News

Japanese director Miike Takashi, who is known for slasher film “Ichi the Killer” and stomach-churning “Audition,” has signed with CAA for representation.

Miike is one of Japan’s most prolific and bold directors, with more than 100 feature film credits, spanning genres, including horror, comedy and action. “Ichi The Killer” and “Audition” enjoy cult followings globally.

The auteur has also received acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival for “Shield of Straw,” “Gozu” and “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai.”

His film “Crows Zero” is immensely popular in Asia, especially among Gen Z.

In March, Miike was selected to represent Japan in Apple’s “shot on iPhone” project, directing a short film based on Osamu Tezuka’s iconic 1986 manga “Midnight,” now streaming worldwide.

In 2022, he directed drama series “Connect,” produced by South Korea’s Studio Dragon and distributed by Disney+, which is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S. “I’m...

Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has over 115 directing credits to his name, and it has only taken him 33 years to reach that impressive number. One of his latest credits came on a blood-soaked horror thriller called Lumberjack the Monster, and the folks at Rue Morgue have confirmed that Lumberjack the Monster is going to be available to watch on the Netflix streaming service as of June 1st.

Before the film reaches Netflix, New York City’s Japan Society (located at 333 East 47th Street) will be hosting its the North American premiere screening on Monday, May 6 at 8pm. Rue Morgue notes, “There will also be a pre-screening reception at 7pm with beverages donated by Sapporo-Stone Brewing and Brooklyn Kura. The screening is being presented in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, as part of its Escape from Tribeca program.”

Lumberjack the Monster is based on a novel by Mayusuke Kurai and stars Kazuya Kamenashi,...

Prolific genre filmmaker Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) is back with Lumberjack the Monster, an adaptation of Kaibutsu no Kikori by Mayusuke Kurai. And it’s heading to Netflix this summer.

It’s going to be battle to the death between a serial killer and a psychopath.

Lumberjack the Monster will make its North American premiere on May 6 at the Japan Society, in partnership with Tribeca Festival’s Escape from Tribeca, ahead of its Netflix debut on June 1, 2024.

In the film, “Akira Ninomiya (Kamenashi) is a remorseless lawyer who doesn’t hesitate to eliminate anyone who stands in his way. One night he is brutally attacked by an unknown assailant wearing a monster mask. Although he miraculously survives the assault, Ninomiya becomes fixated on finding the attacker and getting revenge. Meanwhile, a series of gruesome murders occur where the victims are found with their brains removed from their bodies.

Many of the most terrifying and nightmare-inducing horror movies hail from Japan. Nearly every subgenre of horror owes a debt of gratitude to J-horror or Japanese horror films. From found-footage and analog horror to traditional ghost stories and body horror, these films have confronted global audiences with concepts and images that effortlessly bleed into their nightmares.

Most of the best Japanese horror films come from the '90s and the 2000s, which is when J-horror first attained worldwide notoriety through films like Ringu and Ju-on. However, old-school horror hounds who remember Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Kwaidan know that Japanese horror has been infecting nightmares since the mid-20th century. Indeed, while Japanese horror isn't as prominent today as it was in the 2000s, the foundations it laid gave way to contemporary horror concepts and sensibilities. For viewers curious about the history of J-horror - or just looking for their next mind-bending horror fix,...

Prolific genre filmmaker Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) is back with Lumberjack the Monster, an adaptation of Kaibutsu no Kikori by Mayusuke Kurai. A brand new Japanese teaser trailer highlights the violence in store when a serial killer crosses paths with a psychopath.

The trailer introduces a Patrick Bateman-like psycho and a masked killer that may prove even more bloodthirsty, teasing a hyper-violent grudge match for the ages. The film’s official site explains, “A series of bizarre murders in which people wear a monster mask from the picture book ‘Monster Woodcutter’ and steal their brains with an axe.” The teaser also touts Miike’s feature as “insanely suspenseful.”

Whoever loses, all signs point to audiences winning. Miike always delivers on the unexpected and never shies away from pushing boundaries when it comes to violence or taboos.

Lumberjack the Monster is slated for theatrical release in Japan on December...

Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Titane” is coming to the U.S. on October 1.

Neon, who nabbed stateside acquisition rights to the Julia Ducournau film back in 2019, made the announcement Friday on Twitter.

The film stars Agathe Rousselle and Vincent Lindon and revolves around a woman who has sex with cars after growing up with a metal plate in her head from a car accident. The body-bending horror also features Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh, Mara Cisse, Marin Judas, Diong-Kéba Tacu, Myriem Akheddiou, Bertrand Bonello and more.

