News

“Why were you the only one saved?”

Although this might sound like an exaggeration, but the way, especially Western audiences view Japanese, or indeed Asian horror fundamentally changed with Hideo Nakata’s “Ring” (1998). For a director who states he does not even like the genre that much, it must have been quite the surprise to suddenly be one of the first to start a wave of Japanese horror movies. Interestingly, films like “Ring”, “Ju-On” or “Pulse” may contain a fair share of outside influences, but overall their tone, their visuals and their general approach to the uncanny can be defined as distinctly Asian, or Japanese. It is precisely this kind of authenticity which labelled titles like the ones mentioned to be prime candidates for Hollywood-ized remakes, but also helped the works of many directors to find international distributors.

In the case of “Ring 2”, one of the first surprises for many...

Franchises are a major part of the film industry – and the most popular, profitable ones seem to never die. One genre with a particular affinity for endless streams of sequels is horror. Whether they repeatedly resurrect a seemingly slain killer, string together loosely-related stories, or contort themselves into a convoluted back-and-forth web of sequels, prequels, and midquels, a horror series that make money have enough mileage to make a hybrid car blush.

But every once in a while something happens that endangers a franchise – legal troubles, production problems, or just a flat-out awful film. Sometimes this is enough to finally kill the series, but sometimes, if there still seems like there’s money to be made, the brave producers will stumble on and do their best to just pretend their missteps never happened at all. When this happens, we end up with sequels that suddenly no longer “count” – they’re...

Wow, now this is the kind of news I like! For fans of the brilliant Hideo Nakata helmed j-horror 'Ringu', the film that single handedly kicked Japanese horror into the forefront of the genre, you'll be pleased to hear that a new installment has been penned by Koji Suzuki and Kadokawa Pictures are revving up 'Sadako 3D'. Sadako of course is the creepy TV-exiting girl who literally enters your very living room after ascending out of the well where she was left for dead. And there's even mention that the TV crawl would be featured in the brand new 3D style which should really enhance that shock even more so. No director or cast have been announced thus far. For those who are yet to uncover this great series of sinister little horrors you might want to check out 'Ringu', 'Rasen', 'Ringu 2...

You will recall that back in December word had gotten out that Japanese director Mamoru Oshii and one of the stars from his short film Assault Girl 2, Rinko Kikuchi, announced that they would be pleased as punch if they could make a feature length film based on characters from that short.

The live-action Assault Girls feature film by director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers, Patlabor) has been green-lit for a December 19 opening. This film will be Oshii’s first live-action feature film since 2001’s Avalon. The science-fiction story is set on a desert battlefield after giant monsters named “Suna Kujira” (literally, sand whales) devastated the land. Three beautiful female hunters — all of whom wield assault rifles and other powerful weapons — engage in battle with the monsters, including the biggest of them all, the Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale). Meisa Kuroki (Vexille - 2077 Isolation of Japan,...