Parasyte: Part 2 (Japan, 2015)

Following the bloody events of the first film, high school student Shinichi (Sometani Shota) has been acting as an increasingly unfeeling lone vigilante and taking out parasites with the help of Migi, the parasite nested in his right arm. His actions have attracted the notice of both the parasite leadership and the police task force investigating the mysterious epidemic of deaths. To save humanity from the increasingly organized and aggressive parasites, Shinichi must confront the most dangerous parasite of them all.

The shapeshifting aliens of Parasyte are back, and they're more dangerous than ever before. I mentioned that Part 1 had some great action sequences, and I'm happy to say that Part 2 doesn't disappoint either. The gore is all here and when a war between the aliens and the humans are brewing there's bound to be bloodshed. It does try to be a little bit too bombastic sometimes, with epic music accompanying dramatic speeches every 10-minutes. I think it would have benefitted from a slower buildup instead of having almost a full-blown climax every now and then. But it's intense, and the effects are fantastic.  

Genre: Action/Drama/Horror

Murmur of the Hearts (Hong Kong/Taiwan, 2006)

An artist reunites with her brother after the two were separated years ago when she left Liudau, an island off of Taiwan.

As soon as I began to watch Murmur of the Hearts, I knew I was going to like it. The beautiful imagery grabbed me immediately, and after realizing this film also had some powerful performances, I was sold. It oozes with quality and even though it's not a film where a ton of stuff is happening all the time, it's downright mesmerizing. Recommended for those who want a delicate romance story to fall in love with. And don't worry that it's cheesy and over-sweet, because it's thankfully not and takes itself much more seriously. 

Genre: Drama/Romance

Unholy Women (Japan, 2006)

Unholy Women, is a composite of three unrelated half-hour horror movies. The first segment, "Rattle Rattle", tells the story of a young woman who is pursued by an evil other-worldly being. The second movie, "Steel", concerns a young man who agrees to take the sister of his boss out on a blind date, drawing him into a world more frightening than he ever dreamed possible. The third and final episode, "The Inheritance", is a supernatural tale of a woman and her young son, scarred by abuse and psychological trauma.

Unholy Women is an often disturbing and very creepy film, and tells three unrelated stories of horrific happenings. I rarely see this movie mentioned in horror articles about Asian films, which isn't overly surprising since it's not terribly scary, but I would at the very least recommend viewers to at least watch it once. Especially if you're starved for more Japanese horror films and think you've seen every last one of them. 

Genre: Horror

The Untold Story (Hong Kong, 1993)

In 1978 in Hong Kong, a grisly murder takes place. Eight years later, on a Macao beach, kids discover the severed hands of a fresh victim. A squadron of coarse, happy-go-lucky cops investigate, and suspicion falls on Wong Chi Hang, the new owner of Eight Immortals Restaurant, which serves delicious pork bao. The hands belong to the missing mother of the restaurant's former owner; he and his family have disappeared; staff at the restaurant continue to go missing; and, Wong can't produce a signed bill of sale: but there's no evidence. The police arrest Wong and try to torture him into a confession. Can they make him talk? And what was in those pork buns?

Oh my God. It's been a long time since I saw something this gruesome. It's based on real events too so that makes it even more insane. The Untold Story (a.k.a. The Eight Immortals Restaurant) is an insanely twisted story of a murderer who's trying to outsmart the local cops, all while he's slaughtering people in his restaurant and makes pork buns of them. I couldn't believe that scene with the whole family who're captured by Wong. No wonder the film was awarded a Category III (Persons aged 18 and Above Only) rating i Hong Kong, the equivalent of the United States' X-ratings. 

Even though we got all this disgusting killing going on, the writer still manages to fit in some humor. The group of policemen who're trying to nail Wong always banter with each other and jokes around, and it's a stark contrast to laugh at them just a second before a five minute rape/torture-scene takes place. Crazy movie. 

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Demon City Shinjuku (Japan, 1987)

Kyoya's father was a great warrior, killed at the hands of the diabolical psychic, Rebi Ra, who has now opened a portal to hell in the city of Shinjuku. It falls to Kyoya to finish what his father started and battle his way through demons, while protecting a young woman from harm. The only problem is that he's not exactly your classic hero type, and his powers are still latent.

Shinjuku can be a dangerous place. Especially if a demon lord hellbent on the destruction of mankind has opened up a portal to hell in the middle of the city where nightmarish creatures are spilling out like blood from an evil wound. Demon City Shinjuku is directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri whose previous works includes Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000) and Ninja Scroll (1993), and Demon City is very similar to those movies in terms of plot and graphic violence. 