Without a word of dialogue, the trailer for the movie flashes between harrowing scenes of a body transforming, fire spreading and people dancing.

Variety critic Peter Debruge called the film “lusty” and “dark,” writing that “Titane” is “a daringly queer and undoubtedly controversial ride, resulting in a most uncommon monster movie — a cross between David Cronenberg’s ‘Crash’ and the uterine horrors of Takashi Miike’s ‘Gozu,...

In kinky Cannes Film Festival sensation “Titane,” an accident survivor winds up with a metal plate in her head, wounds ooze blood as black as motor oil and a car-show model dramatically expands the definition of autoerotic climax, getting pregnant after making it in the back seat of a pimped-out Caddy … by herself.

Proving that her cannibalism-themed feature debut, “Raw,” wasn’t merely an attention-grabbing stunt, French director Julia Ducournau returns to that untamed place where appetites run dark, using the human body as a vehicle to deconstruct ideas of gender, desire and incredibly dysfunctional family dynamics. It’s a daringly queer and undoubtedly controversial ride, resulting in a most uncommon monster movie — a cross between David Cronenberg’s “Crash” and the uterine horrors of Takashi Miike’s “Gozu,” perhaps — where the main character hardly ever speaks and what Ducournau is trying to say is wildly open to interpretation.

From the beginning,...

The year is 2003, and Takashi Miike is in his prime, not that he was not at that place many times before or after. As contradictory as it may sound, he always had phases of excellence versus good and less good years of productivity, but he never left us with the feeling of not wanting to see more. One of the most productive living film directors had already delivered “Gozu” in 2003, an ultimate nightmare of a yakuza saga with epic violence scenes that made us shudder, as well as the two-part movie “The Man in White”, a revengeful bloodbath mercilessly staining white suits in a pulse-raising manner along with a majorly underrated TV film “Negotiator” about three robbers who take the hospital hostage to get away with the previously committed crime. Not counting “One Missed Call”, that particular year gave us some of Takashi’s most memorable nail-chewing moments.

The cult...

If one was to make a Low Ten of Miike’s films, “Waru: Kanketsu-hen” would have a very high place in the list, since it managed to be even worse than the original (which would also be included in the list alongside “Silver” and a number of other Hisao Maki-written films), something that can only be perceived as a true “accomplishment”.

As the film begins, Himuro is nowhere to be found, with his woman even visiting his grave, and Sakuragi roaming the streets trying to investigate a new case about a bunch of right-wing terrorists with ties to the corporate world. Eventually and expectedly, Himuro reappears, to almost everyone’s joy, and resumes his duties as a teacher of kendo, while having to face a young man who is also a master of the sword, yakuza members, and eventually scores of enemies near the finale of the film.

To what extent is “Deadly Outlaw: Rekka” (aka Violent Fire) simply just another Takashi Miike yakuza flick, drenched in the overly common tropes of betrayal, inter-family politics, and vengeance? On one hand, this semi-maniacal reimagining of Shigenori Takechi’s script (previously adapted in 2001 as the gloriously epic “Agitator“) is an exercise in weirdness and in collaboration; a world occupied with familiar faces in the Miike canon, hanging out and enjoying making almost no sense whatsoever. On the other hand, it is a long overdue and extended music video to one of the most celebrated Japanese psych rock albums to ever grace a record player – Flower Travellin’ Band’s 1971 masterpiece Satori. What you have then is more than just some film: “Rekka” signifies the countercultural wheel yanking its tail and swallowing it whole, bound to an endless cycle of repetition and recurrences; for the most part it is an almighty blast to experience.

In his 2005 book “Save the Cat!”, the renowned tutor and screenwriter Blake Snyder argues that one tool to make a successful screenplay is to effectively utilize either “save the cat” or “kick the dog” trope in the first five minutes of the film, i.e. make a character either save a cat or kick a dog, in order to give us a clear signal of his intentions if he’s good or evil.

In Takashi Miike’s fabulous “Gozu”, the maniacal yakuza Ozaki doesn’t just kick the dog. He thrashes the living hell out of it, and finishes his beating with swinging it round and round on the leash and smashing it into the restaurant front window in bloody bits at the five-minute mark exactly.

After Ozaki’s (Shô Aikawa) violent antics have become a liability, the boss (Miike mainstay Renji Ishibashi) orders his minion Minami...

If you don't know the name Takashi Miike, then perhaps you're not a true film fan. The auteur made a name for himself in the 2000s pumping out one crazy movie after the next, continually raising the insanity level in each one. Now, he is back with the high-energy blast of shock and awe, tenderly called First Love. But make no mistake, this is not a romantic comedy.

