtuse enough to keep you on your toes, and even though there are some obvious or over the top beats it still managed to resonate.

This one is really interesting! Part pinku, park Godardian arthouse, part musical, and filled with wild non-sequiturs! Seeing seminal Japanese auteur Jûzô Itami as a perverse psychology professor performing humiliation experiments in his search of the theory of shame is a trip 😅

Initially a Nikkatsu Roman Porno production, Kurosawa’s second feature was rejected for being too bizarre and subsequently re-edited and released under a new title! It’s one of the few Kurosawa films I’d not seen before, so I was obviously excited! It’s obviously not up there with the his best stuff, but as someone who is a completist it was fascinating to see a bit more about where he started.  

Knowing that Kurosawa went from this in 1985 to SWEET HOME in 1989 and then THE GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND in 1992 makes it even more fascinating to me! The three films couldn’t be more different in tone and style, and show a filmmaker still very much finding their own unique voice.

This film really is just undeniably fantastic! Smartly written, surprisingly ambitious, wonderfully performed, and legitimately one of the most powerful and shocking female-led revenge stories ever told! Mari Shirato is incredible in it and her character arc is entirely earned!

The cinematography from Yonezõ Maeda is exceptional too! The fact he went on to work with Kiyoshi Kurosawa and consistently with Jũzõ Itami makes perfect sense. The underwater sequences in particular are astonishingly well shot, as is the blood-drenched final act insanity 😅

Ooph! I was really excited for this becuase on paper it is rad as fuck. Sadly it turned out to be mostly cringe. Fred Durst is probably the best thing in it, and that’s wild!

Narrowboats and Gnomes! What’s not to love?

This one is all over the place! You’ve gotta give it props for how much it tries to do, but I think it suffers a bit from too many ideas and influences competing with each other. The zombie stuff is pretty cool though, and there are plenty of tense moments to satisfy genre fans.

As a feature debut this is an impressive start, and I think Han will create something exceptional down the line. There are crowd pleasing elements here that work really well, but the convoluted plotting and arthouse sensibilities make it more confusing than exceptional in the end.

This is so much fun! Hilariously offbeat with a huge heart, it will resonate with fans of LINDA LINDA LINDA just as much as fans of Ugana’s horror stuff! The messiness of the creative process is fully explored, and the message around being unapologetically yourself is punk as fuck!

The characters are all so stupid in the most adorable way, and the talking Shiba Inu “John Cage” is never not hilarious, but the music is where the real magic is! The songwriting vignettes are fantastic and it all builds to such an emotionally powerful final gig, it blew me away!

This is top tier Ugana for me! It’s got the lightest heart of all his work so far but all the same scrappy energy and DIY aesthetics that have become his trademark. This has done so well on the festival circuit and I hope this means his star is rising and we see his budgets blossom next year!

Awesome little throwback to Die Hard style action films set at Christmas with Taron Egerton as the John McClane character. 

Some parts definitely work better than others, but there are plenty of squeaky bum tense moments and over the top set pieces. 

Genuinely felt like a modern reimagining of Die Hard 2 at times, and that’s alright with me 😅

Immature? Sure. 
Asinine? Absolutely. 
Funny? 100%!

The is an extremely low budget comedy that will work for you depending on your mileage with Stravros Halkias. I happen to find his style of crowd work comedy hilarious, so seeing him basically play himself here was kind of a joy. It’s not going to be on any “best of the year” lists, and it probably won’t even become a “cult” hit (😏), but it was a fun 90 minute comedic distraction from the shitshow that is this world in 2024. I hope Stavros and Wes get to make another film together cause they’re my kind of silly!

This film fucking rocks! Who would have thought that June Squibb and Richard Roundtree would be such a formidable duo!?

The comedy is genuine, the performances are so entertaining, and considering this is a feature directorial debut the style is exceptional. It also has some really smart things to say about getting old. 

If you’re looking for a comedy that is laugh out loud funny but also disarmingly sincere then this is definitely the one!

This deserves all the hype! So funny and energetic, with three lead performances packed with charisma and talent, but backed up with a really powerful message masterfully told. Some absolutely banging tracks too! It’s a really special film!

On paper I should have loved this! 

E.L. Kats has made some bangers, Samara Weaving is always awesome, and super gory post-apocalyptic nightmares are my jam. For some reason though this felt like a bit of a slog. 

