2010 Kanazawa Film Festival

SHOCK! FEAR! BIZARRE HAPPENINGS! True to the sensational headlines on the marquis, this year's Kanazawa Film Festival, subtitled "The International Horror Convention", promises to send a chill down your spine during the hot summer nights with creepy flicks from Japan, America, and Asia.



Japanese Horror

The home team has a strong showing from a bevy of genre legends, including Ringu director Nakada Hideo's freshmen outing that set the stage for Sadako's takeover, Jyoyuurei (Women Ghost), Jyaganrei (Vengeful Spirit) with art direction from Konaka Chiyaki of The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and Kourei (Seance) by Kurosawa Kiyoshi of Sweet Home, Kairo, and CURE fame.

While it's well and good to recognize these innovators of the suburban ghost story, the real gem of the Japanese block is Goke, the Body Snatcher from Hell. Released by the Shochiku Company, who, as the film's title would suggest, served was 60's Japan's number one source of campy sci-fi, churning out hits like Living Skeleton, Genocide, and The X From Outer Space.



Western Horror

I can't expect any of you to be bothered to haul yourselves up and into the sunlight for films you can pirate for zero effort on Youtube, but there's something to be said about being able to see not one, but TWO of Carpenter's classics, They Live and Prince of Darkness, on the big screen and with an energized crowd that would welcome Roddy Piper to their next company picnic. They've even got the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society in on the ploy with their showing of The Call of Cthulhu, filmed in sanity-blasting Mythoscope.



Asian Horror

This year's festival travels to the darkest depths of the orient to bring you a sampling of the best of the worst. Laugh at the Hong Kong horror-comedy Mr Vampire! Shake your head at the incredulous creature feature from Korea starring a mutant man-eating boar, Chaw. And have your lawyers at the ready for Song at Midnight, the Chinese Phantom of the Oprah.



Aside from the eclectic lineup of films, you can also look forward to discussion panels and special events, including the unveiling of previously unreleased footage from haunted sites deemed too disturbing for the light of day, a talk with Japan's foremost ghost hunter Koike Takehiko, and as always, a knock-down white knuckle brawl of pop culture brawn between rapper Utamaru (AKA the Cinema Hustler), likely baby-eater and exploitation maniac Takahashi Yoshiki, and up-and-coming mystery/horror author Hirayama Yumeaki.

This is merely a sampling of this year's goods so check out the official homepage if you haven't already. Be there and be warned: Don't DARE take the trip... alone!

2009 Kanazawa Film Festival

Following the precedent set by 2007's Seishun Grindhouse and 2008's Filmageddon, Kanazawa's film festival series continues with 2009's New World Order Survival Handbook. Showings coincide with the five day holiday and run from September 19th to the 25th.

This year's films are broken into four categories and each day is punctuated with special events and guest speakers.


WORLD OF THE FUTURE

How does our present stack up against the filmmakers who captured it as their future? Revisit the past future with 2001: A Space Odyssey and AKIRA, then brace yourself for a triple threat from the master of industrial imagery, Sogo Ishii, in the form of Asia Strikes Back, and The Master of Shiatsu, and his German rockumentary 1/2 Mensh.

CHARISMA

The mad dreams of men born from insatiable egos and accumulated power made real.
See Fitzcarraldo, the rubber baron who moved a ship over a mountain. Journey deeper into the heart of darkness with the extended Apocalypse Now: Redux. Go back in time with 2004’s historic dramatization of the great king of Macedonia, Alexander.

RELIGION

No new world order is complete without a religion to pacify it. See how belief can both unite and unmake societies in Shaka, the 1961 epic depicting the struggle between Siddhartha and the holy Brahmins of India circa 500 B.C., Essene, a documentary following the lives of monks cloistered in a Benedictine monastery,
The Terrifying Revelations of Nostradamus(ノストラダムス戦慄の啓示), a disaster film spanning nine dimensions of destruction, and The Human Revolution (人間革命), which follows the formation of Japan’s most infamous and influential new religion, Soka Gakkai.

NEW WORLD ORDER

Find out who is responsible for this charade we call civilization in the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, conspiracy theory fueled Zeitgeist and its sequel, and The Gate of Heavenly Peace, an expose covering the Tienanmen Incident with interviews by participants and eyewitnesses.

In Terrifying Girls’ High School Classroom (恐怖女子高校　暴力教室), director Norifumi Suzuki brings us back to reality with a tale of high school girl gang bangers who unite to revolt against their corrupt, perverted headmaster. Memoir of Japanese Assassins(日本暗殺秘録) stars Sonny Chiba and is a cinematic retelling of assassinations that have shaped Japanese history. Lazarus (ラザロ) follows the psychopathic heroine Mayumi as she takes in girls who have fallen to the bottom of the widening crack between the haves and have-nots and trains them to eat the rich and kill for money. Finally, the American documentary FRAG blows the lid off the insanity that is professional gaming.

EVENTS

Talk Show
Rapper Utamaro from Ryhmester and self proclaimed Satanist/trash horror editor Yoshiki Takahashi (personal site, NSFW) team up to discuss the current sad state of affairs as it applies to society and film. While Utamaro might seem like an unlikely candidate, his Cinema Hustler film critic podcast is the real deal!

Metropolis Orchestra
Revisit the Fritz Lang classic accompanied by a live musical performance including accordion, piano, contra bass, and handmade instruments.

Mystery Outdoor Showing
What are they showing? It’s a mystery! First come first seated, so be sure to snag your spot early.

For more information check out the official homepage. The website is currently only in Japanese, but information in English should surface in time.