Tokyo Decadence (Japan, 1992)

A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.

I get the feeling that Tokyo Decadence (a.k.a. Topaz) is like an adult version of 50 Shades of Grey (2015), a little more dark and disturbing and a little less aimed at horny teens. It's a tad long, and has lengthy erotic scenes, but in my opinion it never ventures into sleazy softcore porn (which it has been classified as at some other websites). The underlying sadness and morally twisted characters elevates it to something else, and the melancholy score covers the whole film in a bleak veil. Not a whole lot of enjoyment for our precious characters, but I often like these sort of dark films. Worth mentioning is that the film is based on a book written by Ryu Murakami who also wrote Audition, which also got a film adaptation by Takashi Miike. 

Genre: Drama

Midori (Japan, 1992)

Midori, is a young, and vibrant girl who enjoys her school and classes, but after her mother became very ill, and their dad evaded contact with her, her mom dies from her ailments. Midori is then tricked by a circus producer to enter his funfair, where she is consistently raped and abused by the circus folk, but when she is on the edge of giving up hope, she is acquainted by a dwarf, and her whole world changes.

The whole story of how this film even got made could be its own stand-alone article. It got banned pretty much everywhere, even in Japan, due to the graphic violence and sexual abuse. The director, Hiroshi Harada, had to animate it all by himself because no one wanted to come near it. After its release, people did their best to destroy every copy of the film, which is why it's so obscure these days. Well, how bad could it be, you ask?   

The trailer says it all, really: "the ultimate antidote to mainstream anime". If you've grown tired of everything Japanese animation has to offer, this is your last stop. It has a staggering shock factor and could be seen as a more juvenile version of Freaks (1932). Had Midori been live-action, it would have been one of the most disturbing films ever made, but as an animated feature it reaches half-way and "only" leaves you deeply disturbed afterwords. Precisely the kind of film that would have been passed around as a rumoured bootleg back in the 90's. A stern warning must be issued though, due to the heavy themes of rape, abuse and animal violence taking place during its rather short runtime (56 min). Adult audiences only. 

Genre: Animation/Drama/Horror

Police Story 3: Supercop (Hong Kong, 1992)

A Hong Kong police officer, Ka Kui is sent undercover to mainland China to break up a drug smuggling ring. After breaking the brother of the drug lord out of prison, he and another agent (a beautiful communist policewoman) are taken to Hong Kong to work for the syndicate. The wife of the crime boss has been arrested in Malaysia for drug trafficking and is soon to be executed. However, she is the only person who knows the account number of a secret Swiss bank account containing millions in drug money. While the two officers are in Malaysia preparing for the jail break, Ka Kui accidentally runs into his girlfriend May, who has traveled there from Hong Kong.

It's easy to forget that Jackie Chan has had a career doing tons of crazy films back in Hong Kong, before he went all in with the crappy American comedies. I've written about the first Police Story film before, and the third entry in the series is just as insane. The stunts are unbelievable, with Jackie hanging from helicopters, fights on moving trains and just constantly gets himself in extreme situations. It's quite funny too, and there's a great chemistry between Jackie and his co-actress Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). An exciting shut-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the ride kind of film, but if action is what you're looking for you can't go wrong at all with this one.

Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (Japan, 1992)

Sequel to Tetsuo: The Iron Man, this time has the Iron Man transforming into cyber-kinetic gun when a gang of vicious skinheads kidnap his son. When the skinheads capture him, they begin to experiment on him... speeding up the mutative process.

The first time I saw Tetsuo II, my expectations were far too high. As I've said before, the first Tetsuo is one of my favorite films so I wasn't expecting anything less than amazing. So of course it came as a huge let down when it didn't even was nearly as good as the original. Since then I've gone back to the sequel with an open mind to see if I made some bad calls, and of course I did. Sure, it's still miles away from being as great as the first one but Tetsuo II is by all means a worthy sequel. The plot is less chaotic and it takes more time to develop a story, and Shinya Tsukamoto is still a cyberpunk wizard behind the camera. Just like the first one there's some really cool use of stop-motion and practical effects. So if you're a fan of the first one, give this one a chance because it really deserves it.

Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi

Rebels of the Neon God (Taiwan, 1992)

Defying by his parents, Hsiao Kang drops out of the local crammer to head for the bright lights of downtown Taipei. He falls in with Ah Tze, a pretty hood and their relationships is a confused mixture of hero-worship and rivalry that soon leads to trouble.

Youth, and all the troubles that it brings. That's what Rebels of the Neon God is about. Through sweaty arcade halls, boring jobs and late nights at the cafe, we follow a couple of teenagers that are trying to break free from the shackles of early 90's Taipei. The city itself looks almost decadent and you can nearly smell the pollution and the exhaust fumes, making it feel like a filthy metropolis that breeds adolescence and youngsters without goals. To give it a more realistic look, it is filmed with handheld cameras and I love when that style is done right, as it is here. 

Rebel of the Neon God is a film that deals with teen angst and the search for something more, something that could make make life easier and whether it's money or love, these kids are hell-bent on finding it.

Genre: Drama

Minbo (Japan, 1992)

A grand old Japanese hotel is trying to get a prestigious contract as the site of a summit meeting of important foreign officials. Unfortunately, this hotel is quite popular with the Yakuza, and is a favorite target of theirs for extortion. They employ a variety of schemes to con the hotel out of 'hush-money.' The hotel needs to rid itself of the Yakuza and finally begins to fight back by hiring Inoue, a lawyer who is an expert at dealing with these criminals on their own terms. 

Filmmaker Juzo Itami is known for only directing comic satires. If you haven't seen his 1985 movie Tampopo, then by God do it now. In Minbo, he targets the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) and portrays them hilariously as a bunch of bullies. It's an extremely funny film, but it wasn't exactly well-received by the real life Yakuza, because a couple of days after the films release, Juzo Itami was attacked and had his face slashed by a known gang who didn't appreciate the way he portrayed them in the film. 

Genre: Comedy

Hard Boiled (Hong Kong, 1992)

Mobsters are smuggling guns into Hong Kong. The police orchestrate a raid at a teahouse where an ace detective loses his partner. Meanwhile, the two main gun smugglers are having a war over territory, and a young new gun is enlisted to wipe out informants and overcome barriers to growth. The detective, acting from inside sources, gets closer to the ring leaders and eventually must work with the inside man directly.

You can't be the least disappointed in Hard Boiled. It's one of the best directed actions films ever made, an explosive portrayal of shotguns pulverizing furniture and tearing apart gangsters. Starring trusted veterans Yun-Fat Chow (The Killer) and Tony Leung (Hero), Hard Boiled should please the living hell out of you with brutal ultra-violence.

Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller