Nightmare Theater - The Hottest Films in Horror, Sci-Fi and Cult Cinema # 4

This month features more Asian Horror Cinema!
And you know I like em strange so let's get right to it.

Uzumaki

 Based on the Junji Ito Manga, "Uzumaki" is a darkly comedic Alice in Wonderland; only instead of entering through the looking glass into another world, another world seems to be entering the small town of Kurouzu through a growing number of "Spirals" creating bizarre obsessions, Medusa-like hair, and insects crawling into people's ears and settling in the inner cochlea to transmit hallucinations. Yes, all that and more...

This is beautifully shot and immensely odd. While not a violent film it does have a certain amount of gore that is fairly original in its delivery as the final results of some of the odd obsessive and eccentric behavior elicited by this inexplicable spiral curse. If you think it is cool in it's own right, I had a cool sync experience watching the film while listening to the first album by Fantomas !

With or without the audio augmentation, I rate this unique film 5 Skulls!

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Living Hell aka Iki-jigoku

Sometimes referred to as "Japanese Chainsaw Massacre"!
By Shugo Fujji

Only instead of a man in a skin mask with a chainsaw we have a granny who is creepy and enjoys torturing her crippled relative, Yasu (Hirohito Honda)  with a taser. The reviews on this film are often mixed, and while it is an obvious homage to the Tobe Hooper classic original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" it certainly doesn't steal the show from its predecessor. That said, the Japanese have an interesting flair to put on just about anything and this is no exception. The cold cruel Grandmother and Grand daughter team are delightful. And you just gotta wonder when poor Yasu is gonna get a break!
I liked this film, It's got some character, but being a"take-off" of another classic original, I can only give it 3 Skulls.

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Gozu

A Takashi Miike Film

Merely mentioning the name Takashi Miike certifies that the movie you are about to see will probably not be like many other films you have seen. "GOZU" or ("Grand Theatre of Perversion and Fear: Cow's Head") as it's longer full title translates, is a Yakuza horror flick that would make David Lynch stand up and take notice! It has a strange over-arching philosophical vibe that creeps throughout the work similar to a Jodorowsky film, but in the end this is classic Miike all the way! A positive reception at Cannes Film Festival in 2003 assured that this bizarre film got a theatrical release (well not in the States, but...)

4 Skulls for this creative Miike film!

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All for now, Till next time...

May all your Nightmares be cinematic:)