Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay
Director: Joe Ma
Year: 2008
Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
It’s not easy to make a film with the premise of Sasori nearly unwatchable, but director Joe Ma does his best.
Nami Matsushima (Mizuno Miki) is waiting for her boyfriend, Hei Tai (Dylan Kuo), to bring his father and sister home from the airport, when her […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/Horror
Director: Kinji Fukasaku/ Kenta Fukasaku
Year: 2003
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
There is no way Battle Royale 2: Requiem could possibly have the same impact as Battle Royale. The cat is already out of the bag. The shock and dismay at witnessing children forced to kill other children for the first time cannot be duplicated, […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Year: 1973

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Poor Yuki (Meiko Kaji), AKA Lady Snowblood. She doesn’t even get a chance to have anyone wrong her before her entire life becomes devoted to vengeance. You see, her mother’s husband was killed by a group of four hooligans, as part of a scam […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Horror
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Year: 2006
Rating:

WORTH A LOOK
I’m going to tell you the plot of Pulse, and it won’t spoil a thing.
The place where ghosts exists is becoming overpopulated, and so the ghosts jerry rig computers as a porthole into our world. But that’s not all. They want to prevent more people from […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Fantasy
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Year: 2001
Rating:

WORTH A LOOK
There’s a lot to like about The Princess Blade, enough that I wish that it was better.
The swordfights are convincing in a way that implies that the actors are using real swordfighting techniques. The same goes for the martial arts moves. The credit for […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Drama
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Year: 2000
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Some films are almost more important for the way in which they are made than for what they’re about. Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Seance is an example of such a film.
Junko (Jun Fubuki) is a true medium. She can sometimes channel spirits through her body. She can […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1973
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I have to admit, I’m beginning to acquire a taste for the adventures of Zatoichi. These movies aren’t quite as accessible as the Lone Wolf & Cub series because they aren’t as bold visually, in their sound design, in their graphic depiction of […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Horror
Director: Sogo Ishii
Year: 1994
Rating:

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Let’s get one thing straight — my rating for Angel Dust does not reflect the artistry of the picture. In terms of shot composition, sound design, acting, writing, in fact all of the formal elements of filmmaking, Angel Dust is uniformly excellent.
The problem, for trash cinema […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Year: 1971
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Poor Jimmy Wang (Yu Wang), The One-Armed Swordsman, has come to Japan to escape his enemies in China and live in peace. He’s on his way to a Japanese monastery when he meets a family from China, making a living by giving martial […]

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Swordplay/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Shintarô Katsu
Year: 1972
Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Zatoichi In Desperation, a late entry in the long-running Zatoichi series about a blind masseur and swordsman, is an unusually thoughtful tale, even by the standards of early 70s Japanese samurai flicks.
Zatoichi (Shintarô Katsu) inadvertently contributes to the death of an old woman […]