The director of Battle Royale, Kinji Fukasaku (Tora! Tora! Tora!, Battles Without Honor and Humanity) spent his childhood working in a munitions factory during World War 2. One day, it came under fire and the children were caught in the explosion. Those that survived, like Fukasaku, had to dispose of the bodies of their friends. This is when he realized that adults were lying about the war and he developed a hatred for them that lasted most of his life.

Based on the novel by Koushun Takami, the actual Battle Royale is an annual event where one Japanese class is selected to fight. Only one can survive (see The Hunger Games, which while its own work, had to have been inspired by this story). And the rest of the country watches the event live on TV. It’s also population control as Japan faces an economic recession (see The Purge).

Class 3-B is gassed on a field trip, fitted with collars that can read their vitals (and blow their heads off) and sent to a briefing room where they encounter their former teacher, Kitano (Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, a cultural force in his own right). There’s a crazy scene here where a cheerful girl explains the rules of Battle Royale in the same way you’d explain how to play a video game. But after Kitano kills two students — including the one who wounded him and caused his retirement from teaching — for horseplay, everyone knows that this is no game.

Within six hours, 12 of the 42 students are dead, mostly at the hands of Mitsuko Souma and Kazuo Kiriyama, two girls who take the Mean Girls and Heathers archetype to its logically homicidal endgame.

The two main characters, Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa, are determined to survive together. Along the way, there are twists, turns, double crosses and over the top amounts of violence. They’re assisted by Kawada, who has already won a past Battle Royale at the cost of his girlfriend’s life.

By the end, only Kiriyama is trying to win the game. Everyone else is trying to beat the system and escape the island. After a large battle, it seems at the end only Kawada survives, as he kills our heroes. But it’s all a ruse — he knew that Kitano can hear everything on the microphones they wear. Kitano then sends everyone else home, as he wants to kill Kawada himself.

As the three enter Kitano’s base they find an unhinged painting of the entire class, all foretelling how they would die, with only Noriko as the sainted survivor, painted as if she has ascended to godhood.

Beat Takeshi painted this himself for the movie.

He tells them that she was the only one worthwhile and he wants her to kill him. His daughter had rejected him, as we learn when he tries to reconnect with her throughout the film. He threatens her with his gun and Shuya shoots him. It turns out that his gun was just a water pistol and before he dies, his daughter calls one last time to argue with him.

As they leave the island, Kawada dies from his wounds, happy that he has finally found true friendship. Our heroes are now on the fun, branded as murderers, but are determined to never stop running.

The casting for this film was just wild — 6,000 hopefuls tried out with 800 being trained and of those, 42 made it into the movie.

When released, the film was R15, a rating in Japan that keeps those 15 and under away from the film. Fukasaku complained that this audience needed to see the film most of all, but the government condemned the movie. This led Fukasaku to say to teenagers, “you can sneak in, and I encourage you to do so.” And while it’s played in the US at some limited engagements, it’s never been formally released in the wake of Columbine.

A film this visually intense, action-packed and boundary pushing? Of course, it’s influenced Western culture. And you need look no further than Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, where Chiaki Kuriyama, the actress who played Takako Chigusa, was cast as Gogo Yubari. And the Marvel Comic Avengers Arena took young superheroes and pretty much ripped off this film, even using a variation of the logo.

There’s been talk of an American remake and even a TV show on the CW, but luckily, this has never happened. Why remake what is pretty much a perfect film, filled with cultural winks, ultraviolence and an actual message and transform it into a Westernized mess? Check this out on Shudder.

King Cromwell (Richard Lynch, Bad Dreams, God Told Me To) has come the whole way to Tomb Island to find Xusia (Richard Moll, contractually obligated to be in all 1980’s sword and sorcery movies, although a bad reaction to the contacts needed for his makeup caused Moll to only physically appear in the opening scene), a dead sorcerer who holds the key to defeating King Richard.

But Cromwell realizes that Xusia will turn against him, so he stabs the demonic magician and chases him off a cliff. He doesn’t need him any longer — he’s destroyed all of his enemy’s army. Prince Talon arrives just in time to watch his father die, but doesn’t lose his family’s sword, a triple-bladed number that shoots blades. He’s going to need it to avenge the deaths of his mother and father.

