Further to Daikessen! Cho Urutora Hachi Urutora Kyodai [lit. Decisive Battle! The Eight Super Ultra Brothers] (2008; dir. Takeshi Yagi) and the Backbrain’s earlier post on the subject of this new Ultraman film, here are a couple of trailers:
In their Quixotic search for new forms of giant monsters with which to destroy cities/towns/the world, SciFi Channel and CineTelFilms will soon be unleashing Ba’al (US-2008; dir. Paul Ziller).
Taiwanese DVD cover
This one involves a sentient (indeed deific) storm that is evoked by “a rogue Smithsonian archaeologist, dying of cancer, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the ancient amulets of the storm god Ba’al, which could cure him or make him a god.” (Hollywood Reporter)
Or in the words of CineTelFilms’ website:
Bizarre storms wrack the U.S. while simultaneously gruesome murders are occurring. Two scientists find a Sumerian statue of the storm god Ba’al and conclude that the storms and murders are somehow related. Can they stop it in time?
Note: Answers to the above question should be sent to the producers while the film is still in post-production.
A new trailer is available here.
Much can be forgiven when you come upon an honest example of truth in advertising. Unlike many independent, low-budget films (and many big-budget ones as well), Jay Lee’s Zombie Strippers lives up to its title. Promises are made for zombies and strippers and that’s exactly what the film delivers. Plenty of cannibalistic zombie action, with the sort of extreme comic gore the more avid proponents of the subgenre like so much, and plenty of attractive women dancing and taking their clothes off to loud rock music. On that level at least, there’s not much to complain about. This is B-aesthetic sex-horror schlock at its wildest.
After the requisite living-dead corpses — products of a covert Government research program designed to produce super-soldiers — break out of the secret installation where they were engineered, a strip club situated nearby (in Sartre, Nebraska) finds itself infiltrated by the viral menace and its leading lady “killed” bloodily. Of course, Kat (Jenna Jameson) might be dead but she and her silicone enhancements re-animate well and prove a spectacular success on the stage. Encouraged by sleazy STD-obsessed club owner Ianna Esco (Robert Englund), other strippers decide to join Kat in living-death in order to increase their popularity with the patrons, oozing blood-smeared sexuality in orgiastic displays of cadaverous eroticism that go down a right treat with the audience. Seems sex and death are a perfect match. Attendance is up, money flows along with the blood and those who are merely naked don’t stand a chance of being noticed. Death becomes de rigueur.
Of course there is a downside. The dead strippers tend to eat the patrons, but what’s a few dead guys between friends? Soon Esco finds his club full of ravenous beauties who are rapidly decaying, his basement full to bursting with zombified ex-patrons and the whole scheme threatening to crash down around him in a big apocalyptic mess.
The thing is, whatever some critics say, this film is not badly made. It may be tasteless — and will certainly offend those who fail to understand the true zen of stomach-churning danse macabre and bare flesh covered in gore — but it was put together with considerable enthusiasm, looks much less cheap than might have been expected, and is often funny. References to existentialist philosophy (especially from the mouths of the strippers), obvious political satire and the socio-ethical criticism that is suggested by the fact that the strip-club patrons get ludicrously turned on by all that gyrating “dead meat” may not make the film profound, but they do suggest that it needn’t be taken entirely at face value — though you should by all means take it at face value if you want to. Throughout, the film displays a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a comedic vim that raises it above most other sex-and-horror exploitation flicks.
On top of that, the acting’s okay (if sometimes overplayed), the direction lively, the zombie make-up excellent and the nudity abundant. In short, I can’t see how — if you’re happy to watch a film with the title Zombie Strippers! in the first place — you could possibly feel you didn’t get your money’s worth …
Having finally seen Shim Hyung-rae’s D-War — otherwise known as Dragon Wars in the West — and having discovered it to be an entertaining giant monster lark, albeit flawed by some dodgy acting and a poorly structured script, I now find myself rather bemused to learn that the Korean director’s current production schedule includes not only the inevitable D-Wars 2 but something called Fish War.
Though the project has been pushed back to make way for the Dragon Wars juggernaut in the light of the first film’s spectacular box-office success, Fish War is apparently still on the go and promises to be … odd.
Consider this synopsis, issued by Shim’s Younggu Art Entertainment company (hence the awkward English):
In the deep, bottomless sea … There are undersea cities where mutated fishes with highly developed intellectual power live together peacefully. But, they got into rage and swore revenge against human beings who continue to catch fishes indiscriminately.
One of those days, mysterious events started happening, such as pleasure boats at sea sunk and submarines exploded in the sea. Finally, fishes declared a war against human beings on land and came out on the ground to conquer the human beings with highly advanced weapons and military strength, several times more developed than those of human beings. Human beings was defeated instantly by fishes equipped with bombers shaped like a stingray, battle tanks like an octopus, and special forces like a seahorse, and finally put the world under the control of fishes, not of human beings anymore. At court, Dr. Octopus sentenced human beings who habitually tormented fishes. At a sushi restaurant, a catfish, puffing cigars, waited for dishes made of human beings. And fishes caught and refridgerated human beings as exactly human beings did to fishes and completely controlled the whole world.
In Japan, meanwhile, Yamamoto family, the well known sushi master in business for 3 generations, became an most infamous enemy of fishes.