There are some pretty tense moments, but for the most part it felt like half an idea that was never fully realised. The lack of dialogue is interesting but I’m not sure it added to the experience either. 

Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it but I doubt I’ll ever bother watching this again

There were a slew of post-Scream 90s/early 00s Slashers like Urban Legend, Valentine, and Cherry Falls that I absolutely lapped up. This fits into that mould perfectly, and whilst I see a hell of a lot of negative reviews on here I actually had a blast with it. 

Could it have been a bit more brutal? Absolutely, but there are still a couple of pretty gnarly kills in there. 

The thing I actually liked most about it was that there is a pretty big reveal about halfway through, and then for the next 45 minutes there are continuous twists throughout. Not all of them are great, and if you’re a slasher fan you’ll likely guess the ending, but it makes good use of the formula. You can tell Erik Bloomquist studied the genre. There are countless moments that pointed towards him wanting this to be his Scream, and whilst it is Scream-lite it still resulted in a fun night for me.

• Accident
• Black Cat
• City Hunter
• Dreaming the Reality
• Erotic Nightmare
• Five Fingers of Death
• Golden Chicken
• He Lives by Night
• Iron Angels
• Just Heroes

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Attack the Gas Station!
• Bad Guy
• Concrete Utopia
• Dark Figure of Crime
• Exhausted
• Face
• Gifted
• Hostage: Missing Celebrity
• Illang: The Wolf Brigade
• JUNG_E

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• A.D. Police Files
• Bio Hunter
• Corpse Party: Tortured Souls
• Demon City Shinjuku
• Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
• Goku Midnight Eye
• Harmony
• Ichi the Killer: Episode Zero
• Judge

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Grave of the Fireflies
• The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
• Akira
• Ghost in the Shell
• Tokyo Godfathers
• Cat Soup
• Angel's Egg
• Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
• Mind Game
• Neo Tokyo

...plus 534 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Across the Furious Sea
• Ballerina
• Cruel Winter Blues
• Dawn of the Felines
• Encounters of the Spooky Kind
• Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701
• Green Snake
• Hand Rolled Cigarette
• I, the Executioner
• Junk

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Are You Lonesome Tonight?
• Bad Lands
• Cyber City Oedo 808
• Devils
• Heroic Trio 2: Executioners
• Fight Back to School
• GANTZ:O
• Hana & Alice
• Initial D
• Ju-on: The Grudge

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• As Tears Go By
• The Beast to Die
• Cobweb
• Days
• The Eel
• First Love
• Gate of Flesh
• Hell Dogs
• Immersion
• Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Evil Does Not Exist
2. Godzilla Minus One
3. Monster
4. Shin Kamen Rider
5. River
6. The First Slam Dunk
7. The Boy and the Heron
8. Call Me Chihiro
9. Mad Cats
10. Baby Assassins 2

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Typhoon Club
• Door
• Door II: Tokyo Diary
• The Guard from Underground
• Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl
• Party 7
• GO
• Punk Samurai Slash Down
• Electric Dragon 80.000 V
• Adrift in Tokyo

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. A Snake of June
2. Bullet Ballet
3. Tokyo Fist
4. Killing
5. Gemini
6. Kotoko
7. Tetsuo: The Iron Man
8. Vital
9. Hiruko the Goblin
10. Fires on the Plain

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Talk to Me
2. Late Night with the Devil
3. Sleep
4. Scream VI
5. Romancham
6. Birth/Rebirth
7. Moon Garden
8. Huesera: The Bone Woman
9. El Conde
10. Piety

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Street Kids Violence
• City Warriors
• Men Behind the Sun
• Man Behind the Sun 2: Laboratory of the Devil
• The Untold Story
• Ebola Syndrome
• Dr. Lamb
• Run and Kill
• Red to Kill
• The Underground Banker

...plus 132 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Audition
• A Bittersweet Life
• Battle Royale
• Battle Royale II: Requiem
• Dark Water
• Dead or Alive
• Dead or Alive 2: Birds
• Dead or Alive: Final
• The Eye
• The Eye 2

...plus 94 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Seventh Curse
2. Tampopo
3. Funky Forest: The First
4. Angel Dust
5. Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
6. Ritual
7. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
8. School on Fire
9. All About Lily Chou-Chou
10. Electric Dragon 80.000 V

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Shin Ultraman
2. New Religion
3. Missing
4. Intolerance
5. Decision to Leave
6. Project Wolf Hunting
7. The Sadness
8. Bad City
9. Just ing
10. The Big 4

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Bad City
• Rageaholic
• Life of Mariko in Kabukicho
• Convenience Story
• Hell Dogs
• Believers
• Alien Artist
• Goodbye Cruel World
• Mondays: See You 'This' Week!
• Shin Ultraman

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A binge I need to get amongst!

