Dying businessman Senzo (So Yamamura) announces his vast fortune is to be split among his three illegitimate children provided they can be located. To this end he orders loyal and innocent secretary Yasuko (Keiko Kishi) to locate his eldest whilst a bent lawyer (Jun Hamamura) is instructed to find the other two. But Senzo’s greedy wife Sato (Misako Watanabe) conspires … Read the rest
Category: Japan
The Blue Light (Yukio Ninagawa, Japan, 2003)
A bright teenager named Shuichi (Kazunari Ninomiya) lives with his mother and sister. But although outwardly happy the return of Shuichi’s estranged stepfather – whom he believes to have sexually abused his sister – stirs violent impulses in the boy. So Shuichi hatches an ingenious death-by-electrocution plan to murder his stepfather. But when a psychotic schoolmate gets wind of the … Read the rest
Gun and Key (Satoshi Isaka, Japan, 2001)
Two strangers who’ve met on the internet, a young computer expert nicknamed ‘Gun’ (Kazuma Suzuki) and an ageing locksmith known as ‘Key’ (Kenichi Hagiwara), plan to rob the office safe of a businessman with gangster connections. The robbery goes fine but on the way out the lift carrying our heroes gets stuck between floors. As the hours pass and the … Read the rest
Safari 5000 (Koreyoshi Kurahara, Japan, 1969)
In dangerous winter weather an obsessive rally driver named Godai (Yujiro Ishihara) narrowly avoids death after a disastrous shunt during the Monte Carlo race. After recovery Godai sets his sights on the big African rally in which he’ll compete with his old adversary and best friend Pierre (Alain Cuny). But as Godai begins training the wives of both men (Ruriko … Read the rest
Savage Wolf Pack (Yasuharu Hasebe, Japan, 1969)
Alaskan hunter Tetsuya (Tetsuya Watari) returns to Japan to discover that his sister has killed herself after being raped by a gang of hoodlums. After rescuing politician’s daughter Kyoko (Meiko Fujimoto) from a vicious motorcycle gang terrorising the locals around a US airbase he realizes these are the same scum responsible for his sister’s death. When Kyoko is kidnapped and … Read the rest
The Rendezvous (Koichi Saito, Japan, 1972)
To the accompaniment of an instantly memorable score an attractive middle-aged woman (Keiko Kishi) sits alone on a park bench watching the world go by – children at play, couples arm in arm strolling past. At the end of the film we’ll come back to this scene and understand its significance but after this intriguing opening we’re on a train … Read the rest
Assault! Jack the Ripper (Yasuharu Hasebe, Japan, 1976)
One rainy night a wimpy pastry chef named Ken (Yutaka Hayashi) reluctantly gives fellow restaurant worker – the dominant Yuri (Tamaki Katsura) – a lift home. But when the pair witness the gruesome death of a woman they’d stopped to help they find themselves sexually aroused by the accident. But what begins as a perverse sexual kink (killing as aphrodisiac) … Read the rest
I Hate But Love (Koreyoshi Kurahara, Japan, 1962)
Popular TV star Daisaku (Yujiro Ishihara), frustrated with his shallow lifestyle, agrees to drive a knackered old jeep 800 miles across country to a remote village to deliver it to the boyfriend of a woman whose love affair with her partner has been conducted entirely by letter. Pursued by his girlfriend/secretary Noriko (Ruriko Asoaka), who thinks the star has taken … Read the rest
Vital (Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan, 2004)
A young man named Hiroshi (Tadanobu Asano) loses his memory in a car crash that kills his girlfriend Ryoko (Nami Tsukamoto). After recovery he enrols at medical school only to discover that the female body he’s dissecting in the mortuary is… well, you can probably guess. As Hiroshi digs into Ryoko’s corpse his memories begin to return and he finds … Read the rest
Dragon Princess (Yutaka Kohira, Japan, 1976)
A most satisfying martial arts adventure as likeable Etsuko Shihomi is raised to become the instrument of her father’s vengeance after evil karate expert Nikaido (Bin Amatsu) and his three colourful thugs leave Dad (Sonny Chiba) badly crippled following a power struggle in New York. When Nikaido returns to Japan and announces a karate tournament Shihomi turns up to challenge … Read the rest