Hmmm. Interesting picture on the poster though; it suggests to me the possibility of a weird sort of retro, steam-punkish feel to the film.
The theatrical trailer for the new viking vs alien monster flick, Outlander — a film much anticipated on the Backbrain. Looking good!
[youtube 7Za2DzmgeR4]
This picture of Takemajin — the giant statue animated to defend the Earth from the terminally weird Gilala in Girara-no Gyakushuu Touyaku Samitto Kiki Ippatsu [lit. Guilala’s Counter Attack: the Touyaku Summit One-Shot Crisis] (Japan, 2008; dir. Minoru Kawasaki) — has hit the blogsphere in the past few days. The character is played by famous actor and personality Kitano Takeshi.
It appears to have gone back to the conceptual drawings that first appeared rather than reflecting the more Takeshi-reminiscent statue that came later.
In a moment of planned synchronicity, Guilala’s Counter Attack: the Touyaku Summit One-Shot Crisis premiered last weekend in Sapporo where the G8 Summit was also being held. The only review that has appeared so far is by a British journalist who was there to cover the Summit and thought it would be a lark to see the film in conjunction with his other duties. His review is packed with all the usual misinformation, artistic prejudice and lack of understanding that blights “appreciation” of the daikaiju eiga genre when it is written about by mainstream critics, so his negativity need not be taken as an accurate reflection on the film. However, if you want to read what he thought, Ken Hulsey of Robo Japan gives it a run.
Seen here is famed Japanese SFX creator, Eiji Tsuburaya (Gojira, Ultraman and lots more), with Yamata-no-Orochi from the film Nippon Tanjo [lit. The Birth of Japan; aka The Three Treasures] (Japan-1959; dir. Hiroshi Inagaki). The eight-headed dragon was obviously a partial inspiration for Ghidrah.
Great picture, eh?
Source: August Ragone’s blog: The Good, the Bad and Godzilla
The juggernaut that is the daikaiju eiga genre rolls on with G — a great-looking new independent Japanese film that Backbrain queried a while back. Then, information on the film was scarce. Now, a cornucopia of detail has come in, courtesy of the director, Kiyotaka Tagushi, and SciFi Japan.
G (2008; short, 48 min.; dir. Kiyotaka Taguchi)
G‘s director, Kiyotaka Taguchi, has worked in various SFX capacities on the last four Godzilla movies, as well as such high-profile films as Battle Royale II: Requiem, The Sinking of Japan, The Grudge 2 (US), The iDol, and the US remake of Shutter. He is currently working on Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s three part film series 20th Century Boys (20-Seiki Shonen), which has featured on the Backbrain.
Here’s a synopsis of the plot (and it’s a bit spoilerish, so be warned):
While serving in an overseas war zone, a Japanese Self Defense Forces unit is ambushed in a guerilla attack. Only the soldiers Goda and Garaemon survive the assault. The two men vow that they will find a way to prevent more soldiers from dying needlessly on the battlefield.
Years later, Garaemon has developed a body reinforcing agent that may accomplish that goal. But when his lab is attacked by a group of industrial spies, Garaemon injects the experimental serum into his own body. Things go terribly wrong, and the scientist is transformed into a vicious giant monster.
Garaemon rampages through Tokyo. The JSDF attacks with guns and tanks but nothing they do even slows the monster down. To save Japan and his fellow soldiers, Goda decides to use the secret weapon he has invented … the special anti-monster armored vehicle called Robo.
Now, at the final defense line along the Tamagawa River, two man-made monsters will battle to the death…
Check out the exclusive SciFi Japan article for more pictures like the ones below, plus production details, cast and technical crew, and more.
“As a boy I loved the ‘VS’ Godzilla series [also known as the Heisei Series] the most. Today, however, I prefer the classics and can see where the work done then really outshines everything since.” (Director Kiyotaka Taguchi)
Though Norman England and Keith Aiken, the authors of the SciFi Japan article, are less than enthusiastic about the acting — the film features non-professionals — they also comment:
Where G really shines is in the special effects. The FX vary in quality — understandable considering the film’s extremely tight budget — but the movie is packed with great compositing and imaginative angles. There is an energy and creativity to the visuals that should thrill most kaiju movie fans. Even Heisei Godzilla special effects director Koichi Kawakita said he would like to cut all the human scenes out of G and use the FX scenes for a new production.
From what I’ve seen, the kaiju action seems splendidly graphic and unusual, despite the somewhat tongue-in-cheek oddity of Robo — yet there is clearly a sense-of-humour running through the film, as evidenced by this shot:
For my part, I await the film with some eagerness, though as usual it will no doubt be slow in coming on an available DVD.
This is too cool not to put up for all to see. It’s another stop-motion zombie flick. But be warned. It’s very very gory!!
Todd Tennant has created an imaginary trailer for his graphic novel version of the US Godzilla film that never was — you know, the one scripted by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio that Jan De Bont was set to make before the studio sunk it, later to hand the project to Roland Emmerich … different script, different perspective, different Godzilla…
Just follow this link and click on “Start Slideshow” to view it.
There is a killer frame at the end I was dying to include here … but I thought it would be better for you to see it for yourself in context.
So go view what might have been for yourself — and then read Todd’s graphic novel if you haven’t already done so. It’s an ongoing work, but there’s 63 pages there so far — and it’s free!