Eleven years later and Talon (now played by Lee Horsely, TV’s Matt Houston) leads a group of mercenaries back to the country of his birth, ready to get his revenge. And oh yeah — Xusia is still around.

Cromwell attacks the city of Edhan, taking Prince Mikah (Simon MacCorkingdale, Jaws 3D) captive and nearly getting his sister Alana too, before she is saved by Talon, who also agrees to rescue her brother if he can have her for one night.  Of course, as soon as our hero leaves, Alana gets taken by Cromwell.

Talon rescues Mikah, but is captured by Cromwell, who forces Alana to marry him. He invites the four neighboring kings to the ceremony, where he’s crucified Talon (obviously Conan the Barbarian was an influence). But our hero is insanely strong and he pulls himself off the crucifix as Mikah and his soldiers attack the castle (one of them, Phillip, is Reb Brown from Yor, Hunter from the Future).

Cromwell takes Alana to the castle’s dungeons, where his second-in-command Machelli reveals himself to be Xusia. Talon uses his sword to defeat him, then bests Cromwell in mortal combat. Finally, a giant snake attacks Alana, but Talon saves her and defeats Xusia again.

Talon might be the rightful heir, but he gives his crown to Mikah, then gets what he really wants: Alana. After a night of what we can only imagine is some solid cocksmanship (and perhaps a marital aid that works just like his sword), he and his men do a collective group walk of shame as they head out looking for new adventure.

The end of the film promises “Watch for Talon’s Next Adventure Tales of an Ancient Empire,” but a sequel would not appear until 2012.

Despite being rated R, the cheapo toy company Fleetwood released both miniature figures and a replica sword from the film!

This is probably Albert Pyun’s (Cyborg) best film. It’s fun, quick and filled with plenty of swordfights and blood. Is it great? No, of course not. It’s an 80’s VHS rental that you watch with your favorite substances and yell at the screen. What’s not to enjoy?

It’s also impossible to find. Or you could get your copy just like I got mine — from the fine folks at the VHSPS. There’s also a RiffTrax version available on Amazon Prime.

The Arboria Institute was founded in the 1960’s to find the connective tissue between science and spirituality, finally helping humans to achieve perpetual happiness. But as the first numbers appear on the screen, spelling 1983, you know that something has gone very, very wrong.

Now, Arboria’s work is being continued by his disciple, Dr. Barry Nyle. To the outside world, Barry seems like a wonderful fellow. But a bad psychic trip in 1966, Barry hasn’t been quite the same. He is married to a woman who seems like a servant that exists only to praise him. He’s addicted to prescription medicine. And his hair is gone and his eyes have gone black, facts he hides with a wig and contact lenses.

It gets worse. He’s also been keep Elena, Arboria’s daughter, in a prison below the hospital that’s inspired by Lucas’ THX-1138. Her psychic powers — gained by being submerged into a black mass as a baby — have been given to her to accelerate human evolution. As her father says, “You will be the dawning of a new era for the human race… and the human soul. Let the new age of enlightenment begin!” Barry has different plans, isolating her in a room with only a television that suppresses her mental powers.

Day after day of intense interrogations follow as Barry wants to determine how Elena’s powers work. Or perhaps he just wants to have sex with her, as a nurse discovers that his notes are full of strange symbols and a violent need to possess Elena. So the good doctor does what any of us would do. He takes a bunch of psychedelics and manipulates Elena into destroying the nurse. She wanders out of her room but is soon stopped by a creature in a red space suit called a Sentionaut.

Keep in mind that this movie is full of long, drawn out sequences, almost like a shoegaze song come to vibrant visual life. You’re either going to love this movie or hate it — it’s not one for easy watching.

Arboria is now senile as we see a flashback to how Barry failed at his attempt to achieve transcendence and killed Elena’s mother. Her father was completely unfazed by this, only concerned with submerging his daughter into the blackness. As we finish the flashback, Barry murders the doctor. He then shows his wife his true face, trying to explain the pain of his life before murdering her.

Elena finally escapes, meeting a mutant and another Sentionaut who reveals his face to her — he is a child. Barry has decided that he must face Elena and is prepared to destroy her with a ceremonial dagger. As he gets closer to her, he is sure that a group of stoners had sex with her, so he murders them all.

In the final confrontation, he is no match for Elena, who keeps his feet stuck to the ground. Symbolizing his failed leap forward in 1966, he tries to jump forward only to kill himself by hitting a rock. Elena then wanders into a town, following the lights of television.

After the credits, an action figure Sentionaut appears as we hear a voice in reverse speak and the title “Wherever you go, there you are.”

Obviously, that’s a reference to Buckaroo Banzai. This is a movie filled with visuals and longing, as if it’s nostalgic for a future that we only saw in the past. Director Panos Cosmatos is the son of George P. Cosmatos, the director of Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra and Leviathan. In fact, this film was financed with the royalties of one of Cosmatos’ biggest films, Tombstone. Panos has stated in interviews that this film was a way of dealing with the deaths of his parents, combining his father’s popcorn sensibilities with his mother’s experimental art.

You can spot the influences in this film from space. The 1966 sequence has the stark high contrast look of E. Elias Merhige’s The Begotten. Kubrick’s ghost hangs on nearly every frame. The director has cited Manhunter as the inspiration for the color choices. And because it was all shot on 35mm, it has a grainy look that recalls the past more than any gleaming future. I also need to call out the Carpenter influenced soundtrack and inclusion of a Venm song, too.

The actual story here is pretty simple. But the way it’s told and the way the movie unfurls is why this stands out. You can play spot the references, you can try and figure out the film’s stance on identity or you can just zone out and enjoy. Or you can hate this movie and think that it’s incredibly self-indulgent. The choice is yours. Obviously, I’m going to watch this a few hundred times to get all I can out of it. You can check it out on Shudder.

Fire and Ice is a movie packed with talent. You have the union of Ralph Bakshi, whose films American Pop, Cool World, The Lord of the Rings, Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic and Wizards redefined animation in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Then you have perhaps one of America’s — if not the world’s — foremost fantasy artists in Frank Frazetta. Throw in a script by Roy Thomas and Gary Conway, Marvel Comics scribes who wrote a good chunk of the Conan adaptions that the House of Ideas released. Then gather an array of animators and painters, including Dinotopia creator James Gurney, Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung and even Thomas Kinkade, the painter of light whose mass marketed works are in suburban homes everywhere.

The look of Fire and Ice was achieved by rotoscoping, a process in which the action is filmed, then traced onto animation cels. This is probably the best realization of Bakshi’s technique, as the faces look incredibly human while retaining some cartoon emotion.

In Icepeak, Queen Juliana and her son Nekron unleash a wave of glaciers that continually push humanity further and further south toward the equator. King Jarol, the leader of Firekeep, is asked to surrender but it’s all a trick to kidnap his daughter, Princess Teegra, who Juliana wants her son to marry. However, he rejects that plan and the peace that it would bring to the world.

Teegra makes her escape and she and Larn, the only survivor of a village destroyed by those pesky glaciers and Nekron’s subhumans, try to make it back to Firekeep. However, she gets recaptured and he’s left for dead, only to be saved by the mysterious Darkwolf, who is pretty much Barbarian Batman.

Man, just like Conquest, this is another fantasy film where the guy helping the hero is way cooler than the hero!

Will they save Teegra and Firepeak? Will there be giant dinosaurs? Will Teegra wear the flimsiest of bikinis that somehow manages to stay on? Will Darkwolf kill everything in his path? Or course. But that doesn’t mean that this movie is slow or boring! It’s 81 minutes of Frazetta coming to life — evil monsters, voluptuous women, swordplay and lots of violence.

As recently as 2014, Robert Rodriguez has discussed making a live action version of this. Bakshi wanted nothing to do with it, but he and Frazetta agreed to license the rights to the filmmaker right before Frazetta’s death.

Blue Underground finally released this on DVD in 2005. You can grab a copy at Diabolik DVD or watch the film on Amazon Prime.

