COLD FISH
I will always remember Cold Fish because of the energy that one of the lead characters had, it was scary, amazing… but scary.
Cold Fish is a Japanese/Indonesian production from director Sion Sono. When the daughter of a struggling family is caught shoplifting, the friendly shop owner offers the girl a job at the tropical fish store instead of getting the authorities involved.
The shop owner and his wife just seemed too perfect to be true. Soon, she starts to realise the true nature of their characters.
Cold Fish is a gruesome movie, but there is so much more to it than that. It will leave you thinking, there is a meaning behind all of the madness. The more you look into what’s actually going on, the more you will appreciate the film.
The film is loosely based on true events. In Japan, pet shop owners Sekine Gen and Hiroko Kazama were (probably) the first ever owner of a pet shop to become actual serial-killers. They were arrested for killing at least 4 people.
Cold Fish [Blu-ray]
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BATTLE ROYALE
If you’re a fan of Japanese cinema and you haven’t seen Battle Royale, then sorry to break it to you, but you’re not really a fan of Japanese cinema.
The world is overpopulated, crime and violence are on the rise – so the government decide to hold a lottery, no, not the ones in which you win cash, a very different one.
Every year a class of high school students gets picked at random, drugged and transported to a secluded island.
When the students awaken from their drug-induced state they are surrounded by military. Each student now has a thick metal necklace around their neck. If they try to escape the island or try to remove the necklace – the device will detonate and their heads will explode. To make the game a little more fun, the military has put danger zones on the island. If you’re in a certain radius of the danger zone then you’ll need to get out quick or the device will detonate.
Each student is given a weapon; some students get lucky and get a machine gun or a machete, others not so much. One student gets a bin lid to protect himself. The rules are simple, it’s a fight to the death. There can only be one survivor.
One fantastic premise for a film. I wouldn’t mind throwing a lot of people into a program like this. This world could do with a little cleansing.
Battle Royale (Director’s Cut) [Blu-ray]
BATTLE ROYALE 2
Only Joking
THE WORLD OF KANAKO
The world of Kanako is a superb, yet crazy detective drama that focuses on a shamed ex-detective called Akikazu Fujishima. He is arrogant, abusive and has a serious drink and drugs problem. He is told by his ex-wife that their only daughter, Kanako is missing and he sets out to find her.
The opening scene of snow falling in slow-motion to a church choir sets the mood beautifully for the film. You almost get lost in the tranquillity of that opening sequence. Then, in proper Japanese fashion, things get a little crazy. The beautiful god-like hymns and snow falling is violently disrupted with random swear words that are thrown onto the screen; “fuck”, and “bitch” are just two examples.
When he gets called to a gruesome multiple murder scene he learns his daughter isn’t the innocent teen she claims to be. Detective Fujishima’s life soon starts to spiral out of control. He gets wrapped up in the twisted, warped world that his daughter is a part of.
From director Tetsuya Nakashima, director of the classic Japanese revenge movie Confessions. The World Of Kanako is a fantastic well-paced thriller. There are scenes a lot of you would find disturbing. If you’re the sort of person who is reading this article, then I think you’ll be just fine.
World Of Kanako [DVD]
PART 2 COMING SOON THAT WILL FEATURE ANOTHER 9 INSANE MOVIES FROM JAPAN
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Thanks for reading
