All the films below are English Subtitled or in English unless otherwise noted. [BA] Denotes that BOX ART is available for that particular title.

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JAPANESE CINEMA

Takashi Miike

1 - Ichi: Dir. Masato Tanno. Based on the original manga, and taking place in an alternate world separate from the feature film and the anime, 1-Ichi is much more true to the original manga. Tanno decided to ignore Miike's Ichi and concentrate on creating his own. This film was created by many of the same crew that worked on the theatrical Ichi. Includes a 15 minute, subtitled interview with Takashi Miike. Widescreen Subtitled. (2003)

The Adventures of Denchu Kozo: Adventures of Electric Rod Boy. Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto. Gorgeous quality (practically DVD quality) recording from Canal+ Digital in France of Tsukamoto's 'prequel' to Tetsuo shot in colour... This has never been available in such fantastic quality. Original 1.33:1 Ratio Japanese Language French subtitles. (1987)

A Scene at the Sea: An enchanting tale from Takeshi Kitano about a young couple and their love of the seaside. Has a nice little twist at the end. Fantastic! Widescreen Subtitled.

Alive: Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura. In a futuristic prison, two murderers survive execution by electric chair and are given new "life" by their jailers. But that doesn't mean freedom -- instead, the prisoners become part of a mysterious experiment involving something called The Displacer. Of course, the future of humankind hangs in the balance. In Alive, director Ryuhei Kitamura has combined the claustrophobic tension of the like-minded Cube with the wild kineticism of Versus, creating a movie that will stun even the most jaded action fan. This is available in both a regular Theatrical version as well as a longer Director's Cut. Widescreen Subtitled. (2002)

All Night Long: Ôru naito rongu. Dir. Katsuya Matsumura. This is a brilliantly brutal story of three young individuals that witness the violent stabbing of a young teenage girl. Later that night they decide that what they need in order to deal with the horrible imagery is a party and some girls, it is at this point that their lives descend to the same depths of the teenage girls murderer. Brilliantly shot, jarring and often brutally violent. Subtitled. (1992)

All Night Long 2: Ôru naito rongu 2: Sanji. Dir. Katsuya Matsumura. This is a sequel to the above only in name and its dark depressing and violent tone. A young gay teenager is obsessed with a shy classmate that lives nearby, but knows he can never have him. His sexual obsession and sheer frustration soon turn to violence when he sends his gang round to the young boys house where they proceed to beat him up and burn his genitals. The next day he arrives a the boys house to apologize for his friend's actions and invites him round to dinner. He accepts, but only so he may exact his equally violent revenge. Subtitled. (1994)

All Night Long 3: Ôru naito rongu 3: Saishuushô. Dir. Katsuya Matsumura. Another sequel in name and tone only. A cleaner in a 'Love Hotel' begins to develop a meticulous fetish for collecting women's household rubbish. One night when on one of his scavenger hunts he meets the like minded Kawasaki who, from collecting women's rubbish has gathered huge files about his female victims. Inspired the young cleaner develops a more methodical approach to his own fetish and eventually goes so far as to abduct a woman and experimentally torture her to extract as much information from her as possible. This is most definitely both the most accomplished of the trilogy and the most unflinching in its depiction of violence. Subtitled. (1996)

Aragami: Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura. Ancient Japan. Fleeing from enemies, two wounded samurai arrive at a strange old temple in a remote location in the mountains. The doors to the place are opened by a beautiful and exotic woman, who beckons them inside. Unable to walk any further, they collapse from exhaustion. One of the samurai awakens to find himself miraculously healed. He meets his saviour, a mysterious man who tells him that his friend died from his wounds. The samurai is persuaded to stay the night. His host tells him the legend of the "Tengu", a goblin which is said to reside in the mountains dining on the flesh of men. He goes on to reveal the true name of the Tengu : Aragami. When the samurai asks if Aragami poses a threat to the temple, his host answers : "I am Aragami". The only way for the Samurai to leave the temple is to destroy Aragami. Excellent Period Samurai Horror. Widescreen subtitled (2003)

Azumi: Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura. Early in the 17th century, certain people think that the ruling power of Tokugawa has not established itself properly, leaving the Shogunate weak and vulnerable. Tenkai, a priest with considerable influence in Tokugawa's government, is one of them. He believes that any seeds of threat to Tokugawa must not be overlooked, and thus he orders Gessai, a former general in the imperial army, to form a group of warriors and eliminate any possible threat. Azumi, a nine year-old girl who lost her mother in the battles is one of them. She is enlisted by Gessai along with nine other orphans, and trained to be the perfect assassin. Ten years later, the orphans have become teenagers, and the time has come for them to descend from the mountains and embark on their mission. Kitamura's latest film once again demonstrates him to be a versatile and original director. Widescreen Subtitled. (2003)

Battle Royale: Dir. Kinji Fukasaku. In a time of social and political unrest, brought about by the nations children harboring extreme contempt for any form of authority, the government passes the Battle Royale act. A class of children is selected for the latest game in which they are isolated on an island with the rest of the class, handed a form of weapon each and ordered to kill each other. The last person alive is the winner. This is the superior UK Tartan Asia Extreme DVD. Includes Trailer. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Battle Royale: Director's Cut: Dir. Kinji Fukasaku.  Director's cut and super special Edition containing 8mins extra and a different ending to the original cut of the film. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Battle Royale II: Requiem: Kinji Fukasaku & Kenta Fukasaku. After escaping the horrors of the first Battle Royale, Nanahara Shuya and partner Noriko vow to get revenge on the adults that mercilessly let them down. Enlisting other survivors into a terrorist organisation known as the Wild Seven a series of devastating attacks lands them as the prime target of not just the Japanese military but also the world. With increasing threats of invasion and missile attack a new concept is devised. BR2 - the difference this time round? Instead of killing each other, they will be forced to infiltrate the Wild Seven's island retreat and put a stop to Nanahara. Let battle commence! Widescreen Subtitled. (2003)

