From director Kenji Misumi and starring the prolific actor Kazuo Hasegawa comes YOTSUYA KAIDAN (1959)!

This adaptation of the iconic kabuki play offers a unique remix of classic moments, but at what point do we lose the original intent of those scenes?

Context setting 00:00; Synopsis 32:15; Discussion 44:26; Ranking 53:48

Films watched in 2020.

300: The Ghost of Yotsuya (Kenji Misumi, 1959)

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rodan! The Flying Monster (Ardin Cinematografica, R-1968) Italian 2 - Fogli Science Fiction.

Starring Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata, Akio Kobori, and Yasuko Nakata. Directed by Ishiro Honda.

I’m trying not to get too invested in Eriko x Yasuko but I can’t not.

Yasuko got severely injured on the way to warn Eriko that she wasn’t safe, but refused to go to call an ambulance despite Eriko’s protests because then the people who injured her would find Eriko.

Then when she did get to the hospital, when the man who was hiding Eriko asked how she was doing, she responded “Look after Eriko for me” (in case she DIED I guess).

And when he responded with “You’re a good friend to Eriko-chan,” she goes “Friend?” like “Oh, is THAT what you think?”

The song Eriko sings, which is a LOVE SONG about getting married in the future (2001, to be exact) plays during this scene.

RODAN (1956) – Episode 101 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

"Signs of a pending eruption? hmm. Forbid access around the crater? Understood. In effect until further notice? I'll send out a bulletin right away."  Sounds like something serious is going down. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew - Whitney Collazo, Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Joseph Perry, and Jeff Mohr - as they go old school a trip to Toho’s’s Rodan (1956).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 101 – Rodan (1956)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A large mining accident sets loose prehistoric insects and giant pterosaurs on Japan.

IMDb

  Director: Ishirô Honda

Writers: (story by) Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, Takeo Murata; David Duncan (english version)

Music by: Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by: Isamu Ashida

Film Editing by: Kôichi Iwashita, Robert S. Eisen (supervising editor, english version)

Production Design by: Tatsuo Kita

Special Effects by:

Kaimai Eizo, special effects

Eiji Tsuburaya, director of special effects

Akira Watanabe, special effects art director

Visual Effects by:

Sadao Iizuka, visual effects

Hiroshi Mukoyama, special effects opticals

Sadamasa Arikawa, special effects assistant camera (uncredited)

Stunts: Haruo Nakajima, wire stunts (uncredited)

Cast

Kenji Sahara as Shigeru Kawamura, Mining Engineer

Yumi Shirakawa as Kiyo, Goro's Sister

Akihiko Hirata as Kyoichiro Kashiwagi, Doctor of Paleontology

Akio Kobori as Nishimura, Police Detective

Yasuko Nakata as Honeymooning Wife

Minosuke Yamada as Oseki, Mining Chief

Yoshifumi Tajima as Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou

Kiyoharu Onaka as Honeymooning Husband, Sunagawa's friend

Haruo Nakajima as Radon ("Rodan" in English-language version)

Yasuhisa Tsutsumi as Imamura, F-86F Pilot

Ichirô Chiba as Chief of Police

Mike Daneen as U.S. Army Teletype Operator, Okinawa

Tazue Ichimanji as Haru, Kiyo's neighbor

Saburo Iketani as Radio News Anchor

Saburô Kadowaki as Lab Technician, Seismic Research Institute

Tateo Kawasaki as Tsune, Miner

Kanta Kisaragi as Wasteman

Rodan is Joseph’s pick and is one of his favorites among the classic kaiju movies. As opposed to later kaiju fare, Joseph likes the more serious nature of this film and appreciates the titular creature’s origin story. Daphne enjoys her first viewing of the Japanese version of Rodan and plentiful miniature work in the film. Whitney likes the color palette used in Rodan and enjoys all the military action. Rodan’s vapor trail tripped Jeff’s trigger and he was all about the boom-boom. He also fails miserably in his efforts to pronounce Rodan correctly. The Classic Era Grue-Crew also delves into the differences between the Japanese and the U.S. versions of Rodan, the voice actors used for dubbing, and the rigors of suit acting.

