The film introduces us to a jaded prostitute named Yoshie Nomoto (Miyuki Kuwano who I recognized from Kurosawa’s Red Beard as well as her earlier performances for Nagisa Oshima in Cruel Story of Youth and Night and Fog in Japan) whose latest client takes a shine to her and want to rescue her from the…
Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds Blu-ray review
I have always been a fan of giant monster movies, whether they are classics or cheesy, especially the ones made in Japan. During the 1970’s budgets for Kaiju films had plummeted to the point where the movies were made as cheaply as possible. In 1977, Toei distributed Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds, known as…
Tokyo Decadence Blu-ray review
Tokyo Decadence is what is referred to in Japan as a Japanese pink film which is basically a drama or an action film that contains nudity and is filled with sexual content. This erotic film was directed by Ryū Murakami who was known for surreal films about drugs, murder, and war. The story is about…
Crazy Samurai 400 x 1 Blu-ray review
Director Yûji Shimomura’s story of Crazy Samurai 400 x 1 is nothing more than a tale of revenge. In this film, taking place in the year 1604, Miyamoto Musashi (Tak Sakaguchi) attacked the Yoshioka family at their dojo and defeated their master, Seijūrō and his younger brother Denshichirō in two duels. To honor and save…
Samurai Marathon (Well Go USA) Blu-ray Review
After the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry (Danny Huston) and his “Black Ships”, feudal Japan suddenly becomes aware of the issues of being closed off from the rest of the world. Fearing the unknown changes that will happen with the country opening up and agreeing with trade with the western world, the different regions try…
Massacre Gun (Arrow) Blu-ray Review
Most Japanese gangster movies of the 60’s and 70’s are little more than cleverly-achieved exercises in style over substance, with plenty of lurid violence and salacious sexuality to pleasure their thrill-seeking audiences. Maybe they’re fun to watch, but after your first viewing you might not feel compelled to grant any of them an encore. Massacre…
Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of the Shinya Tsukamoto (Arrow) Blu-ray review
Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of the Shinya Tsukamoto is one of the best home video releases of 2020. It may be a little early to say this (it’s August as I write this), but this is my favorite release of the year. This boxset is a love letter to one of the most transgressive…
Enter The Fat Dragon (2020) (Well Go USA) Blu-ray Review
Supercop Fallon Zhu (Donnie Yen) just can’t stay out of trouble. Everywhere he goes there is a new crime, robbery, or attempted shootout. This starting to drive his girlfriend Chloe (Niki Chow) crazy. She is a successful actress, who keeps getting insults from journalists and fans for her being labeled “The worst actress” and getting…
MST3K Vs Gamera (Shout! Factory) DVD Review
About 2 years ago when I started the site I did an interview with Kevin Murphy for one of the first MST3K releases reviewed for ECAV. I wouldn’t suggest looking for it, it never got posted, as the audio was too terrible to post in .mp3 format, and I could barely hear it myself…
Akira (25th Anniversary Edition) (Funimation) Blu-ray Review
Akira was certainly not the first Japanese anime to become popular on the world stage. From episodic cartoons in the 60’s and 70’s like Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Gatchaman (aka Battle of the Planets) to the 80’s Robotech, Japanese animation had begun to make it’s way slowly into the international consciousness. However, it should…