Posts Tagged ‘Shochiku’


Genocide – War of the Insects (1968)

December 7th, 2010 | article by | No Comments »
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I know I’m one of the few who honestly appreciates director Kazui Nihonmatsu’s (The X From Outer Space) obscure find-the-bomb killer bug thriller, the unflinchingly nihilistic Konchu Daisenso – better known under its international title Genocide or translation War of the Insects.  The plot concerns an island hunt for a lost H-bomb that encounters a bizarre Commie project to train killer bugs and an even stranger effort by Holocaust survivor Kathy Horan (Goke: Body Snatcher From Hell) to destroy all humanity with them.  Turns out everyone is screwed anyway, as the bugs have a doomsday plot all their own…

No poster could ever effectively demonstrate the overarching oddity of this one, penned by Goke: Body Snatcher From Hell alums Kyuzo Kobayashi and Susumu Takaku, though this Mexican lobby card based on a variety of producer Shochiku Company’s own ad art certainly tries.  The artwork features giant bugs, explosions, a lecherous Caucasion and hottie Kathy Horan wielding a pistol while wearing a yellow bikini.  The outlandish text translates as follows:

More Exciting than The Naked Jungle! More Terrifying than Dracula and the Thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock!
The World is in peril… Humanity is on the verge of extermination in a last war… the Final War!
Huge Insects Invade the Earth!

The central still features Chico Lourant (the Wester Island native in Gamera vs. Jiger) as an American bomber pilot tied down and tortured by communist spies as vindictive Holocaust survivor Kathy Horan looks on.  It seems important to note that the giant insects promised by both this poster and Shochiku’s own trailer for the film never materialize, but the regularly-proportioned bees and wasps cause no end of mayhem all the same.

This is another Mexican lobby card I’m proud to have in my slowly growing collection, with ridiculous artwork and stunning colors.  Size: approximately 13″ x 16″  Title: La Invasion Destructora (roughly The Invasion of Destruction)  Company: Organizacion Apolo, S.A. and Centro Independiente de Peliculas, S.A.


The Living Skeleton (Kyuketsu Dokuro Sen)

June 12th, 2010 | article by | No Comments »
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Reminiscent of those for Toho’s 1958 sci-fi / crime / horror opus The H-Man, the moody opening credits to Shochiku’s tale of ghostly revenge sets the tone perfectly for the strange film to follow.  The score, in ways suspiciously evocative of John Barry’s work on the James Bond series, is by Noboru Nishiyama, who seems to have worked on little else.  A full review of the film can be found here.


The Living Skeleton

May 9th, 2010 | article by | 3 Comments »
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rating:
a.k.a. Kyuketsu dokuro sen
(lit. Vampire Skeleton Ship)
company: Shochiku Films
year: 1968
runtime: 80′
director: Hiroshi Matsuno
cast: Kikko Matsuoka, Masumi Okada,
Yasunori Irikawa, Ko Nishimura,
Nobuo Kaneko, Norihiko Yamamoto
writers: Kyuzo Kobayashi
and Kikuma Shimoiizaki
cinematography: Masayuki Kato
music: Noboru Nishiyama
not on home video in the USA
order this title from Amazon.co.jp

This 1968 horror effort from Shochiku may not be the most obscure of pre-70s Japanese genre stuffs, but it’ll do in a pinch.  Released day and date with the same company’s oft overlooked Genocide – War of the Insects, this tale of ghostly vengeance emanating from a mysterious fog-bound ship received little in the way of attention in the United States or elsewhere upon release, and doesn’t appear to had any kind of wide distribution anywhere outside Japan.  Though far form rare (Shochiku released the film on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD – the latter of which has seen no fewer than three budget priced re-releases in the past few years), The Living Skeleton still rates as ‘unknown’ for all but the most ardent of genre cinephiles – a sad fact well deserving of change.

Effectively the last of the short run of genre efforts Shochiku produced in 1967 and 1968, The Living Skeleton looks to have also been the most tightly budgeted, not that this hampers it in the least.  Minimalist design and a utilization of real locations coupled with an intelligent application of black and white ‘Scope photography help lend much-needed effectiveness to the film’s bizarre series of events.
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Genocide – War of the Insects

June 26th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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a.k.a. KONCHU DAISENSO / GREAT INSECT WAR
Shochiku Co., Ltd. [1968] 84′
country: Japan
director: KAZUI NIHONMATSU
cast: KEISUKE SONOI, YUSUKE KAWAZU, EMI SHINDO
cast: REIKO HITOMI, ERIKO SONO, KATHY HORAN

Accurate information about this utterly obscure [at least to Western audiences] Shochiku science fiction / horror production is difficult to come by, to say the least. Shochiku’s own website offers little – only a few credits, a brief synopsis, and two photos – while the more comprehensive listing at the IMDB is full of inaccuracies [something I've attempted, as of recently, to correct]. The film purportedly received a limited release in America under its international English title of GENOCIDE in 1969, though I can find no corroborating evidence of this [copies of this English language edition are floating around, indicating that a print of it was available in America at some point]. There is no doubt, however, that GENOCIDE received theatrical release in Germany [as GENOCIDE-THE KILLER BEES TAKE HOLD*] or Italy [THE HALLUCINITORY END OF MAN*], as ad materials survive from both of these runs and, in at least one case, the repsective theatrical version of the film has been made available on home video [on VHS and twice on DVD in Germany**].