If you haven’t seen this kaiju gem in a while, now is a great time to check it out again. At the time of this writing, Rodan is available to stream on The Criterion Channel and HBOmax.

While you’re at it, check out these other Toho kaiju episodes of Decades of Horror podcasts:

Godzilla (Gojira, 1954) – Episode 58 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

The War Of The Gargantuas (1966) – Episode 57 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

Space Amoeba (1970, Yog: Monster From Space) – Episode 127 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

Godzilla Vs Hedorah (1971) - Episode 25 - Decades Of Horror 1970s

Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) – Episode 134 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. For their next episode, Whitney has chosen The Hitch-Hiker (1953), a classic film noir about a psychotic, escaped convict on a killing spree while, you guessed it, hitch-hiking. Sound a lot like horror, doesn’t it?

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at [email protected]

To each of you from each of us, “Thank you so much for listening!”

Check out this episode!

Main Cast and Staff Revealed for "Usuzumizakura -GARO-" Anime Film

  The main staff and cast have been revealed for Usuzumizakura -GARO- ("Ink-gray Cherry Blossoms -GARO-"), an upcoming theatrical anime film that takes the GARO action / horror tokusatsu franchise and transplants it into a Heian Era setting.

  The main staff of Usuzumizakura -GARO- includes:

  Original work: Keita Amemiya

Director: Satoshi Nishimura

Screenplay: Yasuko Kobayashi

Main character design: Masakazu Katsura

Animation character design: Ai Yokoyama, Masao Ebihara

Art director: Kazuyuki Hashimoto

Director of photography: Uehama Makishi

Color design: Yoshinori Horikawa

CG Director: Masato Takahashi

Editor: Yumi Jinguji

Music: Ryuichi Takada, MONACA

Sound director: Sōichirō Kubo

Production: Studio M2, Studio VOLN

Distribution: Tohokushinsha Film Corporation

  The main cast of Usuzumizakura -GARO- includes:

    Masei Nakayama as Raikou.

    Romi Park as Seimei.

    Akiko Yajima as Kintoki.

    Kenyu Horiuchi as Fujiwarano Michinaga.

    Daisuke Namikawa as Fujiwarano Yasusuke.

    Katsuhito Nomura as Fujiwarano Yorinobu.

    And Mayu Udono as Inari.

  Additionally, Jôji Nakata will play Tenko and Tomokazu Seki will play Takeru (not pictured).

    Set in the imperial capital of Kyō during the height of the Heian period, Usuzumizakura -GARO- tells the story of a fateful meeting between two onmyōji sorcerers, and how their tragic and transient encounter coincides with the most profuse blooming of cherry blossoms in 1000 years.

  Usuzumizakura -GARO- hits theaters in Japan in October of 2018.

  Sources:

Ota-suke

MoCa

Official Usuzumizakura -GARO- home page

Anime News Network

  --- 

Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

By: [email protected]

“Sword Gai The Animation”

Serie Web anime, 23 marzo 2018

Episodi: 12

Adattamento animato basato sul manga “Sword Gai” di Toshiki Inoue (storia) e Wosamu Kine (disegni basati sul characer design di Keita Amemiya). La serie sarà un’esclusiva Netflix.

Il primo episodio sarà mostrato in anteprima durante il Tokyo Comic Con, il 3 dicembre.

