Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
My ever vigilant quest for subtitles has finally rewarded this lil’ Catgirl with some nice fansubs for the recent Thai Horror omnibus “Haunted Universities” after what seemed like… well… forever. One quick order to Thailand later, and the official Thai release is mine for my viewing pleasure…. Yay!!
It’s synopsis reads like follows: “Remember your university days, when you traded scary urban legends with your friends? Prepare to see some of those legends brought to life in the Thai horror anthology Haunted Universities. In the tradition of the hit “Phobia” franchise, young directing team Bunjong Sinthanamongkolkul and Suthiporn Tubtim frame four loosely connected school-related horror stories around a young volunteer paramedic with a special gift.
In “The Toilet”, a group of bad guys goes to a school to retrieve drugs from a young student’s locker. However, they didn’t expect the terror waiting for them in the school’s haunted fifth-floor bathroom.
A bad case of hazing sends a young girl into “The Elevator”, where she attracts the attention of wronged spirits. Worst yet, the young girl’s grandfather was the one who wronged them in the first place.
The darkly comedic segment “The Morgue” tells the story of a cowardly medical student assigned to look over the corpse in a hospital. The wilder his overactive imagination runs, the more paranoid he grows.
The directors save the best for last with “The Stairway”, about two girls who participate in a web-cam chat that ends with a creepy man vowing to kill them both. What they don’t know is how far the man will go to keep his promise.”
Neko certainly liked “Phobia”…. and I’m thinking it’s a pretty good bet I’ll be enjoying this one just as much. Ghosts…. creepy haunted Asian schoolkids…. and knowing Thailand, some particularly nasty, gory horror the way only they seem to do it these days. It’s popcorn crunching time this evening for me…. and a new review for all of you, so hang in there, Gentle Visitors and “Read On”!!
Another day off from work, and another review for you all!! This time, it’s yet one more of the Hindi horror films that showed up in your Favorite Catgirl’s mailbox last week, the Hindi ghost story “remake” of the Thai classic “Shutter”…. “Click”.
Our synopsis sounds awfully familiar…. and goes sorta like this: “Avi (Shreyas Talpade) while dating a model Sonia (Sada) is a successful photographer. They hit a girl while driving back from a party and decide to run. A ghostly picture starts appearing in all of Avi’s photographs after this incident. Three of Avi’s friends are killed one by one and both Sonia is convinced it is the girl’s ghost after them.”
This one is another of the many “uncredited”… almost direct scene for scene remakes done by the Hindi film industry. Practically any successful movie done anywhere eventually gets the “Bollywood” treatment to make the story more palatable for their domestic audience. So then? How close will the Hindi film copy the Thai one? Will it manage to equal the chills while weaving in those peculiarly goofy “Bollywood” elements we’ve all come to know …and sometimes fear more than the ghosts themselves? Well Neko’s never been one to let a little thing like blatant plot rip-off get between me and a movie, especially a ghost story, so I guess I’ll find out.
You wanna know more, you say? Then all you gotta do is “Read On”!!
Ooooohh! Another movie with more cute, tough girls doing Martial Arts!!…. Is Neko just a wee bit jealous of all the crazy martial art skills on display? Yeah…. but it also makes me wanna watch too! So without further adieu, lets all take a look at the new Japanese Martial Art film “High-Kick Girl!”
Its synopsis? Here we go: “A young high-school girl named Kei Tsuchida (Rina Takeda) joins a karate dojo. Born with extraordinary athletic ability, she quickly outshines her classmates. Her status in the dojo rises quickly as her abilities and strength helps her to even defeat grown men. Despite all her accomplishments, the dojo master Matsumura does not award her the coveted “Blackbelt”. It is clear to him that Kei always plays to win and only cares about combat. Matsumura tries to teach Kei that Karate is about defense more than just fighting and that “the real strength is in the kata”. Kei grows impatient. She feels that she possesses the skills and deserves her blackbelt. Kei will do whatever she has to do to get it, including besting all the best karate fighters in the area in combat.
