Some pretty obscure stuff coming out this week to review. Three come from Severin Films and Arrow Video has out a collection of J-Horror flicks in time for Halloween. First is The Mad Bomber which is the best of all the films. Also known as The Police Connection it stars Chuck Connors as a man leaving bombs around Los Angeles. The only witness is a rapist and the police will do anything to catch him. It’s from the 1970s and feels every bit of it. From the cop cars, clothing and hairstyles you immediately know it’s from the 70s. Connors as a bad guy is a surprise because I only think of him as a good guy (The Rifleman). It’s the most straight forward film of the Severin films I received and I’m surprised it hasn’t been remade. It feels like other films so maybe it has been done indirectly.
Second we have The Red Light Bandit. Based on real life events in Brazil in the 1960s, this film is about a modern day Robin Hood who steals from the rich. But make no mistake, he is a bad guy who rapes women and gets with prostitutes. The film is sexy and has style, but definitely feels dated. Maybe not dated, but more era specific. It was an underground hit and I can definitely see why with this being released in the late 60s. I did like the lead performance. The character is suave and devilish and has the bad guy vibe throughout. I wanted to like it a bit more, but it’s at least good for a watch because the end is surprising.
Third is Don’t Change Hands. This might as well been labeled as pornography because never mind the nudity, it has outright sexual acts in it. A politician is blackmailed over a porn film starring her son so she hires a private detective to get to the bottom of things. There is all kinds of nudity, an orgy scene and more. I almost forgot I was watching a “regular” film at points. I’m sure it’s a cult classic to some people, but as an actual film it didn’t do much for me.
From Arrow comes J-Horror Rising a collection of 7 Japanese horror flicks. The movies are: Shikoku, Isola: Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John’s Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, Persona, and Noroi: The Curse. If you read me enough you know I’m not big into paranormal/supernatural horror and that’s what these films are. They involve ghosts/spirits and feel like many other movies in the J-Horror genre. Shikoku is about a woman who returns to her small town to find out her former friend died at 16 and she falls for her classmate her friend loved. Her spirit comes back when her mother brings her back from a ritual. Isola: Multiple Personality Girl is about a woman who visits the sight of an earthquake and runs into a high school girl who is different. The woman has ESP and realizes the young girl might have the spirit of another woman who passed in a sensory deprivation tank during the earthquake. Inugami is similar to Shikoku with a small town/family history vibe when a teacher falls for a woman whose family has supernatural ties to the town. St. John’s Wort has a found footage look when a gamer records herself and others in an abandoned mansion. Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman is about a teacher investigating the disappearance of children which might have ties to the legend of a cursed mother possessing others. Persona might be my favorite of the collection because it mixes other subgenres of horror including body horror and action and is about two people sharing the same body that develops superpowers and find out it was all part of a government experiment. Last is Noroi: The Curse which is about a documentary filmmaker and paranormal researcher who uses footage from a cameraman to find out he might have set out superpowers. Some movies are better than others in this release, but if you are a fan of Ringu or One Missed Call and those types of movies then this is a must own for you.
The Nerds Templar 