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 (Robert Vaughn) try to identify the source of … Read the rest
Month: July 2017
Shadow of Deception (Koichi Saito, Japan, 1971)
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 husband, Shozo values his work and career far … Read the rest
The Long Darkness (Kei Kumai, Japan, 1972)
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 personal shame which leads individuals to believe they … Read the rest
Black Belly Of The Tarantula (Italy, 1971, Paolo Cavara)
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 plot involving the victims seems like a breakthrough … Read the rest
Deep Red (Takashi Tsukinoki, Japan, 2005)
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 out the condemned man’s wayward daughter, Miho (Rina … Read the rest
Night Train (Diao Yi’nan, China, 2007)
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), a young man who seems interested in her … Read the rest
Execution Squad (Stefano Vanzina, Italy, 1972)
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 of. Only a dogged news reporter named Sandra … Read the rest
Red Handkerchief (Toshio Masuda, Japan, 1964)
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 shooting from his superiors Mikami retires from the … Read the rest
Autumn Approaches (Mikio Naruse, Japan, 1960)
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. But after Shigeko runs off with a salesman … Read the rest
