Tonkei shinjû – Pig Chicken Suicide (1981)

Director: Yoshihiko Matsui
Starring: Naomi Hagio, Takahiro Hattori, Toshihiko Hino .Japan. 1h 31m

Like a rare and obscure borja wine, the history of Yoshihiko Matsui’s film making is sporadic but filled with really unusual gems, with themes of suicide, the understanding of love blended with cannibalism and genuine strange behavior you’ll always know who you”re watching and often question why you’re still watching. For me this unreal expression is one of the blessings of cinema, seeing something genuinely new that is al altered, heightened sense of the world around you. At times you’ll almost be able to feel Matsui’s message through the combination of imagery, a feeling of an idea that doesn’t need language for expression, or you might be left scratching your head wondering what the hell is going on.

The Bridge (2006)

Director: Eric Steel.
Starring.Various. USA. 1h m.

Worlds literally end in Eric Steel’s slightly tastefully feature length documentary which focuses solely on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. For one year the iconic bridge was filmed including every suicide that took place on The Bridge that year with candid interviews of the people left behind.

The film opens like a tourist promo, with beautiful scenes of the bridge, the crew setting up hidden cameras, vibrant wildlife is in abundance, the quiant businesses nearby are lit in golden sunshine, then suddenly a body drops, and we are initiated into the Bridge, a bold unwavering look into the jolly suicide spot.

Be afraid of what lies beneath…

Meet the Feebles (1989)

Director: Peter Jackson.
Starring.Mark Hadlow, Peter Vere Jones, Donna Akerten, Stuart Dasent. New Zealand. 1h 37m.

This is one of the few titles I use to gauge someone’s personality, sense of humour and to find out if they can be left alone with small children and animals, it can also be used in a test to see if they can keep food down in a crisis. The video was originally passed around at school as a dare, a test of a teens measure, can you get through this without being sick!? I was up for it and passed the test with flying colours!

Meet the Feebles is a sort of psychotropic; meth fueled GG Allin styled Muppets show, that often sinks below the gutter, and it’s attempts to be funny and overly sick for sick’s sake has divided movie fans for years. It’s never going to active much acclaim for its efforts but I feel it helped to kick start a lot of subversive comedy which deserves it’s own platform even if only a handful of people like it.

American Psycho (2000)

Director: Mary Harron
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny,Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, Guinevere Turner, Reese Witherspoon .USA. 1h 41m

After the success of a brilliant deeply disturbing and somewhat witty and stylish novella of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis, Mary Harron transformed the saucy satirical bits into this cult movie starring the charismatic Chriistian Bale at the front of star studded cast. Bale was set to steal the show and this really boosted his career and ego to the outer limits, but I can’t argue that he gives a smart and sensuous performance.

I read the book and was happy to leave it as that, something the original author agrees with, but it became impossible to totally avoid the movie as it’s used to popular culture so much through doll’s phrases, and gifs it’s unavoidable.

Sweet Movie (1974)

Director: Dušan Makavejev
Starring:Carole Laure, John Vernon, Anna Prucnal, Pierre Clémenti, Jane Mallett, Roy Callender, Sami Frey. France, Germany, Russia. 1h 38m

The film is like a psychedelic socio political nightmare orgy, with some kind of comedy added to cushion the blow.

Following the lives of two women, Miss Mode 1984 and Anna Planeta, both are figureheads for different movements, Miss Mode (Laure) represents modern commodity culture, while on the other hand Anna (Prucnal) is the spearhead of the failed communist revolutionary. The film opens with a glitzy show, where women around the world are aiming to win the Most Virgin competition, the winner is Miss Canada with her golden shiny vagina. Her prize is to marry Mr. Kapital, a milk industry tycoon played by the daring and often enigmatic John Vernon, losing her virginity doesn’t go to plan, despite a golden dick, she soon bribes a servant to smuggle out of the Milk Tycoons mansion after his mother tries to drown her. Miss Mode goes on to join a cult, she gets seduced by a glittery Latin singer called El Macho (Frey).

バトル・ロワイアル (Batoru Rowaiaru) Battle Royale (2000)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Based on: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Starring:Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takeshi Kitano, Aki Maeda, , Chiaki Juriyama. Japan. 1h 54m

Battle Royale is  Japan’s ultimate dystopian thriller,  which follows a group of junior high schoolers who are forced to fight to the death by the Japanese government. due to the ultra violent nature of the film and the age of most of the cast it was met with widespread repulsion and band in excluded from distribution in several countries.

Veteran director fukasaku,  at the tender age of 70, managed to put everything we had into this film.  and while it’s often not easy to watch, stark, angsty and the incredibly unnerving it still remains an influential genre masterpiece,  that takes place in a difficult near future, that we pray is an alternative universe to the one that we’re all comfortable with.