Genre: Animation/Fantasy/Horror

Sawako Decides (Japan, 2010)

After 5 years in Tokyo, 5 part-time jobs, 5 boyfriends, Sawako's life is going nowhere. When her father gets seriously ill she have to take over his struggling factory. Gradually she becomes the decider of her own life.

Sawako Decides is a typical drama with a good balance of funny scenes and also sadness, with quirky Japanese humor thrown in. The good story makes it a treat to watch and sometimes I don't need anything more complex than a woman who is trying to get her life together.

Genre: Drama

The Golden Cane Warrior (Indonesia, 2014)

The Golden Cane: a relic of incomparable force, coveted by all. And with it, the training of a technique so unrivaled, it vanquishes all who dare oppose its power. As Master Cempaka and her four disciples - orphans of her enemies, now heirs to the Cane - prepare for the new warrior guardian to ascend, an act of villainous betrayal threatens to destroy the clan and destabilize the realm. Their only hope to restore order lies in finding the elusive White Dragon, the only remaining pupil still equipped to unlock the mysteries of the Golden Cane.

I'm so glad that Indonesia has become a country of which I really can trust on making some great films, Killers (2014) and The Raid 1 & 2 just to name a few. The Golden Cane Warrior draw inspiration from Chinese wire-fu films and contains a lot of beautiful fighting choreography, though it holds back a lot of the action and tells an emotional story of four disciples who're in a power struggle. Superb cinematography also.

Genre: Action/Drama

Fist of the North Star (Japan, 1986)

After a nuclear holocaust tears the world apart, mankind is forced to the harshness of not only the oppression of others who are much more powerful, but the dead earth which seems to be getting worse with every passing moment. But a savior has risen from the ashes, a man who will defeat those who would torment the weak and make the world a livable place once more. A man named Kenshiro.

Fist of the North Star began as a manga series, then turned into an animated show and during its run a film was made due to its popularity. The story takes place in a Mad Max-inspired world where nuclear war has made the earth a dead and desolate place, and extravagant villains roam the wasteland preying on the weak. Amongst the ruins of cities long gone, warriors with extreme power are rising up to fight for their right to rule. 

The amount of gore in this film is nothing less of astonishing. The creators even studied anatomy to get the exploding of bodies more correct, which says a lot of what they were trying to do with the film. Fist of the North Star is known for being a testosteron bomb like few others, and the majority of its runtime is dedicated to brutal fights between muscle mountains. Trust me, it gets pretty crazy.

Genre: Animation/Action/Drama

Wicked City (Japan, 1987)

There has been peace between the worlds of the mortals and the supernatural for centuries, but the balance is now being threatened. The Radical elements from the Supernatural world are crossing over into the mortal universe for the purpose of destroying the peace forever.

They really don't make 'em like they used to. I hope you're ready for some R-rated demon slaughter, because Wicked City is some serious sh*t. Full frontal nudity, explicit sex scenes, bodies which get blasted apart with laser revolvers and love songs under the Tokyo night sky, all put together with that distinctive 80's animation style á la Vampire Hunter (1985). It's also very reminiscent of Blade Runner (1982), but with demons instead of robots and a noir drenched Tokyo instead of dystopian Los Angeles. Super stylish and ultra violent, this film should not be missed by anyone.

Genre: Animation/Fantasy/Horror

Yakuza Apocalypse (Japan, 2015)

In the ruthless underground world of the yakuza, no one is more legendary than boss Kamiura. Rumored to be invincible, the truth is he is a vampire-a bloodsucking yakuza vampire boss! Among Kamiura's gang is Kageyama, his most loyal underling. However, the others in the gang view Kageyama with disdain and ridicule him for his inability to get tattooed due to sensitive skin. One day, assassins aware of boss Kamiura's secret arrive from abroad and deliver him an ultimatum: Return to the international syndicate he left years ago, or die.

Yakuza vampires? That's a first for me I think. Takashi Miike is back yet again with his taste for overtop violence and tough yakuza's. It's crazy how he manages to direct 2-3 films every year, but that's a number which also comes with a hit-or-miss price. Looking at his filmography I could single out a few stinkers released just in the most recent years, but I could also name just as many excellent films from the same time period. 

Yakuza Apocalypse falls into the latter category. Sure, it isn't exactly top-quality cinema with Shakespeare on top, but it's wildly entertaining nonetheless and contains so many bloody bone-crushing fights that you'll almost fall over. 

