Posted by Jason Wiener in Movie Reviews on June 7th, 2008

The fun continues with three more movies, and a couple of shorts.

First up was the local short film, “Imp of Satan”, which I like to call “Buttsecks of the Dead”. A gay couple decides to move in together since one is having problems with his apartment/landlord. So he calls to tell his landlord he’s breaking the lease. Too bad the landlord worships Satan. There’s no way I could name them all, but here’s a pic of all the Satanic imps behind this movie:

Then the feature film paired with the short was “Mindflesh“, based on the novel “White Light” by local author William Scheinman. Chris is a cab driver, but lately he has neglected work to chase a vision. He swears he can see a beautiful (and often naked) woman, but whenever he chases her she disappears. His friends think he’s crazy, and maybe he is but they’re not really ones to talk (especially the cop who jacks off to crime scene photos). Things get especially strange when the mysterious woman becomes very real–at least for times. A friend loans him a book which might hold the answer, he tracks down the author who’s angry and frightened by him. It all has something to do with his “Supernature“. Maybe he has the psychic ability to make his obsessions flesh, or maybe his mind holds the passage to other levels of existence. What is sure is that there’s a very naked woman in his home a lot, and they have sex (which might be literally him fucking his own mind). And this all has to do with some terrible childhood trauma, which manifests as some hideous fucked up imagery (I won’t get the crotchful of maggots out of my mind for quite a while). Anyway, here’s a pic of the sick bastards who came up with this–director Robert Pratten and author William Scheinman:

And then I saw the early winner of the festival so far, and an excellently twisted Japanese splatstick comedy flick, “Machine Girl”. Ami is a peaceful but athletic girl. Her parents are dead (suicide after being accused of murder) and all she has is her little brother Yu. He’s picked on by bullies, led by the son of the local ninja Yakuza gang. They kill him, she gets revenge they get revenge back, she gets more revenge. A good time is had by all. That good time involves tons of blood, ninjas, severed digits, limbs, heads. A machine gun arm, a chainsaw leg, flying guillotine, and tempura. That’s just to name a few of the delights. A crowded theater was whooping it up all through the chaos. I think we have a new certified cult classic.

Oh, and for fans of Japanese splatstick gore-comedy, not only does “Machine Girl” play twice more–June 12 at 5 and June 14 at 9:30–but Holehead has added a new bonus closing night screening. On June 22, 8:00 at the Brava theater (24th and York) they’ve added the west coast premiere of “Tokyo Gore Police”, with effects by the same guys who did “Machine Girl”. This isn’t on the printed schedule, and I don’t know how prominently announced it is on the website. So you just have to be in the know. And now you are.

And finally the last show, with free beer by the wonderful sponsor Red Hook (at all the midnight shows). First up the short “Date of the Dead”. Blind dates can be frustrating, but when your date has to constantly excuse herself on some pretense so she can feast on the flesh of the living, that’s kind of awkward. And here’s the guy responsible for it, local director Dusty Caruso.

And finally, the best title in the festival, “Mutant Vampire Zombies From the Hood”. This one I’m dedicating to all my colleagues in nuclear medicine, since it starts with a drug deal gone bad in a Compton nuc med supply warehouse. This is actually important, because the lead walls storing all those radiopharmaceuticals protect them from the massive solar flare that turns nearly everyone else into zombies. Interestingly, this movie approaches the fast zombie/slow zombie/smart zombie logic in a unique way. The solar flare causes mutations that manifest differently in different people. So the survivors (one cop and several drug dealing gang members) have to battle all different types of zombies, including ones so smart they pass for human. Along the way they make references to Romero movies and others (”Aliens” comes up a lot) on their way to a surviving scientist who is broadcasting on public access TV. The scientist happens to have a really hot daughter, so repopulating the planet won’t be a problem (and in the one sex scene she gets off on letting the zombies watch. That was pretty twisted). But first they need to get to the airport and escape. Basically, this was a great movie for getting drunk and shouting at the screen. It was a lot of fun. I wonder how it plays sober. Here’s the homey who made this flick, Thunder Levin:

Posted by Jason Wiener in Movie Reviews on June 7th, 2008

One of the Holy Weeks of the film festival year started last night! It’s great to be back, and I’m looking forward to a good looking lineup this year.

It’s already started off better than last year. The opening night film was “The Gene Generation”. The only caveat I have to put on this film is do not try to understand the science or take it seriously. I guess the second caveat I can put in there is while they accomplished a lot with a very low budget, the fake CGI backgrounds loook like…fake CGI backgrounds. I know this bugs some people, I can easily forgive it if the movie is interesting enough (and this one certainly was). What you should enjoy is the stylish cyber-punk Bade Runner/Crow future set design, the gross out giant worm/tentacles, and Bai Ling kicking everyone’s ass (and showing her boobies in a brief love scene), and some good ol‘ sadism.