Dead Envy is written, directed by and starring Harley Di Nardo, someone who knows something about music. As the lead singer of Closer and White Light Motorcade, he’s gigged and toured for years. You can sense the desperation that he feels, knowing that he might have one great song still in him and wondering if a normal life is a prison that he’s not ready to be part of yet. Despite claiming that his wife Cecily (Samantha Smart) saved him, it never seems that he cares all that much for her.

Javy (Adam Reeser) saves David from a heckler at the club and soon insinuates himself into his life. He gets a job at the salon that the aging rocker owns with his wife, then drugs him at a club and sets him up to have an affair. This allows Javy to further insinuates himself into their lives, as he saves Cecily from an asthma/panic attack.

Between the affair and his need to be a star again, David neglects the salon and the electric bill. He goes to visit his landlord who is also a medium. She tells him that he has to beware of Javy coming into his life. That’s when we learn why David’s rock and roll life ended: he had to skip out on a European tour to take care of Cecily and they went on without him. He learns that she had a miscarriage and never told him.

Meanwhile, Cecily has brought Javy into their home for dinner, along with his other personality, a flickering demon who brings up his worst impulses. That’s when David has to come to terms with how his ego has blinded himself to just how great normal life — and having someone like Cecily — can be.

Dead Envy moves quickly and its cast may be unknown, but DiNardo, Reeser and Smart all bring plenty of talent to their roles. Reeser, in particular, is able to switch his persona from sensitive and thoughtful to maniacal and manipulative, coming off as a really well-portrayed villain. The scene at the end where he has Cecily trapped in her home, asking her if she’s David’s possession and reveals all of his tattoos is pretty intense. The meltdown that he’s been holding back explodes as the film races to its conclusion.

Things wrap up a little too neatly and I wish there was a bit more background about David’s past success to show just why he was so important to Javy, but the film’s still pretty interesting. Band dynamics, lead singer ego and the bond between fan and artist are all pretty powerful — so there’s already plenty of mull over here.

Dead Envy premieres tonight at the Arena Cinelounge Sunset in Hollywood for a one week run, then will be available as a video on demand starting September 3. Check out the official site for more info.

Disclaimer: I was sent this film by its PR team and in no way did that impact my review. Thanks!

The war in Afghanistan has left scars on Steve — physical and emotional ones. He never really returns home, as every day is just a series of repetitive tasks and drinking himself to a fitful slumber. But when the corpse of a gorgeous singer — Diane — shows up in his backyard, he does something strange before calling the police. He takes her photo.

Soon, Steve can only think of the dead woman. The rest of his life is a shambles — attacked by neighbors who think he’s the killer, hounded by the police and even visited by Diane’s husband. There’s only one good thing in his life — he’s now haunted by a woman who he can’t ever remember meeting.

Jason Alan Smith, who appeared on FX’s Feud and in the movie Before I Wake, has to carry nearly this entire movie as Steve. A majority of the film is him speaking directly to the camera or going through the motions of his ruined life. He’s the best actor in it, which is a good thing, because it’s one hell of a challenge. I really liked how the closer Steve gets to Diane’s ghost, the more he changes. He no longer needs a cane to walk and he can easily best the neighborhood toughs. He’s found something to care about again.

Director/writer/director Michael Mongillo (Being Michael Madsen) set the bar high here. Probably higher than the budget would allow, but there are flourishes of style that make this movie stand out. I love the prelude of Diane singing before the title is revealed. And the video effects as Steve battles her spirit near the end of the film are really inventive.

Carlee Avers is interesting as Diane. Most of her role calls for her to look alluring and she easily handles that, but there are some nice moments where her gorgeous veneer is cracked and she speaks honestly of the waste she’s made of her life. At least Steve had the war — all she has are dreams unfulfilled.

Soon, Steve has turned the crime scene into a shrine and Diane into someone he alternately worships, desires and fears. And the ending can only be a tragedy, right?

Diane is an interesting noir-ish film. The press kit has a review that describes it as “Jacob’s Ladder meets Memento,” which is pretty close. I just wish that all of the actors in the film were as solid as the leads. Some of the cop dialogue felt really forced, as did the bullying kids that fight Steve and the people he works with.