Genre: Action/Comedy/Horror

Macabre (Indonesia, 2009)

Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. Their trip is however abruptly interrupted when they run into Maya, a strange girl out of nowhere, who wanders aimlessly into their path. "I've been robbed" is all she has to say. The friends unanimously decided to give her a ride to her isolated house by the end of the woods. Maya introduces Adjie and friends to her blue-blooded mother Dara, a woman of ageless enigma and few spoken words.

Macabre draws a lot of its premise and chock horror straight from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and when the chainsaw is coming out you'll giggle at the resemblance. Nonetheless, Macabre is filled to the brim with blood and gore. People are getting butchered, stabbed and shot left and right. I haven't checked up on it, but Macabre is said to be the first Indonesian slasher flick which sounds terribly late considering it was released in 2009. More originality would have done wonders but for now we'll just have to settle for Indonesia Chainsaw Massacre, which of course isn't bad at all.

Genre: Horror

Funeral Parade of Roses (Japan, 1965)

Bar Genet's new star hostess is the transgender icon Eddie, whose confidence and sexuality threaten the bar's long-time madame Leda, but attract Gonda, the bar's owner. While Eddie becomes entangled in this love triangle, she spends her time with joint-smoking drop-outs, watches experimental films, dances to distorted rock music and occasionally gets involved in protests.

Funeral Parade of Roses is an assault on your senses. The strong black and white glow works perfectly with characters all dressed in 60's Tokyo fashion. It has a huge place in Japanese film history and has influenced a ton of film makers, Stanley Kubrick among others, who gained the inspiration to make A Clockwork Orange (1971) after watching it. Pretty cool.

Genre: Drama

The Forbidden Door (Indonesia, 2009)

Gambir is an artist who on the surface seems to lead a charmed life - he's been enjoying critical and commercial success and is married to lovely Talyda. But Talyda's parents are bankrolling his posh lifestyle, he's struggling with impotence and a low sperm count, and when his struggle to have a child with Talyda finally bears fruit, she opts to have an abortion, and then demands Gambir place the fetus inside one of his sculptures. As Gambir struggles to make sense of his internal chaos, his friend Dandung tells him about a secret club for people struggling with questions they can't answer. However, Gambir has a hard time articulating the mystery behind his agony, and he becomes convinced the key to it all lurks behind a locked door he's found in the basement.

The Forbidden Door is a kind of trippy horror film which I've seen been mentioned in listings of top horror films some few years ago. For some reason I never got around watching but now I'm glad that I have. Horror from Indonesia is something I've been looking for many times and The Forbidden Door makes me realize there's must be a ton of great ones out there. Not terrifyingly scary but very satisfying and interesting. 

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

The Assassin (Taiwan/Hong Kong, 2015)

The film is set during the mighty Tang Dynasty-period in Chinese history. Nie Yinniang returns to family after several years in exile. The mission of her order is to eliminate the tyranny of the Governors who avoid the authority of the Emperor. Now she will have to choose between sacrificing the man she loves, or break definitively with the "order of the Assassins".

One of 2015's best looking films is here, and it's directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Café Lumière, Millennium Mambo). It's actually his first feature film in about eight years so he obviously had a lot of time to plan this project. Let me tell you that it shows. The Assassin contains so many breathtakingly beautiful scenes that it's almost ridiculous, with characters standing on top of mountains while clouds are literally swallowing them, or when the camera slowly pans to show a sword fight going on in the distance. That's also one thing to note: the fact that Hou never gets all action-camera on you, he basically always uses his more slower movements and calm camera work. Kind of like Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story), who also were a master of rarely moving the camera.

The Assassin should be watched at the right time due to its slow tempo. It's never in a rush or tries to get to the violence faster. We get long monologues and long takes of people traversing forests and mountains. So have patience with it and dive into one of the most visually astounding films in recent times.

Genre: Action/Drama

100 Yen Love (Japan, 2014)

Ichiko lives the life of a hikikomori (shut-in) at her parents' home. However, when her sister gets a divorce and moves back home, Ichiko decides to move out and live on her own because they don't get along. The only minor happiness in Ichiko's dreary life is working at the 100-yen store where she can catch glimpses of an aging boxer named Yuuji practicing at a nearby gym. One day, the two move in together after getting to know each other better and Ichiko's life begins to change drastically as she takes up boxing herself.

100 Yen Love tells the emotional story of someone who discovers a passion that has the potential to change her life. She goes from someone you want to throw out of your house to a woman you root for completely. You'll cross your fingers and pray for her to make it all the way because that one single win would mean everything. Towards the ends, I was actually almost tearing up, and it's been a long time since a movie did that to me.

Genre: Drama