Takashi Shimizu brings a new visual flare to "The Shock Labyrinth"

by Chris MaGee

At the beginning of the month it was reported that "Ju-on" director Takashi Shimizu was going to be helming Japanese cinema's first 3D horror feature. Titled "The Shock Labyrinth" the film will follow a group of young men and women who must uncover the mystery of what happened to their good friend Yuki who returns after 10 years of of being missing. Upon her return she succumbs to a mystery illness, one severe enough that her friends rush her to the hospital, but instead of ending up there they end up in "The Shock Labyrinth", a huge haunted house based in part, and actually filmed in Senritsu Meikyu haunted house attraction at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, the largest haunted house, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, on Earth.

It seems like the perfect project for Shimizu who is one of the last remaining stalwarts of the now dwindling J-Horror movement from earlier this decade. His dank, shadowy aesthetic brought to life in his "Ju-on" films would be a perfect fit for this kind of project, right? Well, think again. Not that Shimizu's not a good fit, he is, but that he's bringing the same visual style to "The Shock Corridor". A slew of new promotional stills have popped up at both Jason Gray's blog and over at Quiet Earth and they feature a new and impressive look from Shimizu. Gone are the muted tones of "Ju-on" and in is a vibrant, crisp colour palette that accentuates the scares in the film. I have to say I'm impressed. I honestly wasn't that excited when I first read the news of "Thge Shock Corridor", but now I have to say I'm curious to see it either in 3D or not, just to see what visual innovations Shimizu and his crew come up with.

To see what I mean follow the links above to check out star Yuya Yagira and the rest of the cast in the truly haunting "Shock Labyrinth".

Takashi Shimizu's "Shock Labyrinth" gets UK distributor before it even opens in Japan

by Chris MaGee

Ever since it was announced back in June Takashi Shimizu's "The Shock Labyrinth" has been garnering more and more online buzz. With the director of "Ju-on (The Grudge)" at the helm and the fact that this is the very first feature length 3D film in Japanese cinema history it's easy to see why. There's buzz and then there's buzz though. "The Shock Labyrinth", Filmed at Fuji-Q Highland amusement park and revolving around a group of young men and women who must contend with the return of their long lost friend returning and bringing a series of strange occurrences with them, hasn't even opened in Japanese theatres yet, but it's already been picked up by an English-language distributor.

Ahead of its October 17th Japanese theatrical release UK-based distributor Artificial Eye has picked up the rights to Shimizu's latest scare fest. Obviously Shimizu has a built in audience, but will this 3D film get the 3D treatment on DVD? Glasses shrinkwrapped into the case? No word yet, but to tide over Japanese and UK fans Yahoo Japan is streaming two behind the scenes clips from "The Shock Labyrinth" which you can check out here.

Thanks to 24 Frames Per Second for pointing the way to this news item and these clips.

Takashi Shimizu set to direct Japan's first 3D horror feature "The Shock Labyrinth"

by Chris MaGee

It seems that a lot of the big names of the J-Horror boom have been moving on stylistically in the past couple of years. Kiyoshi Kurosawa has moved onto international acclaim with his 2008 Drama "Tokyo Sonata", and Hideo Nakata, while not abandoning chills completely, has broadened his horizons with the "Death Note" spin-off "L: Change the World" and is currently working on the English-language thriller "Chatroom". While these to horror heavy-weights have moved on from lank-haired Japanese ghost girls "Ju-on" director Takashi Shimizu (above) has kept the scares coming with films like "Marebito", "Reincarnation" and his Hollywood remakes "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2". Now there's word from Screen Daily and Tokyograph that the 37-year-old director will be helming Japan's first live-action 3D feature film.

Based on an original screenplay by Daisuke Hosaka and titled "The Shock Labyrinth" the film chronicles the surprise and confusion of a group of young people following the return of their friend Yuki who went missing a decade before, and her mysterious illness that causes them to rush her to the hospital. The only thing is that instead of arriving at the hospital emergency the friends find themselves trapped in a haunted labyrinth-like mansion.

