New Reviews of Japanese Cult Cinema

European based Midnight Eye.com, a site devoted to intelligent, critical reviews and analytic articles about contemporary Japanese genre cinema, has published excellent new reviews of Uzumaki and Versus. Coincidentally, Animefringe has also published a brief new review of Uzumaki.

Uzumaki, based on the manga by Junji Ito translated by Viz Comics, is a surrealistic, twisted (both literally and figuratively) horror spectacle that has viewers looking twice, particularly due to its nearly subliminal film tricks. Viz has plans to release the film to limited American theatrical release, and American home video sometime next year.

Versus is a stunning cult hit little known outside of Japan. The 2 hour film manages to combine direct homage and influence from Reservoir Dogs, Evil Dead, Peter Jackson’s Braindead, Chinese Wu-Xia kung-fu films, Highlander, John Woo’s HK “bullet ballets,” and The Matrix into a non-stop over-the-top action overload that has already earned director Ryuhei Kitamura an American film contract and an offer to direct the Freddy vs Jason movie for New Line.

Source: Anime News Service