Battlefield Baseball: Dir. Yudai Yamaguchi. Director Yudai Yamaguchi, in his debut film, gives us a world first - a baseball zombie horror comedy, complete with chainsaws, corpses sailing through the air and high-kicking kung-fu antics. Based on a popular manga story by Gataro Man that ran in the top-selling Monthly Shonen Jump magazine, Battlefield Baseball almost dispenses with the bat and ball altogether, and instead deals up a whole lot more fun in its place, mocking the clichés of the genre in a manner as spirited as it is funny. Fantastic baseball horror produced by Ryuhei Kitamura (Director of Versus) Widescreen subtitled. (2003)

Black Angel: Kuro no tenshi vol. 1. Dir. Takashi Ishii. This is the excellent UK DVD of Ishii's excellently stylish femme fatale actioner starring Riona Hazuki. Includes Trailers for Black angel 1 and 2 as well as others. Widescreen Subtitled. (1997)

Blood: The Last Vampire: Dir. Hiroyuki Kitakubo. Excellent Japanese Anime surrounding ancient vampires at a US airbase in Japan during the Vietnam war. Groundbreaking use of computer animation within Japanese animation. Includes the making of. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Brother: Director Takeshi Kitano's most recent feature and his first film to be shot outside Japan. After disgracing his fellow Yakuza brothers, Yamamoto leaves for Los Angeles in search of his half brother Ken. Unable to speak English and missing familiar Yakuza surroundings, Yamamoto sets up a new gang and proceeds along with ken and his friends  to obliterate rival LA gangs whilst drawing ever nearer to the inevitable showdown with the Mafia. Typical Kitano film combining moments of unbelievable brutality and moving tenderness. This is the superior UK DVD, has better picture quality than the HK disc and is the original version of the film not the butchered US version! Includes Trailer and featurette. Widescreen Subtitled/English. (2000)

Bullet Ballet: Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. Goda (Tsukamoto), finds his world completely turned on its head when his wife kills herself. Despite his grief Goda does not miss a day off work, until one day he is attacked and beaten by a gang of punks. He then embarks on the surprisingly difficult task of obtaining a gun. Why does Goda yearn for a gun so much? to commit suicide and reunite himself with his wife?...Or to take revenge on his attackers? Shot in similar stark blacks and whites as Tetsuo's 1 and 2 and consisting of much of Tsukamoto's trademark style and lack of coherent narrative. Widescreen Subtitled.

Bayside Shakedown: Blockbuster cop action/comedy. Based on a hugely popular Japanese television series. Widescreen Subtitled.

Beautiful Girl Hunter: aka Star of David. Usual Japanese utter strangeness, a young boy turns 18 and therefore a mad sex fiend. One of the best and most stylish of this particular era. Includes Trailer, Widescreen Subtitled.

Cardcaptors - One Fateful Day: Vol 1: Originnally created by the CLAMP Animation team. Excellent recent Japanese Anime. Includes the episodes One Fateful Day - Partners in Crime - Allies. (2000))

Charisma: Karisuma. Dir Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After rapidly diffusing a hostage situation (by shooting the hostage taker) a cop wanders into a nearby forest and stumbles upon a number of people who's lives seem to revolve around a single rare species of tree growing in the forest. Some conclude that the tree is evil, yet one lone man will defend the tree to the death. Includes Trailer Widescreen Subtitled. (1999)

Cure: Excellent and very disturbing serial killer thriller from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, (son of Akira Kurosawa) in which victims are marked with an X slashed across their bodies, but there seems to be more than one killer! Widescreen Subtitled.  

Dangan Runner: Directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka. Complex and very funny story about Yasuda (Tomorowo Taguchi) a bank robber who forgets his mask and so has to steal one from a shop. He is spotted by Aizawa (Diamond Yukai) who gives chase, who in turn is chased by Takeda (Shinichi Tsutsumi) a  Yakuza bodyguard. Very fast paced and reminiscent of Run Lola Run (Dangan was made first). Excellent. Widescreen, Subtitled. 

Death Files: Very matter of fact Japanese Mondo madness, you thought Endurance and Takeshi's Castle were hard to watch? This one contains all the usual Mondo stuff i.e. the dodgy pseudo-intellectual presenter and the staple accident aftermaths and road traffic victims etc... Japanese Language without subtitles. 

Death Woman + Death Body: This is a totally nasty pair of Japanese Mondo movies. The first Death Woman is the usual stuff, but focuses mainly on dead women (accidents, murders and suicides) and on the autopsy of one woman in particular urrgh! and Death Body is again the usual assortment of mayhem of all varieties. This is truly nasty stuff and in pretty nice quality too! Japanese without subtitles. 

Down to Hell: Dir.  Ryuhei Kitamura. Down to Hell was one of the first movies directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. It depicts the horrifying experience of men who participate in a manhunt in a remote forest.  The game is simple, you either run, or you die. But this time the game goes seriously wrong, and the participates get more then they bargained for with their latest victim. Down To Hell was a straight to video title in Japan, it's low budget, and looks low budget. But it shows that Ryuhei Kitamura is very talented director even when he first started. It has many of the same elements that Versus contains, just on a lower scale. Versus was originally going to be called Down To Hell 2, and was going to be straight to video also. Kitamura ended up making Down to Hell 2 into a full length theatrical feature, and renamed it Versus. The trailer for Down To Hell 2 is actually a very early Versus trailer. Fullscreen (original Ratio) Subtitled.