Well Go USA Entertainment is proud to unveil the teaser trailer for Takashi Miike's crowd pleasing action crime drama First Love. The first look footage actually made its debut this past weekend at Comic-Con during the big 'Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza'. The Japanese title for the movie is Hatsukoi, and it made its world premiere during the Director's Fortnight during Cannes 2019.&#160

Critics are praising First Love with an intensity usually reserved for the most insane pieces of cinematic art. Jessica Kiang of Variety called it,...

When it comes to Asian cinema, there is probably no director more well known to the horror community than Takashi Miike. Responsible for directing films such as Audition, Gozu, One Missed Call, Ichi the Killer, and much, much more, the… Continue Reading →

The post Interview: Takashi Miike on Blade of the Immortal, Directing 100 Films, and More; New Clips! appeared first on Dread Central.

Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins, Is It Better Than The Highly Rated Original ?Action70%Story77%Lord Naritsugu is truly a bad guy you love to hateAll the pieces word beautifully togetherWith Miike you usually expect the unexpected but with 13 Assassins everything followed a very set path with no obvious deviationsIf you have watched the original 13 assassins then there really is nothing new here2016-05-1274%Overall ScoreReader Rating: (2 Votes)79%

Takashi Miike The King of the ultra violent, ultra weird and ultra great brings us 13 Assassins with a altogether more subtle affair. Known for some of the most amazing and disturbing movies in the history of cinema ( Gozu, Audition, Ichi The Killer, Zatoichi to name but a few), Takashi Miike has an habit of truly shocking the audience; visualising the weird and the wonderful on the big screen in ways most would find impossible. Miike is undoubtedly one of the most creative directors around.

About mid-way through Takashi Miike’s Yakuza Apocalypse, a man with a beak walks into the room. Wearing dramatic makeup, waving big green rubber hands and with a some kind of shell on his back, he gaily prances around, offending everyone with his halitosis. His presence is never explained.

And trust me, the beak-man is one of the saner things in the movie.

Takashi Miike is a disturbingly prolific workaholic, usually pumping out three films of variable quality every year. Over the course of his career he’s covered most genres, though he always seems to return to gangster dramas. Of course, Miike’s gangster dramas tend to be… well… odd. He sadomasochistically dissected Batman/The Joker in Ichi the Killer, Full Metal Yakuza is a low-budget bonkers Japanese Robocop and Gozu… well, Gozu has got to be seen to be believed.

Yakuza Apocalypse doesn’t skimp on that trademark Miike madness.

Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

So, Japanese filmmaker and cult fave Takashi Miike, after more than 60 features that have included over-the-edge stuff like "Ichi The Killer," "Visitor Q," "Audition," "Gozu" and more (and by more, we mean that he's done everything from bloodbath gangster flicks to mainstream comedies to musicals to surreal mindfucks), he's coming to Hollywood. Well, sort of. Deadline reports that Miike will make his English-language debut with "The Outsider," with none other than Tom Hardy to star. If the movie sounds familiar, then you have a good memory, because last year the project was at Warner Bros. where it was being eyed by director Daniel Espinosa ("Safe House") and star Michael Fassbender. That iteration didn't work out, and now the movie is in the hands of Joel Silver's Silver Pictures and has independent financing to go with it. So what's this one all about?  Based on a story by father-son producers Art and John Linson,...

Ace Attorney, the live-action film based on the Capcom series of legal mystery games is finally coming to the U.S. as part of the New York Asian Film Festival and AM2.

The film, helmed by Ichi the Killer/Gozu director Takashi Miike is the big-screen adaptation of Capcom's long-running series. The story sees luck-challenged defense attorney Phoenix Wright (Hiroki Narimiya) coming to the aid of his nemesis, corrupt-ish prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saitou). There will certainly be the collecting of evidence, twists, and objections. I'm calling it now: the spectacularly named Manfred von Karma (Ryou Ishibashi) is somehow behind it. That hair is too regal and his suit too purple for him not to be up to some kind of dirt.

The movie makes its U.S. debut as part of the Anime, Manga, and Music Con (AM2), which runs from June 15-17. For those of you on the East Coast,...

Takashi Miike is back. The King of the ultra violent, ultra weird and ultra great, is back with a altogether more subtle affair.Known for some of the most amazing and disturbing movies in the history of cinema (Gozu, Audition, Ichi The Killer, Zatoichi to name but a few), Takashi Miike as an habit of truly shocking the audience, visualising the weird and the wonderful on the back screen in ways most would find impossible. Miike is undoubtedly one of the most creative directors around.