1. The One-Armed Swordsman
2. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
3. The Five Venoms
4. Have Sword, Will Travel
5. The New One-Armed Swordsman
6. The Super Inframan
7. The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter
8. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
9. Masked Avengers
10. Kid with the Golden Arm

...plus 153 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• No Blood No Tears

  TWF001

• Green Fish

  TWF002

• Say Yes

  TWF003

• Wild Card

  TWF004

• Guns & Talks

  TWF005

• PTU

  TWF006

• Teenage Hooker Became A Killing Machine In Daehakro

  TWF007

• Friend

  TWF008

• Memories of Matsuko

  TWF009 / TWFBD002

• Kamikaze Girls

  TWF010 / TWF021 (Special Edition) / TWFBD001 (Bluray)

...plus 117 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Still Walking
2. Shoplifters
3. Nobody Knows
4. Maborosi
5. After the Storm
6. Like Father, Like Son
7. Air Doll
8. Our Little Sister
9. Broker
10. The Third Murder

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Battles Without Honor and Humanity
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
• New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1
• New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 2: Head of the Boss
• New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 3: Last Days of the Boss
• Cops vs. Thugs
• Hokuriku Proxy War

...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Lady Vengeance
2. The Handmaiden
3. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
4. Oldboy
5. t Security Area
6. Thirst
7. I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK
8. Life Is But a Dream
9. Stoker
10. Three... Extremes

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Fireworks
2. Sonatine
3. Violent Cop
4. Boiling Point
5. Kikujiro
6. A Scene at the Sea
7. Kids Return
8. Dolls
9. Zatoichi
10. Brother

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Kung Fu Hustle
2. Love on Delivery
3. Shaolin Soccer
4. From Beijing with Love
5. The God of Cookery
6. King of Comedy
7. CJ7
8. The New King of Comedy
9. The Mermaid

1. Made in Hong Kong
2. The Longest Summer
3. Dumplings
4. Hollywood Hong Kong
5. Little Cheung
6. Durian Durian
7. Coffin Homes
8. The Midnight After
9. Public Toilet

1. Summer Wars
2. Mirai
3. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
4. Wolf Children
5. Belle
6. The Boy and the Beast

1. Occult
2. Cult
3. Noroi: The Curse
4. A Record of Sweet Murder
5. Sadako vs. Kayako
6. Shirome
7. Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman
8. Ju-rei: The Uncanny
9. Grotesque
10. Teke Teke

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Angel Dust
2. August in the Water
3. Electric Dragon 80.000 V
4. The Crazy Family
5. Labyrinth of Dreams
6. Crazy Thunder Road
7. Tokyo Blood
8. Mirrored Mind
9. Punk Samurai Slash Down
10. Dead End Run

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My ongoing adventures with the legend that is Johnnie To

1. Election
2. Triad Election
3. A Hero Never Dies
4. The Mission
5. The Longest Nite
6. Drug War
7. Mad Detective
8. Throw Down
9. PTU
10. Fulltime Killer

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Cheap films and sad sex help me get where I belong.

1. The Night Comes for Us
2. Macabre
3. Killers
4. V/H/S/2
5. May the Devil Take You
6. May the Devil Take You Too
7. Headshot
8. The ABCs of Death

Love is all a matter of timing. It's no good meeting the right person too soon or too late.

1. Chungking Express
2. In the Mood for Love
3. Fallen Angels
4. Days of Being Wild
5. Happy Together
6. 2046
7. As Tears Go By
8. The Grandmaster
9. Ashes of Time
10. My Blueberry Nights

I think each film should be regarded as its own specific text.

1. Memories of Murder
2. Mother
3. Parasite
4. The Host
5. Okja
6. Snowpiercer
7. Barking Dogs Never Bite

Give me back my feelings!

1. Why Don't You Play in Hell?
2. Love Exposure
3. Cold Fish
4. Antiporno
5. Guilty of Romance
6. Strange Circus
7. Red Post on Escher Street
8. Tag
9. The Whispering Star
10. Noriko's Dinner Table

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My Miike Movie Marathon ranked from greatest to still pretty fucking great!