Eko Eko Azarak: aka Wizard of Darkness. Dir. Shimako Sato. Excellent and quite extreme Japanese high school horror. A group of young kids are kept behind after school then locked in and marked for sacrifice by a strange cult that is attempting to resurrect Lucifer in order to take control of the world. Excellent atmospheric stuff and some very bloody FX. Also includes a short making of documentary and trailer. Good quality print but the VCRs on screen display pops up for a couple of seconds during the opening titles. Subtitled Widescreen. (1995)

Electric Dragon 80000V: Dir. Sogo Ishii. This piece of sheer cinematic madness was made on the side, during the production of the spectacular Gojoe. This stars the same principal cast members as electrically charged super humans that have the ability to discharge massive amounts of electricity at will and charge themselves up on electric beds and chairs. This utter bizarreness culminates in a climactic battle between the to beings. Shot in stunning black and white and set to a pounding, and at times ear-splitting punk soundtrack, this hyper-kinetic piece of cinema will not disappoint and especially for fans of Tsukamoto's Tetsuo.  Widescreen Subtitled. (2001)

Emergency: Living Dead in Tokyo Bay: Batoru Garu - Battle Girl. Dir Kazou 'Gaira' Komizu. From the director of Guts of a Beauty and Entrails of a Virgin. Subtitled.

Entrails of a Virgin: Directed by the infamous Giara. A group of fashion models and photographers spend the night in a deserted house, only to be killed off by an unknown assailant. Extreme gore! Japanese Language without Subtitles.  

Evil Dead Trap: Dir. Toshiharu Ikeda. This has to be one of the best Horror films to come out of Japan! Full to the brim with superb special effects, atmospheric set-pieces and Goblin-esque music. Clearly inspired by the Italian greats such as Argento. This version is from the original Japanese VHS released in the late eighties. Includes Trailer. Widescreen No Subtitles. (1988)

Gemini: Shinya Tsukamoto’s (director of Tetsuo) first mainstream feature and what a success it is! Two brothers separated at birth, unknown to each other until now, fight over the love of a young woman. Full to bursting with Tsukamoto’s trademark imagery. Fantastic don’t miss! Includes Trailer. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Getting Any?: Minna yatteruka. Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Often considered as an outcast in Kitano's cannon of films due to its seemingly uncharacteristic elements, yet is perhaps more representational of Kitano as a comedian. The film revolves around the geeky Asao, whose main objective in life is to get laid and the only way he sees himself getting laid is if he has a flashy sports car. Everything goes pear shaped when his car gets crushed one day when he's trying to pick up a girl. Without a car and any money he decides to rob a bank... Unsuccessfully! from this point on the film descends into utter absurdity, but is nevertheless always entertaining! Subtitled (1994)

Gohatto: aka Prohibition. Directed by Nagasia Oshima (Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence). This is a period drama about a group of young warriors tangled amid accusations of homosexuality. Starring ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano. Widescreen Subtitled.

Gojoe: Dir. Sogo Ishii. This is the full length original 139min version of the film, not the butchered version available elsewhere. This version restores approximately 40mins of essential and thoroughly engaging detail that was removed form other versions of the film making it the masterpiece that it rightfully should be! Benkei a former warrior turned monk, believes that it is his destiny to destroy a mysterious demon which is chopping off the heads of samurai warriors guarding Gojoe bridge. It soon becomes apparent that the demon is in fact human, a once thought dead member of the Heike clan out for bloody revenge against his former oppressors, culminating in what has to be one of the best cinematic climaxes in history. Beautiful cinematography, a thoroughly engaging, multi faceted narrative, absolutely superbly choreographed fight sequences and a pulsating score to match, this is one hell of genre busting movie and must be seen... essential Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Guinea Pig Series: This is the full series complete and uncut. All include English subtitles. The whole series counts as 4 tapes.

All are in very nice quality and are in Fullscreen since they were shot on video. Fantastic!

Guts of a Beauty: Quasi-sequel to Entrails of a Virgin, directed by Giara. A bunch of gangsters drug and abuse women to satisfy their sadistic appetites, until vengeance in wreaked in classic over the top, extreme gore Giara style. Widescreen Subtitled.

Hana-Bi: Dir Takeshi Kitano. Most definitely one of his best and that is saying something! Widescreen Subtitled. [BA]

Heat After Dark: Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura. This is the first Theatrical film from Kitamura, director of Versus and Down to Hell and contains all the typical elements of  Kitamura film... The dead revolting against the living. Produced by and starring Atsuro Watabe, with character actors Shinichi Suzuki and Shigeru Izumiya. Two old buddies meet up and murder a guy by impulse. They put the body in the trunk of their car and drive toward a mountain but the "dead" guy regains consciousness and runs away when the police stops their car. They chase the guy into the ruins of some old buildings where a battle for survival begins. Widescreen Subtitled. (1997)

The Hidden Fortress: Kakushi toride no san akunin. Black & White Widescreen Subtitled. (1958)

Hiruko the Goblin: Yokai Hanta - Hiruko. Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto. A Slightly unconventional but extremely fun entry into Tsukamoto's cannon of films. An archeologist excavating beneath a country school accidentally unlocks the ancient tomb of Hiruko, an invisible demon hungry for peoples heads. Perhaps more commercial than Tsukamoto's other works but it still retains flashes of his usual visual style, plenty of atmosphere and a surprising amount of blood and guts! This is an absolutely  fantastic quality copy from the Japanese DVD with added subtitles... The best it'll ever be seen with English subtitles. Also includes a couple of effects documentaries (Japanese only) and a trailer. Widescreen Subtitled. (1990)

Human Vapour: Gas-ningen dai 1 gou. Dir. Ishirou Honda (Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters). Mizuno is changed into human vapour during a space development programme, which results in him getting up to all manner of nefarious deeds. A Japanese rendition of the invisible man. (Toho, 1960).