But for 13 Assassins Miike takes a different approach…

Whats it about

13 Assassins is a remake of Kudos 1963 movie which itself is a very loose ‘retelling’ of Kurosawa’s iconic Seven Samurai.

Set during the feudal period (the rule of the shogun), 13 Assassins tells the story of the sadistic and terrifying rule of Lord Naritsugu. A man who goes to great lengths to bring fear to...

Takashi Miike. The name is synonymous with some of the most riveting cinema we have seen over the last couple of decades. Any time his name becomes attached to a new project we sit up and listen. So should you.

According to Nippon Cinema Takashi Miike (pictured right; Audition, Dead or Alive, Three...Extremes, Visitor Q, Gozu, One Missed Call, Ichi the Killer) is set to direct a film adaptation of Yusuke Kishi’s bestselling 2010 novel Aku no Kyoten (aka Lesson of the Evil).

The movie will star Hideaki Ito in a role quite a bit darker than what he’s usually known for. He’ll be playing a teacher named Seiji Hasumi who’s loved by his students and respected by his peers. However, his outward charm masks his true nature. In reality, Hasumi is a psychopath who is unable to feel empathy for other human beings. Specifically, he...

Takashi Miike made his first big international splash in Rotterdam, with "Audition" in 2000, and then began a run of productivity that few filmmakers, even famously prolific ones, can match. This is the man who made "Visitor Q," "Ichi the Killer" and "The Happiness of the Katakuris" in the same year. Even crazier, that was less than half of his output in 2001, a year in which he made seven feature films. He made fifteen movies in all between 2001 and 2003, including "Gozu," which savvy critics rightly acknowledge is his best film. Perhaps Miike has mellowed in recent years. He’s only been making two or three films anually for the past half decade. Maybe he should work less. His latest film, “Ace Attorney," which made its world premiere here in Rotterdam, bringing him back to the site of his earliest international acclaim, is a combination bizarre, oddly satisfying video game adaptation and otherworldly legal.

The Film:

The death of the samurai wasn’t from Seppuku, but by gun powder. 13 Assassins is a tale about this aspect, in the dying era of the samurais. Large and intimate, the scale of the film extends far beyond our rag tag troupe of assassins, as it portrays the end of honor as well. As gunpowder became the weapon of choice over the sword, wars changed as men who carried the new weapons changed. All this deepness from the most controversial Japanese director working, Takashi Miike? Yep. 13 Assassins is beautifully directed, easily accessible, and instantly pleasing, but don’t ever forget this is a Takashi Miike film, as evident by a tongueless, limbless, man-made sex doll seen tragically in the early minutes.

Miike has always had his foot in the odd, and has also been considered a cult film director here in the Western world. True. Audition or something...

Takashi Miike is commonly known for his outlandish horror films like Gozu or Audition, but the director works is many, many different genres, like this year’s 13 Assassins, and his next – which will be released in July – Nintama Rantaro – Ninja Kids.

Based on a long-running manga and anime series about the adventures of some young ninja apprentices at a ninja academy, we now have a better (not subtitled) trailer for the film (here), courtesy of Filmsmash (via Twitch):...

"Romanian films set in the era after the fall of Communism suggest the nation suffers a hell of a hangover from the ideology," writes Steve Erickson in Gay City News. "For instance, Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, Adjective attacks draconian drug laws left over from the old regime. Tuesday, After Christmas presents a very different vision of Romania. Its characters can afford to buy expensive Christmas gifts; one of them picks up a 3,300 Euro telescope. It may not be entirely accurate to call the film apolitical, but the most political thing about it is its avoidance of Eastern European miserabilism and its depiction of people who could be living much the same lifestyles in Western Europe."

Damon Smith introduces an interview with director Radu Muntean for Filmmaker: "Tuesday, After Christmas, which premiered at Cannes last year, opens on a dreamy scene: sunlight bathes a naked couple, middle-aged Paul (Mimi Branescu) and pretty,...

Updated through 5/21.

"Miike's gonzo efforts have assaulted the fest circuit for over a decade, and at least one, Gozu, appeared in the Director's Fortnight here," recalls Mike D'Angelo at the Av Club. "But he's finally gotten the big nod for Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, a remake of Masaki Kobayashi's masterpiece Harakiri (which itself won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1963, taking second place to Visconti's The Leopard). Like the original, it's a methodical, often downright somber tale of honor codes gone awry, depicting the repercussions of a horrific incident in which a starving ronin gets his 'suicide bluff' called. Weary of a wave of beggars seeking to inspire pity and a handout by asking for a suitably proud spot to commit seppuku, officials at the House of Ii force one poor fellow to go through with it,even when they see that his sword is made of bamboo.