But unlike THE X FROM OUTER SPACE or GOKE BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL, which have been growing in popularity in the Western world thanks to home video releases, television airings, and rumors of forthcoming DVD editions from high-end production houses like Criterion, GENOCIDE has remained largely unheard of, even in cult film circles, outside of Japan since its initial run in 1968. Filmed in Shochiku grand-scope and color with decent special effects and one of the more bizarre narratives ever to grace a 60′s production [scientists, military men, lost H-bombs, communist spies, insane people, dirty old men, and killer bugs all have their own important spot in the proceedings], one has to wonder why! The answer almost undoubtedly lies in the unwavering nihilism of said narrative, penned by Susumu Takaku [THE GOLDEN BAT, GOKE].

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The X From Outer Space

December 5th, 2008 | article by | No Comments »
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a.k.a. Uchu Daikaiju Girara
company: Shochiku Co. Ltd
year: 1967
runtime: 89′
country: Japan
director: Kazui Nihonmatsu
cast: Eiji Okada, Toshiya Wazaki,
Peggy Neal, Itoko Harada
not on DVD in the USA

“Guilala taught me an important lesson. Now I realize that there is someone who loves Dr. Sano even more than I . . .” -Lisa

Given the rampant popularity of Toho’s Godzilla series among the youth of Japan at the time, it’s totally understandable that Shochiku [one of the oldest film studios in Japan and home to such prominent directors as Yasujiro Ozu] would want to get in on the action and finance a giant monster film all its own. A national contest amongst youngsters decided the name of the giant beast in question – Guilala [or Girara] – and production was begun. That the only discernible meaning to be found in the resulting film is within the line of dialogue shared above should give you an some idea of the overall success of the production.

It seems that the FAFC – whatever that may stand for – has been trying to land a spaceship on Mars for some time with no success. Ship after ship has disappeared, crew and all, for no identifiable reason, leading to suspicions that a UFO may be responsible. Another attempt, this time utilizing the newly-designed Atomic Astro Boat Gamma – AAB Gamma for short – is launched. It becomes obvious early on that Lisa [Peggy Neal] has the hots for Captain Sano [Toshiya Wazaki], who comes across as a pretty big jerk for most of the picture. Communications officer Miyamoto, meanwhile, has the hots for Lisa while Dr. Shioda doesn’t seem to have the hots for much of anything. Shortly after launching, AAB Gamma encounters a mysterious UFO that looks a lot like a glowing apple fritter [comedy relief Miyamoto aptly describes it as an undercooked omelet]. To make matters worse, Dr. Shioda has come down with what is identified as ‘space sickness’, forcing the crew to make a side stop on the FAFC moon base.

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Goke – Body Snatcher from Hell

July 8th, 2008 | article by | No Comments »
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a.k.a. KYUKETSUKI GOKEMIDORO / BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL
Shochiku Co. ltd [1969] 84′
country: Japan
director: HAJIME SATO
cast: TERUO YOSHIDA, TOMOMI SATO,
cast: EIZO KITAMURA, HIDEO KO

“There’s no fun in the world anymore . . .” Matsumiya, the bomber

Flight JA 307 seems destined for disaster from the outset of Hajime Sato’s final film, with it flying through ominous and seemingly endless blood-red skies. The motley assortment of passengers are already on edge – be it from the recent assassination of the British ambassador to Japan or the birds smashing themselves into a bloody pulp on the airliner’s windows. To make matters worse, the pilots receive a message that a bomb may be hidden aboard the plane. Co-pilot Sugisaka heads out into the cabin to check the passenger’s bags, only to stumble upon the political assassin responsible for the British ambassador’s murder. In no time at all, the plane is under the control of the would-be hijacker, who destroys the radio and sends the flight on an impromptu course towards Okinawa.

As the two pilots steer the plane off of its scheduled course, a passenger’s one-way radio reports an unusual development – an unidentified object has entered Japanese air space, with the JSADF and US Air Force both in hot pursuit. Unknown to all aboard, the hijacker has sent the plane straight into the path of the oncoming unidentified object – a pulsing orange UFO that shorts out the plane’s controls and sets one of its engines ablaze. And so, nary 10 minutes into the film, flight JA 307 has crashed into a barren valley well off the beaten path.

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