Hypnosis: Saimin. Dir. Masayuki Ochiai. Widescreen Subtitled. (1999)

Inugami: Dir. Masato Harada (Kamikaze Taxi) . Legend dictates that the Bonomiya  are cursed to guard the urns which house the spirits of the Inugami, the wild dog gods. forty-something Miki Bonomiya leads a lonely spinster's life as a traditional papermaker in a remote mountain village. When Miki begins a love affair with the new school teacher Akira, her new youthful appearance stirs rumors and family problems. When unexpected tragedy strikes, suspicion and strange events begin to upset the calm community. An eerie fog cloaks the village, but it can no longer hide the secrets of Miki's past... (Taken from the Universe DVD sleeve) Widescreen Subtitled. (2001).

Jigoku: Hell - aka The Sinners of Hell. Dir. Nobuo Nakagawa. This is a stunningly visual film that follows a mans journey through the bowls of hell. Fantastic! Widescreen Subtitled. (1960)

Juon: The Grudge. Dir. Takashi Shimizu. This is the much improved upon 2002 theatrical remake of Shimizu's original Ring styled shocker and follows along the same basic premise. Excellent! Widescreen Subtitled (2002)

Juon: Dir. Takashi Shimizu. Kobayashi, an elementary school teacher visits the home of his young pupil Toshio, who has been frequently absent from school. Toshio's parents are nowhere to be found. Whilst exploring the house to find out what is going on, Kobayashi finds an old notebook in an upstairs bedroom. He’s astonished to discover that Toshio's mother, Kanako had been in the same class as him when they were young, and that the notebook is full of mad and passionate ramblings aimed at him. Feeling slightly unnerved Kobayashi becomes aware of the closet door slowly opening in the corner of his eye. Kobayashi looks in the closet and finds the gory and tragic answer to his curiosity…A few years later, the Murakami family moves into the house where Kayako and his mother had once lived. Kayako's ghost still haunts the house and the Murakami family becomes the target of Kayako’s evil curse. With the end of the RING cycle, interest in the Japanese Horror film began to wane… Until that is, JUON was released… shocking the Japanese public and re-igniting international interest in the Japanese Horror film as well as further pushing forward the boundaries of Horror film convention. Original 1.33:1 fullscreen ratio. Subtitled. (2000)

Juon 2: Dir. Takashi Shimizu. It seems that Kayako's ghost cursed more people than was first thought. Suzuki Tatsuya a real estate dealer asks his younger sister, Kyouko to watch the house for him… where terrible things had happened in the past and from where the Murakami family had mysteriously disappeared. Kyouko, feeling that there is the evil pesence of Kayako's ghost wandering the house, feels compelled to investigate the house and it’s previous tennents further… much to her error. Kayako’s grudge extends to everyone and everything connected to the house and no one escapes his evil brutality… no one. Juon 2 is another fine example of the Japanese Horror genre and again the subject of a theatrical remake. This truly is scary stuff! Original 1.33:1 ratio. Subtitled. (2000)

JUNK: Absolutely fantastic retro-style Zombie movie, loads of extreme gore. A group of criminals hole up in an all but abandoned military research facility, which specializes in bringing the dead back to life. Must see, as good as Dawn of the Dead! Japanese Language without subtitles, but very easy to follow. 

JUNK: This is the new German DVD of this masterpiece of zombie mayhem. Totally uncut as the Japanese VHS and for the first time with official English Subtitles and as well, of course in superb picture and audio quality. Widescreen Subtitled. 

Kaïro: Pulse. Dir Kiyoshi Kurosawa. In a cold and bleak Japan where technology such as the internet has all but wiped out normal relationships and communication, young people begin to commit suicide. A fantastically atmospheric and almost surreal film from the director of Cure. Includes Trailer Widescreen Subtitled. (2001)

Kakashi: Trans: Scarecrow. Dir. Norio Tsuruta (Ring 0: Birthday) Creepy horror based on a Japanese comic book by Junji Itou. Kaoru's brother has suddenly and mysteriously gone missing and the only clue to his whereabouts is a strange letter that Kaoru receives. The letter directs her to a little village, where its inhabitants seem to be controlled by the power of the Kakashi. But the mystery over her brother remains... Widescreen Subtitled. (2001).

Kamikaze Taxi: Directed by Masato Harada. A young foot soldier in the yakuza seeks revenge when his prostitute girlfriend dies after a 'session' with a high-ranking Japanese politician, who just happens to have a taste for torture. This young foot soldier sets out on a 'kamikaze' mission to kill his bosses and the politician who killed his girlfriend. Along the way, he acquires the help of a taxi driver who has recently returned to Japan after living in South America for years and is struggling to cope with poverty and the prejudices of native-born Japanese people. Widescreen Subtitled.