A few new film clips have been released for Takashi Miike's incredible looking film 13 Assassins. For those of you who don't know Miike has directed films such as Ichi The Killer, Audition and Gozu. This movie looks it's going to be great and I'm looking forward to eventually seeing it. Check out one of the clips for the films below.

Click here to watch six other film clips.

Here's the synopsis for the film:

The noble samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is secretly commissioned to assassinate the evil Lord Naritsugu after his bloody rise to power. Assembling an elite group of samurai, Shinzaemon plots to ambush the Lord on his annual journey home from Edo. The courageous samurai know it’s a suicide mission because the Lord is closely protected by a deadly entourage led by Shinzaemon’s nemesis, the ruthless Hanbei. To capture Lord Naritsugu, Shinzaemon and his skilled samurai...

Source: FilmShaft - 13 Assassins – Review

Takashi Miike has delivered some truly off the wall films in a variety of genres. We’ve had movies where a man climbs out of a woman’s vagina (Gozu). We’ve endured piano wire amputations and needles-in-eyeball-torture in Audition. We’ve laughed at a horror musical (The Happiness of the Katakuris), and if you’ve never seen Ichi the Killer – get thee to a video store!

Miike has always flitted between genres, rubber stamping them with his own take. Once seen they’re never forgotten. 13 Assassins is classical in approach yet still maintains shades of Miike’s irreverence. If you’re expecting Kill Bill levels of blood and Braveheart levels of battlefield gore, you might be disappointed. That’s not to say 13 Assassins doesn’t boast such moments, they’re just not overdone.

The story is simple. There’s an evil leader, Lord Naritsugu,...

Here are three awesome looking stills from Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins! The film is currently available streaming on demand, I may have to check this out. Miike directed such films as Ichi The Killer, Audition and Gozu.

Synopsis:

The noble samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is secretly commissioned to assassinate the evil Lord Naritsugu after his bloody rise to power. Assembling an elite group of samurai, Shinzaemon plots to ambush the Lord on his annual journey home from Edo. The courageous samurai know it’s a suicide mission because the Lord is closely protected by a deadly entourage led by Shinzaemon’s nemesis, the ruthless Hanbei. To capture Lord Naritsugu, Shinzaemon and his skilled samurai transform a mountain village into an intricate death trap. But when the Lord finally arrives, the assassins discover they are outnumbered fifteen to one. The day has come for our 13 fearless assassins to face death in a monumental battle of fiery explosions,...

The death of the samurai wasn’t from seppuku, but by gun powder. 13 Assassins is a tale about this aspect, in the dying era of the samurais. Large and intimate, the scale of the film extends far beyond our rag tag troupe of assassins, as it portrays the end of honor as well. As gunpowder became the weapon of choice over the sword, wars changed as men who carried the new weapons changed. All this deepness from the most controversial Japanese director working, Takashi Miike? Yep. 13 Assassins is beautifully directed, easily accessible, and instantly pleasing, but don’t ever forget this is a Takashi Miike film, as evident by a tongueless, limbless, man-made sex doll seen tragically in the early minutes.

Miike has always had his foot in the odd, and has also been considered a cult film director here in the Western world. True. Audition or something like Gozu are weird as they come.

Takashi Miike is one of the hardest working directors in all of cinema, and most likely also one of the craziest. Anyone needing proof need only to watch a triple feature of Visitor- Q, Gozu, and the popular Audition. Though the man is known for his more extreme films like Ichi The Killer, Miike has taken great risks as a director as well by presenting more art-house and historic films like The Bird People of China and The Great Yokai War. 13 Assassins seems to fit perfectly in the long career of this Japanese sensation. Combining historical elements while also harkening back to Miike’s samurai influences, the film looks to be a real treat for Miike fans and cinema fans alike.

Earlier this weekend, a trailer was released by Magnolia Pictures. You can currently view the film on VOD, before it receives its theatrical release April 29th. Then this evening,...

Here' the movie trailer and new poster for Takashi Miike's awesome looking film 13 Assassins! The reviews that have been coming out for this movie have for the most part been extremely positive. For those of you who don't know Miike directed films such as Ichi The Killer, Audition and Gozu. I can't wait to watch his new movie, it looks completely badass!

