DVD - April 06

Whispering Corridors 4 : Voice - Review

Featured previously in March you can now check out a review of the Fourth in the loosely connecting Whispering Corridor series. Courtesy of 'Pygar' From Black Hole reviews.

'Voice' (Black Hole reviews)

Tell me something (R2)

In the sweltering heat of a Korean summer, black bin bags begin to appear around the city of Seoul, each filled with assorted, unrelated body parts. Instantly the police recognize the work of a deranged psychopathic serial killer. The high profile case sets the city on edge and lands in the lap of jaded Detective Cho. With Internal Affairs on his back, Cho immediately sets about tracking down any leads his department come up with. The most promising is also the least likely - a beautiful, demure, and very quiet museum curator that has dated all the victims at one time...

Tell me something Official (japanese) site

The Last Supper (R2)

Japanese cannibal horror film, The Last Supper is the story of plastic surgeon Yuji Kotorida (Masaya Kato) whose cannibalistic appetites keep him looking young. Strange film, but one that looks worth getting hold of. Quite hard to get hold of on DVD so if you find it make sure its got English subs. The Last Supper (Official Site)

Severed - (R4 only)

Shot in the forests of British Columbia Severed is the story of a logging experiment gone wrong. Genetically altered tree hormones get into the human population with horrific results. transforming a disparate group of loggers and environmental activists into the "infected" -- ravenous, zombie-like creatures who prey upon the few terrified survivors. Cool! The only odd thing about this DVD is the region coding. Yes indeed you have not read incorrectly, this promising little Zombie fest is so far only available in region 4 'Australia'. That is of course not a knock at our Antipodean cousins, but it does seem odd that it only available in one region. One assumption as to why, is there be some rights or licensing issues in the other regions. Check out the trailer it looks great! Available to download off 'Twitch'

Severed trailer (downloadable AVI)

Rinne (R2)

The third film in the hexagon project J-horror Theatre. The two first films are Kansen (2004) and Yogen (2004). New horror film release from "Juon" director Takashi Shimizu. The year, 1970, eleven murders occur at a certain hotel in Gunma prefecture including the murder of a young girl. With his motives still unknown, the murderer himself then meets a mysterious death. Now, 35 years later, a new string of disappearances are shocking the people of Japan and the only thing linking each disappearance is that the victims are all under 35. Could it be that each of the disappearing persons are the reincarnation of people who died at the hotel? And if each of them is headed back to the hotel, could it be that the events at the hotel are still ongoing?

Rinne (Official site)

Gojoe - 'Reisenki' (R2)

Following a war with the defeated Genji clan, the Heike clan have sought to bring peace to the land, but there is none outside the city of Kyoto where soldiers are being brutally killed by what is described as a demon. Joined by a grave robber and sword smith, a fighting monk with a dark past answers a call to find and slay this demon. A sumptuous and at times super-charged swordplay fantasy, Gojoe puts the spin on one of Japan's most popular feudal legends: the battle at Kyoto's Gojoe Bridge.

Pray (R1)

Possibly one of the most greatly awaited J-Horror DVD releases this year. Mainly as the premise is actually quite new, something becoming rarer in J-Horror these days. Alas. But in this case we are expecting quite out of the ordinary. The story goes..."Down on their luck and desperate for money to buy drugs, Mitsuru (Tetsuji Tamayama) and Maki (Asami Mizukawa) have the perfect plan. They decide to kidnap a young girl and hide out in an abandoned school, until their demands are met. Everything is going according to plan, until they realize they have made one gross miscalculation. Their hostage died a year ago today and now it’s their turn".

Pray (Official site)

Kill Devil (R1)

AsiaVision, the live-action Asian film label under Urban Vision Entertainment have just released 'Kill Devil'. Synopsis "In the year 2025, the government decides to send juveniles with the murder gene to an uninhabited island in the Pacific under a premise of rehabilitation. Conducting various studies to determine the ferocity of the hidden gene, they implement an experiment with the code name "Tag," causing deep-seated murder impulses to emerge by erasing their memories?resulting in boys and girls who brutally kill each other". Hmmmmmm Battle Royale anyone?

Kill Devil trailer (English subtitled; downloadable12.4 MB MOV file)

Kokkuri (R1)

Story: Beginning with a late night radio show, Mio, Hiroko, and Masami get the idea to conjure up Kokkuri-san, a spirit who can answer any question. What appears to be a harmless pastime soon reveals dangerous secrets?secrets even good friends don't know about each other. Kokkuri DVD Available 5/2/06 from Urban Vision Ent.

Kokkuri (official site)

Human Lanterns (Human Skin Lanterns)

None us have seen this 'as yet' and we can't attest to the quality or lack of this movie. But when I read the synopsis i decided to include it just for the mad storyline! ....." A maniacal masterpiece of the macabre, the martial arts, and the just plain weird. Shaw's first international star, Lo Lieh, stars as the insane swordsman who makes Chinese lamps from--yes--the skin of his enemies' sisters, mistresses, and wives! Although insanely conceived, it is beautifully filmed and unashamedly performed by a first-rate cast of sext starlets and kung fu favorites. Come on its got to be worth a look for that alone!

Tomie: Beginning

The ongoing Tomie saga continues with follow-up to “Tomie: Forbidden Fruit" Synopsis ..." After the accidental death of beautiful Tomie, her high school classmates discover that she has supernatural powers and has returned to take her revenge" The reviews have been quite mixed on this one, but overall it has a few twists to keep you interested.