-STAFF- 

Direttore generale: Takahiro Ikezoe 

Regia: Tomohito Naka 

Sceneggiatura: Toshiki Inoue 

Character Design: Atsuko Nakajima 

Direttore artistico: Seiko Akashi 

Colorazioni: Masato Sasaki 

Direttore 3DCG: Akihiko Kimura, Kenji Isobe 

Direttore del suono: Toshiki Kameyama 

Musiche: Kotaro Nakagawa 

Studio di animazione: LandQ studios

Produzione: DLE, Production I.G 

-CAST-

Gai Ogata: Yuuto Uemura 

Seiya Ichijou: Yuuichirou Umehara 

Sayaka Ogata: Yuuka Aisaka

Amon Ogata: Jouji Nakata

Kyouka Kagami: Rina Sato

Marcus Lithos: Hiro Shimono 

Naoki Miki: Tomokazu Sugita 

Takuma Miura: Toshihiko Seki 

Grimms: Takaya Kuroda 

Tatsumi: Kenji Hamada 

Mina Hiratani: Yuu Shimamura 

Kigetsu: Masaharu Satou 

Kazuma Matoba: Takaya Hashi 

Kei: Sumi Shimamoto 

Hakimu: Kousuke Toriumi 

Midoriko: Ayane Sakura 

Yasuko Tanaka: Urara Takano 

Issei Ariga: Kouhei Murakami 

Aronis: Michiko Neya 

Un’arma che si è saziata del sangue di innumerevoli vittime diventa leggendaria e, a volte, prende una coscienza propria. Quando un’arma simile viene brandita da un essere umano ricolmo d’odio, i due formeranno una combinazione di uomo ed arma il cui unico desiderio è il massacro.. Il giovane Gai fa parte di un’organizzazione che combatte questi individui da centinaia di anni. Epiche battaglie senza esclusione di colpi lo attendono e il destino dell’umanità dipenderà anche dai poteri di queste armi viventi.

L’opera è stata lanciato sulle pagine di Monthly Hero’s Magazine nel dicembre 2012 e si è conclusa nell’ottobre 2015 con sei volumi. Il sequel “Sword Gai Evolve” viene serializzato sulla rivista da novembre 2015 e Shogakukan ne ha pubblicato il 3° volume lo scorso 5 giugno.

Sito ufficiale

SilenziO)))

RODAN (1956)

In the small mining town of Kyushu, a series of strange deaths has been plaguing the local mine. As Shigeru (Kenji Sahara) consoles his girlfriend Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) over her missing brother, the two are attacked by a carnivorous insect the size of a horse! Miners and police officers chase the monster back into the mine, where it is discovered there are more than one. During the chaos, a cave in is caused, and Shigeru is lost within the mine. Days later, he returns, stricken with amnesia. At the same time, a mysterious UFO begins appearing around the world, abducting people and decimating aircraft. Shigeru regains his memory and recalls the horrors he saw in the mine, far greater than the giant insects. He tells the authorities about a gigantic, prehistoric flying reptile, which is identified as a Rodan. As a group heads back to the mines to investigate, not one, but two Rodans emerge! The Rodans attack Fukuoka, burning the city to the ground. With the Rodans returning to their underground caverns to rest, the military decides to bomb Mt. Aso, the volcano connected to the caves. The attack is successful, initiating an eruption. But just as it seems that the Rodans will escape, one of them succumbs to the heat and the fumes, falling into the lava. Calling out to its dying mate, the other creature refuses to leave and the two Rodans perish together.