Synopsis:

The noble samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is secretly commissioned to assassinate the evil Lord Naritsugu after his bloody rise to power. Assembling an elite group of samurai, Shinzaemon plots to ambush the Lord on his annual journey home from Edo. The courageous samurai know it’s a suicide mission because the Lord is closely protected by a deadly entourage led by Shinzaemon’s nemesis, the ruthless Hanbei. To capture Lord Naritsugu, Shinzaemon and his skilled samurai transform a mountain village into an intricate death trap. But when the Lord finally arrives,...

Any day Takashi Miike releases a new film, it's like a holiday. When it's a film that has buzz like 13 Assassins, it's heaven. Miike's latest release is scheduled to hit theaters on April 29 and after gangbuster screenings at South by Southwest, Fantastic Fest and AFI Fest, among others, we've heard nothing but incredibly positive things [1]. The reviews are the kind of raves that makes it seem like 13 Assassins ranks among Miike's best: Ichi The Killer, Audition, Gozu and others. Check out the full trailer and new poster after the break. Head over to Apple for the full [2], high definition version of this trailer. Here's the official plot description: Cult director Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition) delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending...

You don.t see many samurai films these days. Akira Kurosawa basically built the genre in the 40.s and 50.s and filmmakers are still struggling to catch up. One director about to take a stab at it is Takashi Miike, whose next film 13 Assassins will hit VOD March 25th and theaters April 29th. A fresh new illustrated poster for the film has appeared over at Cinematical looking more like the cover of a graphic novel than a poster. Presumably the lone warrior pictured is one of the 13 samurai that band together in hopes of overthrowing an evil lord. The image seems like a mix of traditional and modern art styles combining to create a unique but effective look for the poster. Miike.s films frequently find their way into the American horror mainstream. His films like Audtion, Ichi the Killer and Gozu are all classic films you.ll probably recognize.

Year: 2010

Directors: Takashi Miike

Writers: Kaneo Ikegami/Takashi Miike

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: rochefort

Rating: 9 out of 10

In the years just before the advent of Japan's Meiji era, the feudal Shogunate is waning as tensions rise among the Shogun's lieutenants and lords, mainly due to the rapid and bloody ascension of Lord Naritsugu (a superb Goro Inagaki), a young and spoiled samurai with a privileged and self-serving philosophy of war and the function of Japan's ruling class. His callous disregard for tradition and compassion results in a trail of bodies both peasant and noble, and "retired" samurai Shinzaemon (Koji Yakusho) is approached by one disgraced nobleman to unofficially assassinate Naritsugu and restore balance to the system. Shinzaemon accepts only after being shown the dismembered body of one of Naritsugu's vicitms, then wastes no time assembling a group of thirteen samurai, ronin, and drifters for a suicide mission against...

An added bonus of discovering Takashi Miike’s films on DVD is following the director’s progress through special-feature interviews, which are often as entertaining as the films themselves. A deadpan, musing presence, Miike is one of the great characters of recent home viewing. Though sounding more mature with each passing year (having come a long way from the interview conducted for the DVD of Audition [1999; interview 2000], in which he dressed up like a skater punk because “the youth of Japan have this game nowadays...where they beat up men on the street who look old; and so, I am trying to look younger”), Miike has retained the quality of sounding pleasantly adrift on the sea of filmmaking, coming to each project without prejudice and discovering cinema as he goes along. (Another memorable moment, when asked about the absurdist liberties he took with the purportedly realist Deadly Outlaw: Rekka [2002]: “It...

For some, Takashi Miike is kind of becoming like your favorite local indie band. They had a fresh sound. You saw them play for the first time in an elementary school gym with shitty acoustics and bathroom urinals that only came up to you knees. You would drive for hours to see them play in small town curling rinks. You followed them as they started to get into shows and clubs. Then other people started to take notice and the crowds got bigger, the venues larger and guys with lanyards and VIP passes were ushering them into the dark corners of the clubs and you no longer heard their songs on Am but FM radio. Bastards! They've sold out! They've gone mainstream! They're no longer that little indie band but are now talking to boys wearing makeup on MuchMusic.

Dicks!

The more Takashi Miike enters into mainstream film the more...

Chicago – The DVD Round-Up has traveled the globe this week to bring you a diverse slate of under-the-radar titles received in the HollywoodChicago.com offices this holiday season. With so many major releases this time of year, it’s hard to cover everything, but we wanted to make sure you knew these were out there in case you have a gift card burning a hole in your pocket.

One quick note: We don’t usually inject opinion into the DVD Round-Up. It’s a recurring column merely designed for informational purposes regarding some lower profile titles new on shelves. We’d like to make a rare exception for “Sita Sings the Blues,” a simply wonderful animated film that we only wish we had more time to spotlight but that we wanted to make sure you knew was available before the end of the year. Don’t just go rent it.

