Virus/Resurrection Day (full 156m version) (Kinji Fukasaku, Japan, 1980)

Last Updated on October 6, 2020 by rob

A renegade scientist passes onto the Russians a doomsday virus developed by the US military. But the virus escapes and proves unstoppable. Hospitals overflow with dying patients and mass panic erupts. Overwhelmed, the authorities begin burning mounds of corpses in the streets while the US President (Glenn Ford) and a wily senator … Read the rest

Shadow of Deception (Koichi Saito, Japan, 1971)

Last Updated on October 6, 2020 by rob

An adulterous affair between Minako (Shima Iwashita), the wife of a rich but much older husband who can no longer satisfy her physically, and Shozo (Akira Nakao), a young archaeology scholar married to his teacher’s daughter, reaches breaking point when it becomes apparent that while Minako is quite willing to leave her … Read the rest

The Long Darkness (Kei Kumai, Japan, 1972)

Last Updated on September 26, 2020 by rob

University student Tetsuro (Go Kato) falls in love with waitress Shino (Komaki Kurahara) but as the pair fall in love each is burdened with family tragedies that threaten to tear them apart.

This deeply moving film from director Kei Kumai is a contemporary social issue drama about that distinctively Japanese sense of … Read the rest

Black Belly Of The Tarantula (Italy, 1971, Paolo Cavara)

Last Updated on October 6, 2020 by rob

Inspector Tellini (Giancarlo Giannnini) investigates a series of grisly murders in which women are paralysed by scorpion venom before being mutilated. As the bodies pile up the gruesome nature of the investigation proves hard to bear and Tellini relies on his wife Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) for support. The discovery of a blackmail … Read the rest

Deep Red (Takashi Tsukinoki, Japan, 2005)

Last Updated on October 6, 2020 by rob

On a class field trip schoolgirl Akiba (Asami Mizukawa) receives the news that her family – Mum, Dad and two infant brothers – have died in disturbing circumstances. Five years later the man convicted of her family’s murder is sentenced to death. But Akiba, now a University student, wants revenge and seeks … Read the rest

Night Train (Diao Yi’nan, China, 2007)

Last Updated on January 23, 2021 by rob

Set in a heavily industrialised region of the country – all hellish, steam filled factories and squalid, freezing hovels – the film follows Wu (Dan) as she takes the night train to a dating service in a nearby city. After several unsatisfactory liaisons Wu finds herself drawn to Li Jun (Qi Dao), … Read the rest

Execution Squad (Stefano Vanzina, Italy, 1972)

Last Updated on April 19, 2021 by rob

Commissioner Bertone (Enrico Maria Salerno), a good cop trying to uphold the law in the hunt for a pair of murderous young bank robbers finds his job challenged by a sceptical district attorney Riciutti (Mario Adorf) who won’t believe his claims that a well organised vigilante squad is executing anyone it disapproves … Read the rest

Red Handkerchief (Toshio Masuda, Japan, 1964)

Last Updated on April 17, 2021 by rob

During a police interrogation detective Mikami (Yujiro Ishihara) shoots dead a suspected drug mule when the suspect grabs his partner Ishizuka’s (Hideaki Nitani) gun. Understandably, the dead man’s beautiful young daughter (Ruriko Asoaka), with whom Mikami has fallen in love, wants nothing more to do with him. Facing an investigation into the … Read the rest

Autumn Approaches (Mikio Naruse, Japan, 1960)

Last Updated on April 18, 2021 by rob

Middle-aged widow Shigeko (Nobuko Otowa) and her 11 year old son Hideo (Kenzaburo Osawa) arrive in Tokyo to stay with relatives. As Shigeko finds hostess work at a local inn Hideo gets into scraps with the local kids before befriending Junko (Futaba Ichiki), the 9 year old daughter of his mother’s employer. … Read the rest