Not Kinji Fukasaku, Despite the Text that Follows...
Wow how has a week flown by since I last posted, it feels like only yesterday I was bitching about some movie I don't like! Well I guess I could use the excuse that it's a holiday week, but yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving by going snowboarding at Whistler, then going home and watching multiple films directed by Kinji Fukasaku while making a pumpkin pie so it's not like I was so wrapped up in the holiday I couldn't post.
I rented the Fukasaku films from my new FAVORITE place in the whole wide world: Scarecrow Video. It's this giant video rental place that has an unbelievable selection, the first time I went in there I was near tears I was so happy. In fact I kind of feel like crying a little bit every time I go in there, because it makes me realize that there are so many movies and directors and whatnot that I'm unfamiliar with. I get all panicky, and I think to myself "Who the hell director is that?!? I've never even heard of them! And good GOD there's a whole section with movies from Holland, I've never seen a Dutch film in my life!!!" and it just goes from there.
Anyhoo the other day I was in there and I asked one of the very nice staff people where I could find Battle Royale II (directed by Fukasaku), and he was like "It's over there, but you should rent this other collection of films by Fukasaku, they're really good. They're much better than Battle Royale II, which is not a very good movie." I said "I know it's not a good movie, but I have to see it just because I haven't seen it and I know it exists. I'm sure you understand." Of course he did, which is why I heart Scarecrow Video so much. Battle Royale II is a terrible movie, sadly it was Fukasaku's last before his death in 2003. He actually only directed one scene in the movie before he died, so let's blame all the badness whoever finished it.
On to another director who I've been studying up on: Herschell Gordon Lewis, pictured above. He's sometimes referred to as the "Godfather of Gore," although he made a lot of different kinds of movies, and according to his website "Nobody has written more books." An unlikely statement but whatever, it says something about a man who would claim that on his own website! The important bit (to me) is the gory part, Lewis is essentially the creator of the modern gore film. He made a bunch of drive-in movies in the 1960's that prominently feature graphic on-screen depictions of violence, along with a healthy dose of naked big bosomed ladies. Even though his movies are incredibly corny and low budget and employed some very bad actors, he invented a lot of key elements that now define the horror genre. Plus they're just funny to watch, close up shots of cow intestines dipped in bright red poster paint and pulled out of a woman's mouth are entertaining anytime! I wonder if he's buddies with Roger Corman. I wonder if they traded fake blood recipes in the 60's and 70's, although if that's the case they should have gotten an outside opinion because both of their movie bloods look like tempera paint. Water soluble paint = not so scary, unless you spill it on your white carpet.
This entry was weird, did I really talk about a specific movie? Oh yeah, Battle Royale II, which was awful. But you might have to watch it anyways because you know it exists now.
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