Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack (Japan, 2012)

The friends Kaori, Erika and Aki are on a vacation to celebrate their upcoming graduation, when suddenly an infestation of mysterious walking fish forces them to reevaluate everything they care about in order to stay alive.

Yes. You read that correct. It's fish, that walks on land, and not just small fishes, giant sharks and squids all rampage through the streets of Tokyo. Some scenes are so nasty that you can almost smell the rotting fish as armies of sea creatures crawl up on land. It goes from nasty to just bloody disgusting, actually. Based on a manga by Junji Ito (Uzumaki), Gyo is another one of his twisted creations that will gross you out and make you wonder how he sleeps at night. Some will probably watch it and deem it too weird, but that's just because it is.

Genre: Action/Animation/Horror

Killer Toon (South Korea, 2013)

Popular horror web-comic artist Ji Yoon finds life imitating her own work when her publisher turns up dead in a way, precisely mirrors the images in her latest comic.

Killer Toon is an entertaining and creative thriller, and in some ways has a lot of fun with its genre. Because even though it's comics that is the main suspect, it manages to be quite serious and really draws you in to its web of mysteries. Both competent and daring, Killer Toon is yet another great thriller from South Korea.

Genre: Horror/Thriller

Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard of Darkness (Japan, 1995)

Misa Kuroi is an adorable high-school girl who arrives at her new school when it is falling under an evil supernatural force. Trying to figure out who's behind the supernatural attack, Misa also has to deal with assumptions by her fellow classmates that believe she is the one behind it all. Misa and twelve other students are kept late after school hours one day to retake an exam. Then, after sunset, the entire school is deserted, and the students find themselves trapped inside and their teacher no where to be found. One by one, the thirteen students are picked up and disposed of in horrific and graphic fashion. It is now up to Misa to try and save them all.

Wizard of Darkness isn't exactly A+ material, but it's an enjoyable, low-budget teen-horror flick with school students who's experimenting with black magic and satanic rituals. Good stuff. 

Genre: Horror

The Brain Man (Japan, 2013)

In a small town in Japan, a series of seemingly random explosion cases occur. Ichiro Suzuki knowns as "Brain Man" is fingered as an accomplice. He has outstanding memory and high intelligence, but doesn't seem to have human emotions. Neurosurgeon Mariko, who has her own personal trauma, believes that human nature is fundamentally good and tries to save criminals. She then becomes interested in Brain Man and works to uncover the truth.

The Brain Man is, hands down, one of the best thrillers in a long time. The suspense and the psychological games are all there, and it doesn't waste any time on unnecessary characters. It's exciting from the first frame to the last, and will without a doubt gain your full attention. Other directors should take note, this is how you make a compelling, nail-bitingly tight murder mystery.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Reincarnation (Japan, 2005)

35 years ago, a college professor named Norihasa Omori visits a local hotel and films himself killing 11 of the hotel guests, employees and his own children as a part of his wish to understand reincarnation. Then, he commits suicide. Since then, the footage of the murders disappears. In the present day, horror movie director, Matsumura, decides to make a film about the massacre. As the date of the shoot draws near, Nagisa Sugiura, the actress who is set to star as Professor Omori's daughter Chisato, is haunted by the ghosts of the victims. She begins to hallucinate as she is plagued by nightmares of the killings.

Reincarnation (a.k.a. Rinne) starts good, gets better and then ends on a weaker note, but it's still an okay horror story. Also, the majority of viewers seems to love it. If you like the sound of ghosts, creepy dolls and serial killers, Reincarnation should be a pleasant surprise. 

Genre: Horror

Gemini (Japan, 1999)

Yukio is living a charmed life: he is a respected young doctor with a successful practice and a beautiful wife. His only problem is that his wife is suffering from amnesia, and her past is unknown. Things begin to fall apart, however, when both his parents die suddenly, killed by a mysterious stranger with Yukio's face. Only when Yukio confronts this stranger will the mystery of his identity, and his wife's past, be revealed. 

Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, Gemini (a.k.a. Soseiji) has that strange presence to it that he's so good at expressing in his films. It's sinister, genre-bending and at first you really don't know what to believe about what's going on. It could all be just a figure of your mind, or something much worse. Tsukamoto captures all these questions and presents them in an astonishing way, with great cinematography and screenplay.

Genre: Drama/Horror

The Doll Master (South Korea, 2004)

5 young people, a quiet doll maker in a wheelchair and her dedicated helper, a chained old man in the basement and a mysterious young girl in red... all together in a lonely doll museum in the woods. What starts out as a fun trip to pose for new dolls soon turns into a nightmare that not everyone will survive.

The Doll Master features one of the creepiest things in horror films, scary dolls. While it's not really full of gore, The Doll Master manages to build up a tense and creepy atmosphere, and the great production values and good cast makes it worth a watch. When you're alone. At night.

Genre: Horror

The Flu (South Korea, 2013)

The worst epidemic ever seen is sweeping through Bundang, the suburb of Seoul. When illegal immigrants enters the country, symptoms are plaguing scores of residents in Bundang. People are helpless against the airborne disease and the number of infected increases quickly, spreading chaos. As the worst-case scenario precaution, the city of half a million people, just 19 kilometers from Seoul, is about to be sealed off. The government orders a complete shutdown.

The Flu has all the right elements of a disaster film, great characters so that we don't just sit and wait for the next action scene, a sense of dread for the unknown virus, and also how it cares for its human characters and not just feels like an excuse to show scenes where thousands of people getting disposed of. Big-budget entertainment. 

Genre: Action/Drama

Shogun's Sadism (Japan, 1976)

Two stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as her personal slave to torment him, and tries breaking her spirit by means of torture. After Iori refuses to participate any longer he is exiled, but vows to get her back.

It's ok to feel uneasy while Shogun's Sadism (a.k.a. The Joy of Torture 2: Oxen Split Torturing). It's a graphic and shocking portrayal of how a sadistic shogun treats his prisoners as meat. We're constantly being shown the rape and torture these poor people has to suffer through, and there's no happy endings for anyone it seems. 

Recommended for those who enjoys torture flicks, and not for those who, well, don't want their entire evening ruined.  It may sound like I'm bashing it but I'm really not. The pure simplicity of its content is probably what speaks to me, and there seem to always come times when I'm in the mood for something this crazy.

Genre: Drama/Horror

Black Rain (Japan, 1989)

Mr and Mrs Shizuma, and their niece Yasuko, make their way through the ruins of Hiroshima, just after the atomic bomb has dropped. Five years later, Yasuko is living with her aunt and uncle, and her senile grandmother, in a village containing many of the bomb survivors. Yasuko does not appear to be affected by the bomb, but the Shizuma's are worried about her marriage prospects, as she could succumb to radiation sickness at any time.

Black Rain won't cheer anyone up. It won't put a smile on your face or fill you even with a glimpse of hope. The haunting images of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb are horrific, and we are soon left to deal with the agony of the long and painful aftermath. It's a realistic portrayal of what was left of many peoples lives after an atomic bomb.

Grim and effective. Without a doubt one of the best films I've seen dealing with the Hiroshima bomb, and I'm grateful for being able to see director Shohei Imamura (The Eel) tackle this difficult subject. 

Genre: Drama

Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo (Japan, 2013)

Giant God Warrior is a short film by Studio Ghibli, known for such classics as Spirited Away (2001) and Princess Mononoke (1997). Here, they bring out the God Warrior from their animated masterpiece Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), one of several god warriors who destroyed the world. This short film can easily be found online, and it doesn't really matter if it lacks subtitles. It's a true testament of how miniature sets and handmade props can outshine digital special effects and computer graphics. I would be so glad if the whole film industry would start using these techniques and practical effects, because it's so much more fun to watch. 

It clocks in at about ten minutes, but it's ten minutes of beautiful destruction and chaos, ten minutes of how Tokyo is reduced to ash.