The same year that Godzilla was making his presence known in the United States, Toho unleashed another behemoth upon the silver screen. Rodan was Toho's third kaiju film, and the first that had nothing to do with the King of the Monsters. And even though the film lacks the symbolism of Gojira and is more of a straight up monster movie, Rodan is nevertheless just as solid as its predecessor. The story is effective, the characters serviceable, and the special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya are absolutely top notch. The story, crafted by Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, and Takeo Murata, is done very well, allowing the unease in Kyushu to build before ramping up the horror elements, the greatest of these being the scene in which the police officer and the two miners investigate the flooded mine, only to be slaughtered one by one by... something. The scene in which the identity of the killer is exposed - giant, voracious insects known as Meganuron - is truly a shock, as the creature appears without warning, bursting through Kiyo's door. Once the mine is closed via a cave in, another strange presence makes itself known - a UFO that would later be revealed to be Rodan. This section also provides some great tension and mystery, particularly with the Air Force pilot that tries to keep up with and identify the "craft," only for it to grow tired of being chased and knock the jet from the sky. The scene with the newlywed couple taking their pictures on Mt. Aso, while not quite as intense, is still a good scene. Rodan looks amazing in his debut. He has a truly regal, powerful look, one that would sadly never be recaptured in any of his subsequent appearances. Here he is just as imposing as Godzilla, if not more so, what with his large wings draping across the sky like a cloak. He also sounds much more threatening in this appearance, his reverberating cackle much lower here, sounding almost like thunder. He also lets loose with an occasional jaguar snarl, which would never be used after this film. As mentioned before, the air of mystery surrounding Rodan's initial appearances works really well, providing a reasonable explanation as to why he would be difficult to spot at first. One oddity during his attack on Fukuoka is the stream of black smoke he exhales from his beak in a few shots - It's never mentioned and is completely forgotten about after this movie. The cast of characters is well acted, but rather simplistic. Kenji Sahara does well as our hero Shigeru, but the character is sadly rather one note. Shigeru is always stoic and heroic and ready to help anyone out, but that's about all we get from him. Similarly, Yumi Shirakawa is good as Kiyo, Shigeru's girlfriend, but she never really has anything to do other than stand around and be worried about things, not even really getting menaced by the Meganuron when one attacks her house. Unlike the main characters of the previous two films, Shigeru and Kiyo are almost completely separated from the Rodans, story wise. They completely disappear when the monsters escape from the mine and attack Fukuoka, only showing back up at the very end to watch them perish in the volcano, a far cry from the likes of Dr. Serizawa (who killed Godzilla with his world-changing invention), Ogata (who clashed with Dr. Yamane about how to deal with Godzilla while at the same time wanting his blessing), and Tsukioka (who demanded he be one of the pilots to put an end to Godzilla/Gigantis). Again, they're well acted, but they're easily the weakest protagonists thus far.

When released in America, Rodan underwent some notable editing, but nothing as drastic as Gojira or Godzilla Raids Again. The editing is much tighter and shifted around a little, which really helps in some cases - both Rodans are introduced at the same time, as opposed to the second Rodan appearing at the very end of the attack on Fukuoka and basically serving no purpose, as happens in the Japanese cut. It also makes the first Rodan becoming overwhelmed by Mt. Aso's eruption a little clearer, as in the Japanese version it seems as if it simply forgets how to fly and falls straight down. Unfortunately, the American editing also has its drawbacks, as we lose the majority of Rodan's battle with the Air Force, losing the movie's one really memorable Ifukube track in the process. Keye Luke returns as the voice of Shigeru and gets plenty of narration in, though thankfully nowhere near as much as in Gigantis the Fire Monster. We get a brief stock footage prologue detailing the power of atomic weapons, but again, it’s nowhere near as intrusive as Dr. Yamane’s “formation of the world” from Gigantis.

Rodan debuted in American theaters only seven short months after its Japanese release, much faster than either of Godzilla's initial outings. While nowhere near as deep as Gojira, the film is still a great monster movie, with the titular pterodactyl becoming an iconic movie monster in his own right, often being referenced to or making cameo appearances in various media, even without Godzilla joining him. Along with Godzilla and Mothra, Rodan would go on to form part of Toho's Big Three, appearing in numerous movies throughout the decades.

Rating: ★★★★★

Cast: Kenji Sahara ... Shigeru Kawamura Yumi Shirakawa ... Kiyo Akihiko Hirata ... Professor Kashiwagi Kyuichiro Ren Imaizumi ... Sugiwara Ishikawa Yoshifumi Tajima ... Izeki Akio Kobori ... Police Chief Nishimura Minosuke Yamada ... Colliery Chief Osaki Yutaka Oka ... Kitahara, F-86F Pilot (uncredited) Yasuko Nakata ... Female Honeymooner Kiyoharu Onaka ... Male Honeymooner Ogata Rinsaku ... Goro Haruo Nakajima ... Rodan Keye Luke ... Voice of Shigeru (American dub)

Director: Ishiro Honda. Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka. Writer: Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, and Takeo Murata. Music: Akira Ifukube. Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya (director), Akira Watanabe (art director), Hiroshi Mukoyama (opticals), and Sadamasa Arikawa (assistant camera, uncredited).

Lobby card for Ghost Story Of Kakui Street (怪談蚊喰鳥), 1961, directed by Kazuo Mori (森一生) and starring Yasuko Nakata (中田康子) and Eiji Funakoshi (船越英二).

怪談 蚊喰鳥