Having finally exhausted her available opponents, she foolishly decides to join a rival fighting group called the Destroyers at the advice of her friend. Kei becomes deeply involved with Destroyers until one day she discovers the true purpose of their leader. Unknown to her, he is secretly planning a revenge attack on her master Matsumura for an old grievance. Kei is shocked and decides to warn her master. But, it is too late. The Destroyers elite fighters kidnap Kei and are on their way to destroy Matsumura. Matsumura, who has never fought in front of Kei, now must reveal his true power in order to save her. At last, the ultimate fight begins…”
Lots of karate….. lots of bone-crushing hand to hand fighting, old school style, and a pretty girl who can hold her own with the guys. I haven’t looked forward to a Japanese karate movie like this since the old “Sister Street Fighter” with the great Sue Shiomi. Could this one possibly be that much fun? We’ll certainly find out as its time to “Read On”!!
In honor of BIFFF, (the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival), this time out I’m having a look at a Norwegian horror film on the festival program. Presented for your reading pleasure we have “Skjult” aka “Hidden”, fresh to your Favorite Catgirl Movie Fanatic by way of it’s recent Region 1 DVD release.
Our synopsis goes: “Following a bizarre accident on a desert road and an odd encounter with another boy about the same age, KK (Kristoffer Joner) returns to his hometown after a long period of estrangement. It’s a cozy yet slightly spooky place, a rural locale with a massive waterfall, surrounded by a daunting forest, and filled with unpleasant memories: the memory of the abusive mother who practically drove KK away, and who is now mercifully dead. In her will, she left KK a home in the heart of the woods; entering the house and coming face-to-face with disturbing memories conjures up torrents of evil that lurk inside of KK – malice that he suppressed for years but that now manifests itself with devastating force.”
Hmmmmm? So what the heck is going on in this one, anyway? Ghosts? Crazy maniac killer on the loose? A traumatized boy grown into psychotic manhood? I don’t know exactly what this one is all about, but I guess well all find out, won’t we? Let’s “Read On” and see…..
Another review, and it’s off to exotic India again for another curry flavored Bollywood horror goodie. This time out your Favorite Catgirl Movie Fanatic, has another Indian DVD import titled “Rokkk” ready to send those chills down my lil’ spine.
The synopsis? Well it goes like this: “Anushka (Tanushree Dutta) marries a widower Ravi (Sachin Khedekar) against her mother’s wishes. Just when the duo is about celebrate a year of their married life in a new house in Goa, the nightmare begins. It turns out the house is haunted and the evildoer behind inexplicable events is no older than a little girl. Haunted by the girl’s ghost, Anushka approaches a healer who tells her that the house is cursed and there is a definite link to Ravi’s dead wife. Things then take a turn when Ravi is murdered and the blame falls squarely on Anushka who’s then sent to a mental asylum to gain her sanity back. But the ghost follows her there. Anushka just about manages to flee.
Enter Anushka’s sister Ahaana (Udita Goswami) who, with the help of a police inspector (Shaad Randhawa) tries to unearth the mystery behind the haunted house and save her sister, and later on herself, from the curse of the evil spirit.”
Certainly sounds like a ghost story to this lil’ Catgirl, and you all know how Neko just dotes on her silly ghost stories….. The price is nice, and it’s all subtitled in English and ready to go. Naturally I just had to grab a copy for my viewing pleasure. Will I like it as much as “Phoonk”? Guess I’ll find out!
So can you, o’ Gentle Reader… as always here at the Litterbox, you have only to “Read On” to get all the details for yourself!!
Ahhh love…… You all know your Favorite Catgirl has a soft spot for Romance, but my preferred choice in movies means I’m usually indulging in some strange love stories indeed. This time out is no exception, as we look at the Philippine DVD release “Ang Darling Kong Aswang”.
This one’s synopsis goes sorta like this: “Victor (Vic Sotto) is a single father who falls in love with Elisa (Cristine Reyes) who turns out to be an Aswang. But even so, Victor loves Elisa so much that he accepted what she is and even decides to live with her as his new wife and mother for his daughters.