It looks like Anchor Bay is wishing everyone a "Blu" Christmas as it releases a wide variety of films ranging from The Alphabet Killer to Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon to Walled In to Cyclops to Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer onto Blu-ray for the first time. Now that's a lot of cerulean!

But that's just the beginning of this week's home video treasures. There's also a Coraline gift set that, along with the contents featured in the existing Blu-ray release, includes a set of postcards and a book titled Getting Things Right, giving Henry Selick's insights into inspiration, process, and production of the movie. Fans of Takashi Miike's Gozu will want to check out the new two-disc Collector's Edition of the film, and those of you who have stuck by the TV show Lost but haven't yet picked up the series on DVD will be...

Takashi Miike's "Gozu" and Shane Ryan's "Amateur Porn Star Killer" back in stores. On December 8, 2009 Takashi Miike's "Gozu" will be re-released in a brand new special 2-disc edition. The new DVD will keep the special features from the original release, including interviews by Eli Roth ("Hostel"), Guillermo Del Toro ("Hellboy") and Miike ("Sukiyaki Western Django" with Quentin Tarantino), along with a featurette, still galleries and more, but will now feature 2 Hours of never before seen behind the scenes footage. Back in stores this week after a 6 month ban is Shane Ryan's underground horror hit "Amateur Porn Star Killer". Released in November of 2007, the $45 budgeted indie flick instantly became a hit selling out of stock everywhere. A sequel was released just 6 months later,...

Sorry this dvd list is coming at you a little later than usual gang, but between fighting with Microsoft about constantly holding my emails in queue and... well that's it actually.

Anyhoo, first on our list of must-see DVDs this week is the 50s spoof flick, Alien Trespass by director R.W. Goodwin. For reasons unknown Image Ent. have given it the "serious" cover you see before you, but rest assured this is definitely a B-movie riff so prepare to giggle.

Alright, moving on we finally have a release of Azazel Jacobs' 2005 existential coming of age film, The Good Times Kid. It has been garnering solid reviews since premiering on the festival circuit and honestly we've been trying to get a screener for ages to no avail. Thank you you beautiful pepole at Benten Films!

Now one for the ladies! Yep, Edward and Bella are back on DVD this week...

Curious to know what frightful films and devilish discs will be available to view in the privacy of your own digital dungeon this week? Fango's got you covered.

Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores this Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last-minute additions and deletions.

Note: Clickable links lead to Amazon.com

Alien Tresspass - Image DVD & Bd

A flying saucer, ray guns, body snatching and a one-eyed monster from outer space! It’s all here in this action-packed sci-fi adventure! Eric McCormack stars as an astronomer who gets possessed by a friendly alien bent on saving our humble planet. But even with the help of a lovely diner waitress, is he any match for the Ghota, a one-eyed evil alien on a murderous rampage?

Bad Boy Bubby (Bd)

L.A. Weekly called it "disturbing and compelling,...

Greetings Fango Fiends, Phantom Jammers, and all lovers of that which is slightly more macabre. It's time once again for another installment of Fangoria Musick's Lists Of Doom - the column where we track down some of your favorite (or soon-to-be favorite) bands to get their thoughts on on the world of horror, and which films scare them.

For our Big sixteenth edition, we have a very special guest. A regular on TV 18's highly-rated Uncle Seymour Coffins' Creature Feature, we recently had the honor of sitting down with Cushing Clegg. Yes, you know him as the Captain, of Captain Clegg and The Night Creatures...

Capt. Clegg's List Of Doom (in no particular order)

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Here's an unassailable classic that not only remains one of the best horror movies of all time, but a fixture of smart and riveting American independent cinema. With an African-American protagonist,...

Bafflingly, strange, horrific and at times darkly funny...Takashi Miike’s Gozu is returning to R1 DVD, with a new release through cult movie label Cinema Epoch. If you’re just starting out to explore the strange wacky world of Miike films, Gozu might not be the best film to start with, but initiates into his uniquely skewed and perplexing style will no doubt love it. When young yakuza Minami is ordered by his gang boss to permanently assassinate his own superior Ozaki (who also happens to be his closest friend) Minami’s target disappears on the way to the place of “removal.” Setting out to search for his missing friend leads him into a mysterious town filled with lowlifes, oddballs, mother's milk and a cow-headed Demon.