The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976)

Director : Matt Cimber Writer: Robert Thom Producer: Jefferson Richard  Starring: Jefferson Richard. 1h 28m. USA.

Synopsis : A disturbed woman is haunted by memories of childhood abuse, which culminates in a murder spree.

I accidentally stumbled on this movie after falling in love with the artwork for the, then video cover. But I was lucky to have stumbled on one of the best and unsung psychological horrors of the 70s exploitation movement. Now I am the proud owner a gorgeous shirt from Rabbit In Red, which was originally a painting taking from the cover of Waren Comic’s Vamprella #11, so what’s all the fuss about?

L’ultimo Treno Della Note -Don’t Ride on Late Night Trains (1975)

Day 18 of 31

L’ultimo Treno Della Note – Don’t Ride on Late Night Trains  (Horror,  1975) (Banned) D: Aldo Lado W: Roberto Infascelli (story) Renato Izzo + P:  C: Flavio Bucci, Mache Meril, Gianfranco De Grassi. 1h 34m. Italy.

 

TAGLINE : Most movies hast less than two hours! This is one of everlasting torment.

A turbulent nightmare ride of pain and pleasure. Amplified by a past pace, daunting cinematics and a host of uncomfortable and grotty scenes. Seemly inspired by various other video nasties of the time, namely Last House on the left (1972) and Who saw her die? (1972). The film is more of a gore scare than anything really steeped in horror, it’s got that psycho edge as in Trip with Teacher (1975) where the crazy culprits have a lot of deep issues and sexual tension.

The film starts off so fucking happy, it’s Christmas time in Germany and school is out! Margaret and Lisa, high school friends, take the night train from Germany to Verona to spend Christmas with Lisa’s family. They flirt mildly with male passengers, including two randy delinquents in their 20s, Blackie and Curly. The four of them end up in a first-class cabin with a well-dressed woman of about 30 who has pornographic photographs in her valise. Egged on by the woman, the thugs and a male visitor to the cabin menace and then assault Margaret and Lisa. Meanwhile, we also see Christmas Eve and morning scenes at Lisa’s home, where her parents are polite to each other while discussing divorce. On Christmas morning, they go to the station to meet the girls. Will they be on the train?

Mikey (1992)

Mikey (Horror, Thriller 1992) (BANNED) D: Dennis Dimster: W: Jonathan Glassner: C: Brian Bonsall, Josie Bissett, Ashley Laurence, John Diehl 1h 30m. USA.

TAGLINE : Remember, Jason, Freddy were kids once, too.

Synopsis: A seemingly innocent and sweet little boy causes murder and mayhem in his new neighbourhood and falls for he teenage girl next door.

A rather charismatic insight into the troublesome and disturbing behaviour of a darling monster of a child. Mikey (1992) is banned, therefore everyone had a copy. It’s a strange B-Movie that will have you more shocked at why it’s banned rather than the mild mannered carnage that the little cutie pie creates.

The movie starts out with the angelic faced Mikey (Brian Bosnall) taking out his family in a carefree manner and ending up in foster care. Due to his sweetness he’s soon snapped up and he falls in love, which sparks another killing spree as his little hormones just don’t know what is going on, there is possibly an argument here that as a cold blooded killer he can’t understand the concept of love.. but he defiantly has something for the girl next door Jessie (Josie Bissett). With everyone believing he is the sole survivor of a tragedy and an extra diligent teacher Shawn (Ashley Laurance  from Hellraiser) Mikey is allowed a certain amount of distance to try and help him heal.. pfft.. yeah right..

A beauty and beast child on a thrill kill, makes for a pretty cool movie, and it is a little subtle but it’s also effective. With the style and atmosphere of the average TV movie, the edge is just how far this while will go to and how devious he is covering his tracks. Almost to perfect for a youngster, it’s still pretty believable, he’s not rigging torture chambers but he’s pretty neat when it comes to using a bow and arrow and other unfussy tools, and when it comes to punishing anyone who stands in his way Mikey; with the calmness of Dr. Hannibal Lecter they are taken care of in a carefully plotted scheme.

Amongst the camp silliness of his falling in lover there is a serious side to all of this. The movie was aimed for release around the time of the Jamie Bulger killings and the world was sickened by the sadistic nature of child killers and Mikey was scrapped and the ban has never been lifted.

Horror fans won’t be amazed by the slayings, they aren’t bloody or over gory and we’ve seen kiddy killers on the prowl before like in Pet Cemetery (1989) . On the whole it’s pretty tame. The commotion comes from the overall theme and actions of the living Chucky Doll as he slays and plays.

 

 

 

Rating : 6/10

R: Omen IV : The Awakening (1991), Pet Cemetery (1989), Children of the Damned (1964),

 

Q: Mikey : “You know, dead people aren’t the ones to be scared of, living people are.”
L: Child Killers, Banned movies
5B: Banned Films