But the problem comes when the leader of the Aswang clan (Jean Garcia) founds out that Elisa and her mother (Agot Isidro) are not eating humans anymore. She sent out other Aswangs to hunt down Elisa and her mother, and also for Victor and his family.
Will Victor risk everything for love and face the leader of the Aswang clan to save his beloved Elisa?”
Aswang? Never heard of them now have you? Well, even Neko was a bit vague on this particular folklore creature’s mythology, and that’s part of the fun of finding these weird lil’ films now isn’t it?
But weird is not always necessarily good…. and we all know I’ve bumped into more than a few stinkers, DVD wise, in my quest for the strange and the goofy movies I like. How does this one stack up? Only one real way to find out o’ Gentle Visitor, and that’s to “Read On”…..
Time for another wacky slice of crazy Japanese Exploitation Horror to sate your Favorite Catgirl’s need for the weird, bloody, and downright silly. We look at the Region 2 DVD release for “Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl”, fresh from the latest UK DVD mail-order parcel to show up in my mailbox this week.
Ok.. Ok… I know the title pretty much sums this one up, but here goes the synopsis anyway: “Senior high school student Jyugon Mizushima receives Valentines Day chocolates from the new student, Monami. Little did she know that the chocolates contained traces of Monami’s vampire blood. He gets infected from eating them and Monami confesses that she wants to live with him forever as vampires. Meanwhile, Jyugon decides that he wants to fully become a vampire with Monami’s help. Keiko, Jyugon’s jealous girl friend, sees the two on the school rooftop kissing and in a state of hysteria, attempts to throw Monami off the roof but falls off to her own death instead.
Pretty Keiko is most certainly dead, but her father, school principal Kenji Furano, the mad scientist, resurrects her as Franken girl. Thus begins a deadly combat between the resurrected Franken Keiko and undead Vampire Monami in the name of love. As all horror fans know, this kind of Vampire vs. Frankenstein conflict can only be solved by some serious fighting, beating, stabbing, chewing, clawing and end in climactic showdown battle to the death high atop Tokyo Tower!”
Oh my goodness!! Yes…. there’s obviously not a serious bone in this movie’s whole body. Sounds like just the sort of crazy, trashy, and super gory kind of ridiculous cinematic junk food that your Favorite movie lovin’ Catgirl eats steady diet of. I’ve already got a warm feeling this is gonna be an evening of truly silly movie fun…..
Sooooo….. Think it might just be your sort of movie too? But…. not certain if you wanna risk picking up a copy for yourself? Well then….. hunker down, get comfy and let Neko tell you all about it……
Ooooh! This time out, it’s off to exotic Malaysia for your Favorite Catgirl and a tale of envy, evil, and the wicked curse of Black Sorcery that is “Santau”.
It’s been a while since I got anything from Malaysia…. most of my horror goodies from that part of the world come out of Indonesia, but every now and again the Malays surprise me with something homegrown in the way of creepy movies.
“Chermin” remains one of my favorites, and “Congkak” wasn’t too bad at all, so will “Santau” deliver the scares for me as well? The Trailer certainly looked promising…. enough that when I finally sniffed out a copy of this one and it’s “oh so nice” English subtitles, it wasn’t too hard to twist my lil’ arm into ordering it up for my very own.
Our synopsis for it reads like this: “Halim (Esma Daniel) and Nina (Putri Mardiana) live together with their daughter Tuti (Farisha Fatin) in a modern Malay village. Halim is successful in his career and leads a harmonious life with his family. Their neighbor is also a married couple; Usin (Riezman Khuzaimi) and Ana (Lis Dawati), while the other neighbor’s home is empty and waiting for new tenants to move in.
After a new neighbor moves in, Halim’s family begin to experience strange and horror incidents inside their home. Tuti starts to witness various mysterious events while Nina often experiences strange incidents that have never happened before. The strangest part is it all happens when Halim is away and he only comes home late at night.
Nina begins to gradually change from a good and hardworking wife to a lazy and bad-tempered wife. Each day there are things that happen that can wreck the family relationships. As a successful person, Halim does not believe of paranormal stories when Tuti complains about it.