Bafflingly, strange, horrific and at times darkly funny...Takashi Miike’s Gozu is returning to R1 DVD, with a new release through cult movie label Cinema Epoch. If you’re just starting out to explore the strange wacky world of Miike films, Gozu might not be the best film to start with, but initiates into his uniquely skewed and perplexing style will no doubt love it. When young yakuza Minami is ordered by his gang boss to permanently assassinate his own superior Ozaki (who also happens to be his closest friend) Minami’s target disappears on the way to the place of “removal.” Setting out to search for his missing friend leads him into a mysterious town filled with lowlifes, oddballs, mother's milk and a cow-headed Demon.

Yes, kids, Tokyo Zombie is now on shelves and the time has come to announce the winners of our DVD giveaway contest. To win all you had to do was name three films that Show Aikawa starred in for Takashi Miike, which I realized was a stupid question that could be answered by simply saying “The Dead Or Alive trilogy” shortly after people started doing exactly that. I was thinking more along the lines of Gozu, Zebraman, Waru etc, myself, though I honestly don’t recommend watching Waru. It’s pretty bad. But I digress. Winners! Five of ‘em! Congratulations to: Chris Smith, Jordan Andrei, Eric Chu, Marc-Andre Goulet and the fabulously named Yasir Makhdoom.

Yes, it’s been a couple years since we first wrote about Sakichi Sato’s Tokyo Zombie - the slacker horror comedy written and directed by the writer of Takashi Miike’s Ichi The Killer and Gozu, starring Show Aikawa and Tadanobu Asano - but after lengthy delays the film is finally about to arrive on English friendly DVD via Manga Entertainment and Anchor Bay. And if you live here in Canada, you’re in luck: Anchor Bay Canada have given us five copies of the DVD to give away to Canuck Twitch readers. You want it? by April 7th naming three Takashi Miike films that Aikawa has starred in. I’ve already given you one, so it shouldn’t be too hard ...

A young actress with a strange attraction to "fat, weird-looking guys" falls for an indie film director with just the right ungainly profile in Heibon Punch, which opens in Japan on November 22. The twist? Whenever the filmmaker returns her attentions, "he magically transforms into a handsome man that she finds repulsive." Oh, and then she murders a rival actress and goes on the run with the director, who decides to make a movie out of it. Sounds like a lighter version of Natural Born Killers, that is, if Oliver Stone decided to make a romantic comedy instead of a bloody media satire. Nippon Cinema found the (Nsfw) trailer and Japanese-language official site.

The film stars Rina Akiyama as the ambitious thespian and Sakichi Satô, who also directed and scripted, as the director. Satô has written for Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Gozu), proving that he has a wild and perverse imagination,...

By chance, two Takashi Miike movies, Dead or Alive and Audition, opened in my town with in a week of one another in 2001. It was pretty eye opening seeing the huge difference between them, the speedy carnage of the former and the slow suspense of the latter, and I became an instant fan. Since then I've managed to track down just six more Miike movies, and in that same time he has made over forty (including videos and TV shows). The speed of his production fits perfectly with the personality of his movies. They're often nonsensical; I couldn't make heads or tails of two of his more recent pictures, Gozu and The Great Yokai War. And they're very definitely energetic, verging on crazy. He reminds me of the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who cranked out over 40 movies and TV shows in less than 15 years and died at the...

• The Great Yokai War The Great Yokai War is Japanese wild man Takashi Miike’s big-budget attempt to create the Asian equivalent of Time Bandits for his children’s generation. The plot has to do with mythical creatures called Yokai that are dismayed by the selfishness of humans and, as a result, the war that breaks out between them to decide the fate of humanity. But is it the Yokai who will make that decision or a lone little boy chosen as humanity’s savior? I had already written a capsule review giving a list of reasons why I didn’t like this film until it occurred to me what the real problem was. This is a film that was created for kids and I’m no longer 10 years old. I’m also a fan of Miike’s work in general and simply wasn’t expecting this kind of tame F/X driven fairytale.

...

• Tokyo Zombie Welcome to the world of Japanese director Sakichi Sato. If you’ve seen either of Takashi Miike’s films Ichi The Killer or the brilliant Gozu, both of which Sato wrote the screenplays for, you may get a sense that Tokyo Zombie is going to be seriously fucked. Well, yeah it is, but what you won’t be expecting is the optimistic good vibe beating at the center of this oddball buddy flick. The story centers on two inept but lovable dudes who take on the Tokyo undead with nothing but limited brainpower, an endless enthusiasm for Jui Jitsu and of course the dream of a really great condo! The film races out of the gate with a sense of reckless fun and as the slapstick first half gives way to the introspective second act no subject is off limits. Rape, pedophilia, class wars, the physical and moral disintegration of Tokyo.

...