Kichiku: Kichiku dai enkai. Dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri. An absolutely brutal and totally unflinching film about a group of political activists that turn on each other when their leader commits suicide in jail. Highly recommended! Subtitled. (1997)

Kikujiro: A more restrained, but no less magical effort from Takeshi Kitano. A young boy living with his grandparents and a petty criminal (Kitano) go on a journey to find their mothers, who have discarded their sons. Widescreen Subtitled. [BA] 

LA Blue Girl: Live Action version of the infamous Japanese Anime. Widescreen. Japanese Language No English Subtitles. (1995)

A Living Hell: Iki-jigoku. Dir. Fujii Shugo. Controversial and gory Japanese horror movie. Unfortunately this is only an average quality screener print. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Lone Wolf and Cub: Babycart to Hades: Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma. Dir Kenji Misumi. This is the third installment in the fantastic Lone Wolf and Cub series. Widescreen Subtitled. (1972)

Marks: Japanese title: Maakusu no yama - Directed by Yochi Sai. A series of brutal murders are being committed in and around Tokyo. As a rebellious police officer tries to piece together the few clues, the only connection that he can find is that the victim's were all members of the same college club in the 60's. Fighting against the bureaucratic ineptitude of his colleagues, he must figure out what relationship the killer has to the victims and what the motivation behind the brutal killings might be. Widescreen, Subtitled.

Monday: Dir. Sabu. Takagi wakes up one morning in a strange hotel room, with no recollection of the previous day. Gradually as he finds objects relating to the past his memory begins to return only to revel more intrigue. Considered by many to be Sabu's best film to date! Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

Mu Zane E: Dir. Unknown. THE NEW GENERATION OF EXTREME JAPANESE CINEMA. A Japanese version of 8mm. A female reporter goes in search of an underground snuff ring and uncovers some excruciatingly atrocious goings on! As is the trend of this new Japanese wave, the film takes us one step further and makes her the subject of their next snuff film... and it is to be their best yet! This film apparently doesn't pull any punches and is totally depraved! Worse than any installment in the Guinea Pig series! Tesis or 8mm it is not! Japanese without subtitles.

Naked Blood: aka Splatter - Megyaku. Dir Hisayasu Sato. Possibly one of the most thought provoking and nihilistic films of recent memory. A young scientist creates a new breed of painkiller, MYSON. This is the most effective painkiller ever created and completely irradiates physical pain. But what should be an invaluable asset to humankind becomes yet another nail in its coffin. Widescreen Subtitled. 

Organ: Strange and disgusting tale from Kei Fujiwara, about a gang that deal illegally in human organs. Totally repulsive, offbeat and ‘way out there’ imagery reminiscent of early David Lynch and as you’d guess Very, very strange. Widescreen Subtitled. [BA]   

Owls' Castle: Fukuro no shiro. Dir. Masahiro Shinoda. Lavishly shot Japanese period piece set against the beautiful backdrop of ancient Japan during the times of Ninjas, warlords and battling clans. Juzo, a lone Ninja sets out to exact revenge on a warlord that has destroyed his clan. Widescreen Subtitled. This was taped in Anamorphic so if you have a 16:9 button on your TV it will be more or less fine, if not it will appear a little squeezed. Subtitled. (1999) 

Perfect Blue: Widescreen. [BA]

Perfect Blue: Live Action: Perfect Blue -Yume Nara Samete. Dir. Toshiki Sato. It's been five years since Satoshi Kon caused us to sit bold upright in our seats with the weird yet wonderful Perfect Blue, a bizarre and bloody tale of a former teen-idol turned actress plagued by a psychotic stalker and plunged into a world in which the delineation between fantasy and reality rapidly becomes blurred to the point of incoherence. Those, like myself, who at the time pondered upon the reasoning behind rendering such a work as an animation are going to be doubly perplexed by the recent decision to remake it as a live action feature - until, that is, they realise that this newest is not so much a remake, nor even a re-imagining, as a case of going right back to the original novel, written by Yoshikaze Takeuchi, which formed the starting point for Kon's stunning feature debut. Perfect Blue is a strong and suspenseful thriller that will maintain its replay value, even after you know "whodunit." Its collapsing layers of reality give it an intriguing puzzle quality. You may think that an live action film cannot match animation for a good, scary mystery. But thriller fans of all stripes are encouraged to check this one out. Widescreen Subtitled (2002)

Phantom of the Toilet: Directed by Joji Matsuoka. A series of murders, whereby little girls fall victim to an unknown killer, take place at grade schools near Honmachi primary School which a young girl named Takuya attends. Takuya's sister Natsumi and her classmate ask a psychic to reveal the identity of the killer. His answer? 'Hanako' - a phantom who according to legend haunts school toilets. The psychic also predicts that the next victim will be Natsumi Takuya's sister. Strange concept for a film, but nevertheless has some genuinely spooky moments. Subtitled Widescreen.

Postman Blues: Posutoman burusu. Dir. Sabu. Sabu's second film after DANGAN RUNNER. A fantastically involving and intricate film in which young postman Sawaki, by delivering mail ends up the main suspect in a bumbling police drug trafficking investigation. He unknowingly delivers an invitation to the 'hitman of the year' contest and at the same time befriends the terminally ill contestant... He unknowingly takes his old school friend turned Yakuza's little finger, which has to be presented to his bosses in order to show his devotion...and falls in love with a young patient at the hospital who insists he delivers a letter for her...to herself. Typical Sabu material. Fantastic! Widescreen Subtitled. (1997)

Red Room: Dir. Unknown. THE NEW GENERATION OF EXTREME JAPANESE CINEMA, total snuff madness! A strange mixture of Battle Royale and Big Brother in which four people are locked in a Red Room playing a bizarre card game...As a twisted prize the winner of each game takes the looser into a specially built cage where they can do anything they like to them, which of course involves plenty of blood, gore, torture, degradation, humiliation and ultimately death! The game is only over when there is one survivor left! Sick, Sick, Sick... apparently worse than the Guinea Pig films. Japanese without subtitles.