One day Nina begins experiencing abdominal pain and Halim brings her to clinic for medical checkup. The doctor confirms gastric existence inside Nina’s stomach. However Tuti suspects his mother has been possessed by spirits.
One night, Halim returns home after Tuti informs him that Nina has been possessed and keep screaming at home. Halim finally brings Nina to see a shaman. The shaman confirms Nina has been possessed due to jealousy of Halim’s successful career and having a happy family.
Halim feels surprised by this revelation. How can Halim handle his family problem? Who is actually the mastermind behind this problem?”
Well….. it most certainly sounds like we might just have been down this story plot a few times before. A bad thing? Hmmmmm? The jury is still out on that one, and surely the only way to know for certain is to “Read On” o’ Gentle Visitor and find out!
This time out your Favorite Catgirl Movie Reviewer is off to Korea for another slice of atmospheric Asian flavored horror, “Yoga”. Creepy goings on in an evil ashram, where the quest for physical perfection takes a terrible, terrible wrong turn are the theme of the day. Seems we’re in for another look at the problems of Asian women and their self-image issues with the customary horror twist that the Koreans love to add.
The synopsis goes like this: “Successful at her job until she was out shined by a younger, prettier co-worker, a confident and perfectionist career woman, Hyo-jung, visits a strange yoga institute run by a mysterious ex-actress at the advice of a radically transformed school friend. There, Hyo-jung meets several other women like herself, a former popular singer who faded away into obscurity, a religious fanatic, a girl battling weight issues, and a woman beset by numerous personal misfortunes including a divorce and a failed plastic surgery procedure. All of them have something in common: a belief that somehow beauty will help them overcome the difficulties they face. At the beginning of the intensive training course, a young yoga master, Nani explains to Hyo-jung and the others that only the one person who masters the course most successfully can actually win the secret of ultimate and immortal beauty. There are five unusual rules for them to follow during the one week course:
#1. Never eat without permission.
#2. Never take showers within an hour before or after the class.
#3. Never look at themselves in a mirror.
#4. Never leave the school building.
#5. Never try to call or contact anyone until finishing the course.
As the training goes on, they soon discover that the quest for beauty, has a terrible price.Each of the girls get tempted to break those rules caused by each woman’s secret hidden craving and Hyo-jung starts to sense there is something evil about this institute and the actress who doesn’t get old…”
Neko wonders what exactly there is in the Asian psyche that makes such horror films so prevalent of late. But… no matter. I just plain like watching them as I squirm uncomfortably on the couch. Naturally, you all want to know what this one is exactly all about, so let’s get to it….
Well… it’s finally out! “Bitch Slap” is here at last…. Your Favorite Catgirl Princess has been awaiting this one for such a looonnng time I had begun to think it would never reach DVD. Sometimes that’s a bad thing…. usually telling one that a film was just sooooo darn bad it would never have made back it’s money in a Theatrical release. Then there a few of those fun lil’ gems that have such a niche audience that Direct-to-DVD is just the way to go. Hopefully this is such a film….
Synopsis? Do we really need one? No, not really, but here it goes… “Three sexy “Bad Girls” travel to a remote desert hideaway to steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin and things quickly spiral out of their control. Allegiances get switched, truths get revealed, criminals are unmasked and nothing (or nobody) is quite what it seems as the fate of the world is precariously balanced upon the fates of this trio of sexy femme fatales.”
Made by two of the people involved with the wacky and super silly “Hercules” and “Xena, Warrior Princess” TV shows (as well as many of the same cast and crew), this one looked to be a fun little slice of naughty fun just the way Neko likes them. Not only that…. but it let me tell my sweet Carolyn that I finally had an honest to goodness English dialog movie for us to watch together…. (However, I might just have neglected to tell her the title….. Thank goodness she loves me… Hehehehe!!)
I’m expecting some gratuitous violence… some over-the-top bad girl combat… crazy villains that seriously need to be slapped, and all the exploitation goodies that can be crammed into a single movie. Will I get my wish?
Guess we’ll all have to “Read On” to find out…..