In the future, gene therapy research advanced to the point where you could heal instantly with a touch, or kill instantly (with tentacles that burst from the victims body–this is the science you shouldn’t take seriously). Hayden technologies, the inventor of a DNA manipulation glove called a “transcoder“, is blown up shortly after the weapon capabilities were starting to be explored (and turned Faye Dunaway in to a tentacle beast). One scientist survived, with the last transcoder. In the world left after the explosion, DNA hackers thrive, as do the assassins hired to take them out. The best of these assassins is Michelle (Bai Ling). Her problem is, she has a worthless brother, Jackie. He’s a drunk and a gambling addict who’s always getting beaten up for his debts. To maybe get a little scratch to help pay off debts, he robs his neighbor, and finds nothing of interest other than this weird glove like thing that clamps to people’s hands and burrows into their skin (a Chinese finger trap for idiots?). The transcoder becomes both the MacGuffin and a weapon for the action that follows, as everyone struggles to possess it, and then to not be destroyed by it. And all the while, everything just looks fucking cool. No more plot spoilers, I’ll just end by saying I loved it, and here’s a pic of producer Keith Collea and director Pearry Teo:

Then I stayed for the second film of the night (rather than going to the after party), a Thai horror movie, “Alone”. The premise is so simple and effective that it seems odd that I’ve never seen it before. Simply put, a woman is haunted by the ghost of her conjoined twin (or Siamese twin. Hmmm…Thailand used to be called Siam). Pim and Ploy were conjoined twin sisters, and obviously very close as children (in all senses of the word). But their bond became more like shackles just as soon as Pim fell in love with Wee. To be with Wee, Pim convinced Ploy to go along with the operation to seperate (they were attached by a small section of their bellies). Ploy didn’t survive. Pim and Wee moved to Korea to get away from it all. Now her mother is sick in the hospital, and Pim returns home to look after her. Ploy’s ghost uses the opportunity to attack.

But what impressed me even more than the simplicity of the premise was the excellent creepy atmosphere and just how well done everything was–even the scares I knew were coming still made me jump. A while back I mentioned that I was a big fan of Wisit Sananatieng and as far as I’m concerned he’s the beginning and end of Thai cinema (other than the martial arts of Tony Jaa, which have never had a great story to go along with his skills). Well, since then the movie gods seem to have conspired to show me there’s more to Thai cinema, like writer/directors Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom. New resolution, I will no longer ignore Thai cinema, and especially Thai ghost stories–they have excellent atmosphere.

Posted by eric ringer in Movie Reviews, News, Trailers on June 4th, 2008

Because we just can’t have too many cool Japanese flicks at the festival, we’ve added a new Closing Night Film: the highly anticipated (well, in certain circles anyway) West Coast Premiere of TOKYO GORE POLICE.

At the helm is first-time director Yoshihiro Nishimura. A special makeup artist by trade, Nishimura has crafted FX for such films as the aforementioned MACHINE GIRL and the bizarre MEATBALL MACHINE, as well as the upcoming Hideo Nakata film L: CHANGE THE WORLD (the follow-up to the DEATH NOTE duo) and several Sion Sono features, including EXTE and STRANGE CIRCUS. In addition to his directorial and scriptwriting duties (the latter shared with writer Kengo Kaji, of UZUMAKI fame), the filmmaker and his staff at Nishimura Eizou have devised a quantity of imaginative makeup FX for this new project.

The plot of TOKYO GORE POLICE revolves around Ruka, a police officer in a special squad formed to eradicate human mutations that have recently sprung into existence, the result of a virus created by a mad scientist simply known as Key Man. Killing these unwieldy mutants is no easy task, and Ruka, naturally enough, carries a samurai sword with her at all times. Despite being on opposite sides of the fence, Ruka and Key Man share a common bond: the murder of their fathers years earlier at the hands of the police, and both she and Key Man seek revenge for their dads’ untimely demise.

Playing Ruka is actress Eihi Shiina (pictured above), who is most recognizable for her portrayal of Asami, the epitome of the Asian femme fatale in Takashi Miike’s classic film AUDITION. As lovely as ever, the slender Shiina freely brandished her silver sword about the set, making a mess of this weak-kneed Fango reporter’s nerves! Also starring is Itsuji Itao as Key Man; a member of the famous Yoshimoto comedy clan, Itao has appeared in films such as BIG MAN JAPAN, DEATH NOTE 2 and ONE MISSED CALL: FINAL. TOKYO GORE POLICE’s extensive fight scenes are in the hands of Tak Sakaguchi, the well-known stunt coordinator whose work has graced Ryuhei Kitamura’s AZUMI and GODZILLA: FINAL WARS.

Sun. Jun 22 2008, 8:00 pm | Brava Theater in San Francisco.