Red Room 2: Dir. Unknown. THE NEW GENERATION OF EXTREME JAPANESE CINEMA. Can you believe it, the original Red Room actually spawned a sequel! well one can only look forward to this one with utter dread since sequels generally attempt to up the ante on their predecessors! One can only expect more of the same but with the degree of harshness increased to an even more sickening level! Japanese without subtitles.

Red Shadow: Dir. Hiroyuki Nakano. Excellent Ninja film for the 21st Century. This superb film plays out like an arcade game with the three young fun loving Ninjas going about their covert missions  at breakneck speed give or take a few bumbling errors, quietly changing the outcome and delaying the onset of feudal wars. However on the third mission everything goes drastically wrong for our three fun loving Ninjas when they are caught in a deadly trap. Murder plots and clan conspiracies abound  in this humorous take on the classic Ninja film. The fight scenes must be seen to be believed, the best incorporation of CGI within fight scenes I have ever seen! Widescreen Subtitled. (2001)

The Return of the Streetfighter: Satsujin ken 2. Dir Shigehiro Ozawa. Excellent Sequel to the equally fantastic original Streetfighter. Widescreen English. 

The Ring: Cult teen horror based on a popular Japanese novel. A curse is projected onto a video and everyone that watches it will die within 24 hours, unless they show it to someone else and so on… Some genuinely, very creepy moments. This is a rare Malaysian Subtitled version. Widescreen.

The Ring 2: Sequel to the above. A female journalist begins to investigate what seem to be suicides, but suspects something else is afoot when the all victims are found to have the same terror-filled expression on their faces. Her investigation then leads her to the tape… Excellent sequel! Widescreen Subtitled.

Ring 0: Birthday: Ringu 0: Baasudei. Dir. Norio Tsuruta. This is both the first and last in the Ring series. This installment follows the teenage Sadako as she joins a local theatre group and has to contend with the bad feelings towards her by the other participants in the group.  Widescreen Subtitled.

Rubber's Lover: Dir. Shozin Fukui. Complete and utter Japanese experimental movie madness. Features plenty of splatter for the gorehounds as well as a good dose of cringe making visual imagery! Fantastic! Quality is also superb as I have the Japanese original. Black and White Japanese Language without subtitles (1997) [BA]

Samurai Fiction: Dir. Hiroyuki Nakano. Excellent period drama set in ancient Japan. A distinguished feudal lord receives the precious gift of a sword from the shogun, but soon after it is stolen from the family home. The lords son insists on perusing the thief and retrieving the sword in order to save his family from the humiliation of loosing such a precious gift. During a fight with the thief, his friend is killed and he is injured, so he takes refuge in the home of a rogue samurai until he is ready to take up the chase again. Excellent and thought provoking drama! This was taped in Anamorphic so if you have a 16:9 button on your TV it will be more or less fine, if not it will appear a little squeezed. Subtitled. (1998)

Sanjuro: Tsubaki Sanjûrô. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Black & White Widescreen Subtitled. (1962)

Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano:  Superb documentary detailing the life and films of one of Japans most innovative directors. Focuses on many of his films including clips as well as behind the scenes material, including Brother, interviews with many of his collaborators and of course the man himself. Also discusses Kitano's other artistic pastimes and even touches on composer Joe Hisaishi. Excellent!

Score: Dir. Atsushi Muroga. often referred to as a major breakthrough in Japanese Action cinema. Chance is just oput of jail and owes the Yakuza a lot of money. He carries out odd jobs in order to repay his debt, but on his final job that will clear his debt and his name... He has other plans. Totally crazy and over the top action with a lot of international influences. Excellent! Widescreen Subtitled. (1995)

Seance: Kourei. Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa. From Kiyoshi Kurosawa and the thriving Japanese direct to video/DVD arena comes this superb ghost story. A married couple, the husband a sound FX creator and the wife an occasional psychic medium, go through their mundane day to day motions of life. Suddenly, one day everything changes and the chance for fame, fortune and excitement arises when a young girl is abducted and miraculously turns up in the couples garage. Rather than turn her over to the police they decide to cash in on the wife's psychic abilities and pretend to help the police in finding her, only for it all to go drastically wrong. Fullscreen (original Ratio) Subtitled. 

Seketsu No Kizuna: Dir. Unknown. THE NEW GENERATION OF EXTREME JAPANESE CINEMA. No one who has seen this one was prepared for its sheer brutality and were completely knocked off course for days after seeing it! It's an I Spit on your Grave style rape/revenge movie but is a hell of a lot more extreme in its depiction of rape and violence, makes I Spit on your Grave look like a romantic fairytale! definitely not for your average horror viewer! harsh, harsh, harsh! This film has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever! Japanese without subtitles.

Seven Samurai: Shichinin no samurai. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Black & White Fullscreen Subtitled (1954)

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl: Samehada otoko to momojiri onna. Dir. Katsuhito Ishii. Fantastic and super-stylish mix of films such as Pulp Fiction, Leon and Full contact. A woman goes on the run from her evil uncle, she meets up with Samehada who is also on the run from gangsters that want his head. What ensues is an excellent game of cat and mouse. This film has everything you could possibly want from a film Action, comedy and loads more and to top it all off it's brilliantly shot! Widescreen Subtitled. (1998)

Shikoku: Sayori, comes from the Hinake family, has spiritual powers to converse with the dead. After she dies at the age of 16, her lover Fumiya has always been able feel Sayori's presence over him. In order to solve the mystery, Hinako and Fumiya decide to investigate the history of Skikokn the kingdom of the dead.