While there were times of brilliance when it comes to shot choice and lighting, there are many times when the film looks flat. However, I found more to enjoy than dismiss here. I’m interested to see what Mongillo, Smith and Avers do next.

Diane opens at LA’s Arena Cinelounge on September 7, then will be available nationwide on cable and digital VOD including iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play and Vudu September 17. For more information, visit the official site.

Disclaimer: I was sent this film by its PR team and in no way did that impact my review. Thanks!

My search for new movies leads me many places. Sometimes, you see the names Russ Tamblyn (Satan’s Sadists) and Lyle Waggoner (Love Me Deadly) and you say, let’s take a chance. And then you regret it in the way one regrets saying, “OK, just nine more slices of pizza.”

Lord Khoura (Waggoner) and Ulric (Tamblyn) have battled over the Blade of Aktar for years. Now, Ulric’s daughter Melina has enlisted a swordsman called Thane to get the sword and her father back.

There are exactly three reasons to watch this: Lawrence Tierney from Pulp Fiction as a slavemaster, Michael Berryman shows up and stop-motion dinosaurs.

According to director Fred Olen Ray, there were sets left over from Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death remake. Before they were taken down, he wrote a film, hired actors and shot the film in four days, then shot Bad Girls from Mars in the day that he had left.

Make no mistake. This movie is a complete waste of time. And not even an interesting one. If anything, please use my painful time enduring this film as a warning to never suffer through it yourself. If you really want to watch it, it’s on Amazon Prime.

You know what Gordon Sumner said. The Russians love their children too. None of that comes up in this movie. But it seemed like a great opening.

The U.S. and Russia have already fired most of their missiles before this movie even begins, with most of humanity dying in the process. In order to finish World War 3 with no more bloodshed, each country picks their best soldiers and sends them to battle to the death in Virginia.

Sgt. Tom Batanic (brother of director David Prior, Ted) and Sergei (Robert Z’Dar, Maniac Cop) spend most of this movie fighting one another with all manner of weapons before going mano y рука. Just as they decide to stop fighting, the mysterious forces that run the world blow up the building they’re in. Yep — the U.S. and Russia have been working together the whole time. But good news — our heroes have survived and the FBI saves the day.

Thrill to a decimated world that actually looks like an office park! Swoon to the forced romance between Batanic and Lt. Tavlin! Become sure that this is just as shitty of a movie as Killer Workout, another Prior directed film! Discover the true fact that Robert Z’Dar was once a Chippendales dancer!

It’s on Amazon Prime. But come on. There are so many better films to watch.

Thanks to Paul Andolina for sharing this. Check out his writing at Wrestling with Film.

I was walking through our local Walmart last week when some DVD artwork caught my eye. It was simple, a few faces hovering over a battlefield, the most predominant being a man wearing an open faced helmet. I picked it up because it felt like something was telling me to. I try to trust my gut when it comes to movies. I read the back and immediately checked what language the audio was in. I was delighted to find that it was in Russian! It was titled The Last Warrior. I have been interested in Russian culture since I was young. Its history, people, and entertainment have fascinated me in one way or the other over the past 18 years of my life. One thing I have struggled with as a film lover interested in Russian films is that not as many films make it to the English speaking market for some odd reason. When they do get released here I am hard pressed to find it in its original length and audio without cuts or dubbing.  I didn’t have the cash to immediately buy it which is what I would normally do when I come across anything in the Russian language but I did head over to the nearest Family Video to see if it was available to rent. There it was, all alone, a single copy of the video; normally if something is also released on Bluray, a copy of it in that format is also there but there was one DVD of The Last Warrior in the entire store. I shouldn’t be surprised as not everyone races out to watch the latest Russian language release to hit shelves. I couldn’t wait to run home and throw it into my player and get lost for a bit. What I got in the end was more than I could have hoped for.

The Last Warrior is titled Скиф (The Scythian) in its native language. The Last Warrior centers around a soldier named Lyutobor (Лутобор). His wife gives birth to a son but is then kidnapped along with the child. Lyutobor receives a note to kill the leader of his settlement in exchange for her life. A tribe of trained Scythian assassins is near the end of their culture’s presence abducts them. One off the Scythians named Kunitsa (Куница) which is the Russian word for the animals known as a marten is left behind during the attack and becomes Lyutobor’s guide to find the tribe and hopefully the kidnappers themselves. It seems to be a fairly by the numbers Russian epic set during the ancient Russian period. It proves to be anything but that.

