Here’s an odd one this time out…. 1977’s Japanese fantasy film, “House”. I’ve been aware of it for over a decade or so, but it’s one of those quirky lil’ films that seemed stubbornly destined to never ever get subtitles or be shown anywhere near my part of the world. Thank goodness that’s now at an end!! UK DVD distributor Eureka has released this one in a new Region 2 NTSC collector’s edition as pert of their “Masters of Cinema” collection. Naturally I wasted no time in snapping up a copy…..

Our synopsis goes like this: “A teenage girl named Angel discovers that her widowed father has recently begun dating again. Worse, Angel’s father has canceled the yearly summer vacation that he and Angel take every year together in order to stay near Ryoko, his new girlfriend, whom he intends on marrying soon. Furious at this situation, Angel invites her friends to come with her to her visit her long lost aunt at her remote country home.

Arriving, they discover Angel’s aunt seems to be sick and wheelchair bound, and they all agree to help fill their time fixing up her run down estate located in the woods. However, unknown to anyone, the aunt is, in reality, a vampiric witch who feeds off the flesh of young virgin girls to sustain her youth and strength. Possessing her niece, the aunt murders the girls one by one with help from her bewitched house. In the end, the aunt takes over Angel’s body so she can continue waiting for her long lost fiancee, who went M.I.A. during World War II, to finally return to her. Will any of them survive the strange horrors and escape alive?”

Wow…. now this one certainly sounds like Neko’s sort of film. I’ve always loved the creepy weirdness of 70’s Japanese ghost stories…. so I’m hoping for something along the lines of “Mansion of the Ghost Cat” or “Kuroneko”. I’ve heard however that this one is…. well… a bit stranger than the Japanese films I’m used to. Will it live up to it’s reputation and still turn out to captivate and entertain me? Guess there’s only one way to find out….

Psssst!! That’s your cue….. it’s time to “Read On”, o’ Gentle Visitors!!

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Every now and again, your Favorite Catgirl finds news of a movie coming along sooooo downright weird and unbelievable that I just have to share the news…

In that vein comes this one…. “Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge”. Even better… Well Go USA have just announced they are going to be releasing this one on R1 DVD this March 30th.

They give us this synopsis to pique our interest… “One night in modern day Tokyo, Yosuke encounters Eri a beautiful girl in her school uniform and suddenly a surprising battle begins. Pitted against a seemingly immortal giant who brandishes a vicious chainsaw, Eri and Yosuke must come together and understand why this chainsaw wielding ghost continues to appear. Is he determined to end their life or simply communicate a dark message and the truth about Eri?”

Ghosts? Schoolgirls with crazy mad ninja skills?…. and Chainsaws? Oh.. yeah, Neko’s gonna have to see this one….. There’s even a Trailer available for it…. but if you wanna see that, then you’re gonna have to “Read On”…..

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Cute Japanese schoolgirls battling nasty evil Zombies….. Just what is it that is just soooo darn compelling about that recurring story theme? I’m not really certain…. but this notion always manages to make for some nice goofy exploitation film making so who is this little Catgirl to argue? Our latest review takes us back to Japan for a “Nekolishous” look at “Zombie Hunter Rika”…

Our quick synopsis tell us: “Typical Japanese schoolgirl Rika becomes a full-fledged zombie fighter when she travels to the countryside for a visit with her grandfather, and discovers his village has been overrun with the living dead. Rika almost makes it to her grandfather’s house in one piece, but a nasty run in with some particularly hungry flesh-eaters leaves her half the girl she used to be. Fortunately for Rika, Grandpa Ryuhei is a talented surgeon. In the process of patching his granddaughter up, Ryuhei goes one step further and turns Rika into the ultimate zombie fighting machine. But Rika’s ordeal isn’t over just yet, because Zombie Boss Glorian is still out there and thirsting for vengeance. Perhaps with a little help from her friends Takashi and Yuji, Rika will finally lay waste to the lowest of the low, and somehow find the time to keep up her good grades.”

I almost gave this one a pass…. as it was Part 3 of the same “Direct to DVD” series that also gave us the absolutely abysmal piece of craptaculous soft porn nonsense “Attack Girls’ Swim Team vs. the Undead” which you might remember I reviewed here at the Litterbox some time ago. That one left such a terrible impression on me that only my overwhelming need to watch practically every bad Zombie movie ever made gave me the strength to take a chance on this one.

So….. Let’s see if that was a big mistake or not…. shall we?

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It seemed to take forever….. but “The Masked Girl”, part two of the Japanese Grindhouse style “double feature” action extravaganza with “Hard Revenge Milly” finally surfaced in, of all places, Hong Kong, all subtitled and english friendly. Yay!

Our synopsis for it reads: “In “The Masked Girl” an ordinary high school student named Ai Hoshino (Yuki Shimizu) is kidnapped on her way home from school. She later wakes up and finds herself held captive in the hideout of “Joker” and the evil Black Maria (Aiko Sato). Luckily she’s able to escape with the help of Aoyama (Tsuyoshi Kida), but not before being genetically altered by Joker—giving her super-human powers. While being pursued by agents of Joker, Ai confides in her friend Yumi (Shizuka Nakamura), but discovers Yumi has also been altered by Black Maria and brainwashed into swearing allegiance to Joker. Ai is forced to fight Yumi, but more powerful enemies will soon arrive. Eventually Ai gets a superhero outfit from Aoyoma and becomes “The Masked Girl” to confront Black Maria’s minions.”

Soooooo then….. can super powered Japanese schoolgirl vs monsters action stand up to the violent butt kicking standards we saw in “Milly”? Let’s all “Read On” and find out!!

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Remember how Neko had been wishing not too long ago, that “Hard Revenge Milly” had only been a wee bit longer… that we could have seen just a bit more about her and the possibilities of her story?

Apparently this lil’ Catgirl wasn’t the only one thinking it needed more… for news is out now that indeed such a sequel will come out this summer and it’s going to be titled “Hard Revenge Milly – Bloody Battle”.

The preliminary synopsis reads: “After Milly eliminates the Jack Brothers to avenge her family, a beautiful girl named Haru (played by Nao Nagasawa) approaches her for help avenging her own boyfriend. Milly initially brushes her off, but eventually recognizes her passion for vengeance and agrees to train her.

Soon, Ikki (Kazuki Tsujimoto) and his brother Huma (Rei Fujita), two of Jack’s former associates, arrive to take them on. Milly makes short work of their minions and knocks Huma out cold, but the steel-armed Ikki manages to injure her severely. Will she be able to survive and help Haru exact vengeance?”

There’s a nice Trailer available… but to see it and to learn more you’re gonna have to “Read On”, gentle visitors!

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