1. 13 Assassins
2. Audition
3. Gozu
4. Ichi the Killer
5. The Happiness of the Katakuris
6. Agitator
7. Graveyard of Honor
8. First Love
9. Rainy Dog
10. Visitor Q

...plus 22 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Monday
2. Mr. Long
3. Miss ZOMBIE
4. Postman Blues
5. Dangan Runner
6. Drive
7. Unlucky Monkey
8. Dead Run
9. Bunny Drop
10. Blessing Bell

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Untold Story
• Nude Fear
• Ebola Syndrome
• Viva Erotica
• The Eternal Evil of Asia
• Red to Kill
• Dream Lovers
• A Chinese Torture Chamber Story
• A Chinese Torture Chamber Story II
• Sex and Zen

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Japanese horror to binge through!

• House
• Kuroneko
• Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
• Kwaidan
• 100 Tales of Horror
• 2LDK
• 964 Pinocchio
• Alter Ego
• Angel's Egg
• Another

...plus 422 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

South Korean horror to binge through!

• A Tale of Two Sisters
• Bedevilled
• I Saw the Devil
• The Quiet Family
• Epitaph
• Thirst
• Oldboy
• The Chaser
• The Yellow Sea
• The Isle

...plus 206 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Thai horror to binge through

• Pee Mak
• Shutter
• Dorm
• The Unseeable
• Nang Nak
• 13: Game of Death
• Alone
• Rahtree: Flower of the Night
• Rahtree Returns
• Rahtree Reborn

...plus 105 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Junji Ito’s Manga is a 5 star masterpiece.
This film series is a bit of an odd mess. 
I ranked them so you don’t have to.

1. Tomie
2. Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
3. Tomie: Unlimited
4. Tomie: Replay
5. Tomie: Rebirth
6. Tomie vs Tomie
7. Tomie: Beginning
8. Tomie: Revenge
9. Tomie: Another Face

After an innocent viewing of Shô Miyake's Ju-On: Origins limited series on Netflix I fell down the J-horror rabbit hole and decided to rewatch the whole franchise as well as catch the later ones I hadn't seen before. This then extended to the Ringu films as well and ended gloriously with Kôji Shiraishi's Sadako Vs Kayako.

If I take Origins out of the equation and use Sadako Vs Kayako as equal billing for both franchises there are 9 films each. By adding up the star ratings the results are...

Ju-On - 27 stars
Ringu - 25 and a half stars

JU-ON WINS!

I haven't included any English language remakes or reboots or whatever because they don't interest me but I still want to include Ring: The Final Chapter which is a Japanese TV series that I haven't been able to find yet and which isn't on Letterboxd.

1. Ring
2. Ju-on: The Grudge
3. Ju-on: The Curse
4. Ju-On: Origins
5. The Ring Virus
6. Ring 0
7. Ju-on: The Grudge 2
8. Sadako vs. Kayako
9. The Spiral
10. Ju-on: The Curse 2

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Making my way through them 🙌

• Spirited Away
• Akira
• Whisper of the Heart
• Your Name.
• From Up on Poppy Hill
• Howl's Moving Castle
• Wolf Children
• Ghost in the Shell
• Grave of the Fireflies
• The Secret World of Arrietty

...plus 311 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All currently released Studio Ghibli features. I’ll eventually rank them when I’ve seen them all

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
• Castle in the Sky
• Grave of the Fireflies
• My Neighbor Totoro
• Kiki's Delivery Service
• Only Yesterday
• Porco Rosso
• Ocean Waves
• Pom Poko
• Whisper of the Heart

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From 2010 to 2019, here’s easternKicks’ list of the absolute must-see films from the last decade

www.easternkicks.com/features/the-best-asian-films-of-the-decade

• 13 Assassins
• Let the Bullets Fly
• Love in a Puff

  Also
  Love in the Buff
  Love off the Cuff

• Cold Fish

  Also
  Love Exposure

• The Man from Nowhere
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
• Confessions
• I Saw the Devil
• A Simple Life
• Kotoko

  Also
  Fires on the Plain
  Killing

...plus 57 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The even ones are the best so let’s hope we get a 6th entry in the franchise soon!

1. Memento Mori
2. Voice
3. Whispering Corridors
4. Wishing Stairs
5. A Blood Pledge