Sister Streetfighter: Onna hissatsu ken. Dir. Kazuhiko Yamagu. Widescreen (1974)

Sonatine: Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Widescreen Subtitled. [BA]

The Streetfighter: Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken. Dir Shigehiro Ozawa. Superb blood-spurting, hardcore Karate action starring Sonny Chiba as a hitman with a hit that’s gone wrong. Japan's response to the Bruce Lee phenomena, absolutely fantastic and very bloody! Widescreen.  

The Streetfighter: Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken. Dir Shigehiro Ozawa. As above but better picture quality and in English. Widescreen.

The Streetfighter's Last Revenge: Gyakushû! Satsujin ken. Dir. Teruo Ishii. Widescreen (1974)

Suicide Circle: Jisatsu circle. Dir. Shion Sono. Opening with what has to be one of the most controversial and original scenes ever, the simultaneous mass suicide of 54 young schoolgirls who jump in front of a Tokyo-bound train at shinjuku station, spraying the morning commuters with gallons of blood! The film proceeds into a police investigation concerning the suddenly high number of suicides among the young and its relation to a website and a teen band who's lyrics are thought to contain subliminal messages. An excellent companion piece to Battle Royale. Widescreen Subtitled. (2002)

Tales of the Unusual: Directed by Masayuki Ochiai and Hisao Ogura. This excellent Japanese anthology film consists of four different tales in a similar mould to The Twilight Zone etc. One Snowy Night - An aircraft has crashed-landed and four survivors have to leave a girl who is still trapped. Deeply cold and drowsy, they experience the most horrifying night of their lives. The Marriage Simulator - Imagine you could simulate a marriage before you actually say 'I do', just download all the data of the couple into a computer and you can see what happens. Samurai Cellular - In the 17th century, a cowardly samurai Oishi finds a mobile phone! Moreover, he can use the phone to talk to mysterious a man... Chess - An ex-world champion chess player is ssummoned to a game for real and the chess pieces are intent on killing each other. Subtitled Widescreen.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man: Shinya Tuskamoto's fabulous apocalyptic debut feature. Loaded full with pure, undiluted Tuskamoto imagery in stunning black and white. Subtitled Hong Kong VCD version.

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer: Tuskamoto's excellent follow up to his excellent debut. Taniguchi is relentlessly harassed by a gang of crooks to the point of them killing his son and injecting their experimental compound into his body. Every bit as good as the first. Fantastic. Subtitled Hong Kong VCD version.

Throne of Blood: Kumonosu jo. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Black & White Fullscreen Subtitled (1957)

Tokyo Eyes: Cool romantic drama about a young man who shoots to miss. Dubbed four eyes by the press, he becomes an urban hero waking people up to the gift that is life by shooting at them but deliberately missing. An excellent Japanese/French co-production. Directed by Jean-Pierre Limosin and a cameo appearance from ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano. Widescreen Subtitled.  

The Triple Cross: Dir. Kinji Fukasaku. Excellent and extremely frenetic action from the director of Battle Royale. Widescreen Subtitled. [BA]

Twilight Samurai: Tasogare Seibei. Dir. Yoji Yamada. During the last days of Japan’s Edo period, a samurai named Seibei is struggling between supporting his poor family and his duty as a samurai. The days of the samurai are almost over now, duels are forbidden and the sword is no longer an object of respect as it used to be. Seibei’s duties are now limited to that of a simple clerk in the clan office. Since the death of his beloved wife, Seibei’s life has never been so hard. With two young girls, a sick mother at home, Seibei wishes he could live a peaceful life as a peasant instead of a poor one as a samurai. However, things take another turn when Tomoe, his old friend’s young sister, returns to live in the village. Seibei and Tomoe have been friends since their childhood, but destiny has separated them and now they might have a chance to make a new start together. Widescreen Subtitled (2002)

Vampire Hunter D: US Edition. Probably no different to the UK edition, but personally I think it is one of the most stylish and atmospheric Anime films ever produced.

Versus: Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura. Fantastic recent Japanese Zombie/martial arts extravaganza and a huge success on the international festival scene. This is the Japanese DVD and Includes Making of documentary Behind Versus Part 1: The Birth of the Darkhero as well as a side story Nervous both of which are unsubtitled. Also includes Trailer and teaser. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

The Village of Eight Tombstones: 8 Tomb Village - Yatsu haka-mura. Dir. Nomura Yoshitaro. This is the original version of this classic tale of a cursed village. Excellent! One of the most highly regarded and commercially successful Japanese Suspense/Thrillers of all time. Widescreen Subtitled. (1977)

Violent Cop: Dir. Takeshi Kitano. Kitano's debut feature is still one of his most powerful. Widescreen Subtitled. [BA]

Whiteout: Fantastic new Japanese action drama. A group of workers at a huge dam are held hostage during the worst snow storm ever to hit Japan. It's up to one man to rescue his fellow workers during the whiteout. Excellent, don't miss! Widescreen Subtitled.