Russians churn out period pieces set during conflicts quite often. Whether it be during the Great Patriotic War or more recent conflicts like the 1979 conflict in Afghanistan you’re bound to find a movie set in those times. My favorites, however, are the semi-historical epics that center on legendary warriors. The Last Warrior was certainly satisfying in that aspect but I was not prepared for its turn into dark fantasy. When Lyutobor has Kunitsa swear before one of the many ancient Russian deities Perun, a haunting spectre of frailty descends a ladder saying that Kunitsa’s oath means nothing as he does not worship this god. The guardian of Perun’s temple who utters these words is a blind man covered in ashes or white paint imbued with mysterious powers. I knew then that I was in for a special treat if it continued down this path. There is a later encounter with a collective of tree-dwelling folks who worship a strange strong man that continues this film’s flirtations with the mystic and barbaric. The Last Warrior isn’t a typical Conan cash in that was so popular with Italian and English directors alike after its release but I do feel it is in some way kin to those films. The world you get to experience for 104 minutes is one that folks of Robert E. Howard’s work may enjoy. It is not lacking in the brutality department either. There are a few battles between small groups of folks and even some great hand to hand combat on display. Those that love swords and other bladed weaponry are in for a treat as well as combat with these instruments is throughout the film. There is no shortage of blood either with even some nice gore effects being showcased in some fights. I really do feel like this film will be much more appreciated a few years from now if it is not discovered by many folks while it is out now. It has all the trappings of a film that could become a favorite among fans of genre film. All said if you are a fan of sword and sorcery and dark fantasy you should enjoy this film. If you are feeling adventurous and would just like to see what I consider a sterling example of what Russian cinema can offer when done well I would like to suggest you give it a shot. The DVD and Blurays both offer English language options in the form of dubbing and of course includes English subtitles for the Russian audio track. 

We have too many movies. At current count, we have around 2,642 DVDs. Every time I walk into a used video store, I try and tell myself, “You don’t need anything.” But then I have a rough day of work. Or a great day of work. And then I’m in a store and see a movie that has George Eastman wearing a giant lion head and killing everyone he sees in a ripoff of Quest for Fire and I just throw my wallet at the closest person in the store and run around the store screaming like a loon.

George Eastman’s best roles — like Nikos Karamanlis in Antropophagus, One in Warriors of the Wasteland and Big Ape in 2019: After the Fall of New York — are beloved because of the moments where he goes fully unhinged and becomes a maniac. In this movie, as Vood, he’s berserk minutes into the movie, killing Zod, the leader of his tribe in a bid for taking over, then murdering the wise elder who tries to make peace. He’s sent away from the tribe, where he ends up learning how to forge metal in a volcano and make weapons!

That’s when he meets Lith, who shows up out of nowhere to tell him that the fire god Enferon has picked him to take over the world. With his new sword, he easily takes over his former tribe and makes all the members his loyal servants.  Let me set up this arms race for you: he’s the first dude and the only dude to have a sword. Vood (or Vuud, who am I to quibble) is basically bringing nukes to a knife fight. Well, actually he’s bringing a big knife. You know what I mean.

He kicks his main rival, Ela, out of the tribe and ties him to a giant X, where he faces off against cavemen. He’s saved by Isa and her tribe, who are good at medicine but also whose peaceful ways are little match for George Eastman killing everything in his path and demanding that all others do the same.

Of course, a final battle has to happen between cavemen maniacs and cavemen hippies. There is some romantic intrigue and plenty of blood along the way. What else would you expect from director Umberto Lenzi (Ghosthouse, Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare City, Eaten Alive!)? This is total entertainment.

I may have too many DVDs, but this one was so worth getting. This movie is pure garbage in the best of ways. It even recycles the music from Mountain of the Cannibal God and Adam and Eve vs. the Cannibals, two other prime pieces of Italian cinematic goofiness.

You can grab the Code Red blu ray version on Diabolik DVD!