Wild Zero: Dir. Tetsuro Takeuchi. This is a totally insane mix of just about everything Horror and Sci-Fi cinema has to offer. A young rock musician wannabe befriends his idols Guitar Wolf, who give him a whistle to blow if ever his in trouble. No sooner than they've gone UFO's begin to land and the dead begin to walk. This film is wall to wall craziness and is totally over the top. Excellent. Widescreen Subtitled. (2000)

XX: Beautiful Beast: XX: utukushiki gakuen. Dir. Toshiharu Ikeda. Nice femme fatale Action from the director of Evil Dead Trap. Subtitled. (1996)

Uzumaki: Music video director Higuchinsky's debut feature. Almost plotless but visually stunning with some truly horrific imagery similar in style to that of Lynch and Cronenberg. What plot there is concerns a man obsessed with spiral shapes and culminates in human/snail hybrids. Totally wild, this man could be the next Tuskamoto! Subtitled Widescreen. (2000)

Yojimbo: The Bodyguard. Dir Akira Kurosawa. Truly one of the greatest films of all time. Inspired many generations of filmmakers most obviously Sergio Leone. This is from the pristine BFI UK DVD. Widescreen Subtitled. (1961)

Yojimbo: Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Hong Kong DVD. Black & White Widescreen Subtitled. (1961)

Takashi Miike

Andromedia: Dir. Takashi Miike. Excellent copy from the Japanese DVD. Includes Making of etc... Widescreen Subtitled. (1998)

Audition: Odishon. Dir. Takashi Miike. A very disturbing tale indeed. Aoyama falls in love with a young woman that he sees during an Audition, but she is far from what she seems. What is in that sack in the middle of her living room? Excellent atmosphere and Excellent horror, Must see! Widescreen Subtitled.

The City of Lost Souls: Takashi Miike. An ultra-cool Brazillian, football playing contract killer named Mario (Teah) has had enough of the gangster life in downtown Tokyo, so he decides to leave for Taiwan with his girlfriend, Kei (Michelle Reis). However, Kei's ex-lover and Yakuza boss, Riko, still loves her and does not want her to leave Tokyo, Meanwhile Riko's number two would rather her dead. Full to bursting with Miike's typically frenetic style and has some superb characterisations, especially that of the 'couldn't give a shit, wouldn't want to get involved' police inspectors. Also contains a fantastic Matrix style cockfight between two CGI kung Fu chickens, complete with bullet time photography. Excellent! Widescreen Subtitled.

Dead or Alive: Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha. Dir. Takashi Miike. At last, Miike's infamous masterwork on an officially subtitled DVD! Everyone knows about it and everyone must see it! Filmmaking at its most dizzying and at times its most uncompramising! Excellent, must see! Includes a 12min interview with Miike and the original Theatrical Trailer. Widescreen Subtitled. (1999)

Deadly Outlaw: Rekka Violent Fire - Jitsuroku Andô Noboru kyôdô-den: Rekka. Dir. Takashi Miike. This is taken from the Japanese VHS (the only format it's available on) and has professionally translated subtitles added. Another excellent Miike movie. Widescreen Subtitled (2002)

Full Metal Gokudo: Full Metal Yakuza. Dir. Takashi Miike. This classic, early and rarely seen Miike film is his outrageous homage to Paul Verhoeven's Robocop and contains all his trademark imagery that was to later culminate in Ichi the Killer. Hagane is a more than useless Yakuza who, it seems can't do anything right. His punishment for being useless is to unknowingly lead his mentor, Tousa into an assassination trap where both are gunned down classic Yakuza style. Hagane awakes to discover that he has been reanimated as an unstoppable cyborg by a mad scientist that has combined his head and brain with Tousa's heart and what's left of his body. Once he is complete, Hagane sets out to eek revenge on those that killed him and Tousa in amazingly bloody and gory style. This is a fantastic quality English subtitled version that is not commercially available anywhere!  Widescreen Subtitled. (1997)

Gozu: Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu. Dir. Takashi Miike. A first-rate genre-bending "yakuza-horror" film from genius director, Takashi Miike. A lowlife yakuza kills a higher-ranking gangster of his group by mistake, and soon starts experiencing weird supernatural phenomena. Minami (Hideki Sone) is underling to yakuza Ozaki (Sho Aikawa), a man whose increasingly peculiar behaviour is beginning to worry his superiors. When Ozaki interrupts a gang meeting to voice his concerns that the diminutive Chihuahua staring through the window has been sent to kill them - and he proceeds to take some drastic security measures against the fluffy canine - his boss decides it's best to get rid of him. The task befalls Minami, who is sent out by car to the yakuza disposal dump in Nagoya with an unsuspecting Ozaki in the back seat. Tormented by the dilemma of having to kill his own beloved senior, Minami is a ball of nerves when he does the job entirely by accident; suddenly hitting the brakes, he causes Ozaki to slam his head hard against the front seat, breaking his neck. Now at a complete loss, he pulls up to the nearest roadside coffee shop to find a phone, but when he returns he finds that Ozaki's body has disappeared from his car. Did somebody steal it or did the yakuza just get up and walk off by himself? Widescreen Subtitled. (2003)

Ichi the Killer: Dir. Takashi Miike. The infamously repulsive and over the top gore-fest from the truly warped but brilliant mind of Takashi Miike. This is the fully uncut version, not the cut UK or Hong Kong versions. Widescreen Subtitled (2001)

Ley Lines: Dir. Takashi Miike. The final part of Miike's gangster trilogy. From the Japanese DVD with professionally translated English subtitles. Widescreen Subtitled (1999)

Rainy Dog: Gokudô kuroshakai. Dir. Takashi Miike. A superb hitman drama set in Tiawan from Dead or Alive Director Takashi Miike Excellent! if you like the tragic Hitman films such as Jean Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï and to a lesser extent John Woo's The Killer you'll like this. From the Japanese DVD with professionally translated English subtitles. (1997)

Shinjuku Triad Society: Chinese Mafia Wars: Dir. Takashi Miike. Part 1 of Miike's gangster triology. From the Japanese DVD with professionally translated English subtitles. Widescreen Subtitled (1995)

Tennen shôjo Man next: Yokohama hyaku-ya hen: Dir. Takashi Miike. This is a 2 part made for TV movie (both parts included) about a modeling agency run by Vampires!... This film could only come from the twisted mind of Miike. Contains a high level and quality of gore for a TV movie. Widescreen Subtitled. (1999)

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