The cast, headed up by "Nobody Knows" star Yuya Yagira, are currently filming at the Senritsu Meikyu haunted house attraction at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park. It was this attraction, which holds the Guinness World Record for the longest haunted house attraction in the world, that inspired the film and Shimizu, Yagira and his castmates Misako Renbutsu, Ryo Katsuji, Ai Maeda, Erina Mizuno, and Suzuki Matsuo are currently doing night shoots at the park.

"The Shock Labyrinth" is due in Japanese theatres in October.

Weekly Trailers

Shock Labyrinth - Takashi Shimizu (2009)

Takashi Shimizu, the man who brought us "Ju-on (The Grudge)" brings us Japan's first ever entirely 3D feature film "Shock Labyrinth". Filmed at Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, the largest haunted house attraction, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, Shimizu follows a group of young men and women who must uncover the mystery of what happened to their good friend Yuki who returns after 10 years of of being missing. "shock Labyrinth" is set for release in Japan on October 17th.





A Fugitive from the Past - Tomu Uchida (1965)

In 1947 a man robs and murders an entire family during a typhoon. A decade later the same man, now hugely successful in business, is confronted with his crime by a prostitute who holds damning evidence from that fateful day. Director Tomu Uchida delivers one of his masterpieces with "A Fugitive from the Past".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzk-7BgFBQ

Takashi Shimizu to adapt Satoshi Kon's "Paranoia Agent" into a live action film?

by Chris MaGee

While the popularity of the J-Horror craze has cooled worldwide one of its key directors continues to be a hot property, namely Takashi Shimizu. Not only has Shimizu turned his most popular film franchise "Ju-on (The Grudge)" into a video game for Nintendo Wii (read Matt Hardstaff's review of the game here), but he's also been making cameo appearances in the comedy/ gore/ horror films of friends like Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura as well as helming Japan's very first 3D feature film, "Shock Labyrinth" (read our full coverage of "Shock Labyrinth" here). Now word has come from Bloody Disgusting (via Todd Brown at Twitch) that Shimizu may be slated to adapt the work of one of today's top animators into a live-action film.

Apparently Shimizu has signed on, or is in negotiations to produce and possibly help write a live-action film of Satoshi Kon's 2004 WOWOW animated TV series "Paranoia Agent". That series followed the twists and turns of a police investigation into the attack of an anime character designer's attack by a mysterious teenager nicknamed Lil' Slugger. At first police suspect that the character designer, named Tsukiko, is making up a story, but when a rash of attacks by Lil' Slugger who wields a bent aluminum baseball bat are reported around Tokyo things get much more complicated and surreal.

I have to admit that outside of specific scenes that I've been shown I'm not terribly familiar with "Paranoia Agent" (yet), but I love Kon's films "Millennium Actress" and "Perfect Blue", respect Todd Brown's long professed love for the series, and can't think of another director who could capture the reality twisting suspense of Kon's animated universe better than Takashi Shimizu (okay, maybe Katsuhiro Tomo who directed Satoshi Kon's script for "World Apartment Horror", but I digress...) We'll definitely keep our ear to the ground for more details on this proposed adaptation. Keep checking back.

REVIEW: Tomie: Rebirth

富江 re-birth (Tomie re-birth)

Released: 2001

Director:
Takashi Shimizu

Starring
Miki Sakai
Satoshi Tsumabuki
Kumiko Endo
Masaya Kikawada
Shugo Oshinari

Runing time: 100 min.


Reviewed by Matthew Hardstaff

Whilst he repeated himself several times over with the "Ju-on" series, when he steps into a new series, Takashi Shimizu tries to reinvent himself. "Marebito" love it or hate it, was a complete 360 from anything he’d done before, "Rinne" subverted the J-horror conventions he’d been bound to with the "Ju-on" series and judging from things, "The Shock Labyrinth 3D" will be no different. After the success of his first two "Ju-on: The Curse" direct-to-video films, Shimizu was given a chance to make a theatrical film. He didn’t jump straight back into the "Ju-on" series, but instead was given the mantle of directing the next film in the Tomie series. His edition, "Tomie: Re-birth" would be the third theatrical release in the series (and the fourth if you count the straight to video film "Tomie: Another Face", which you really shouldn’t). The first two films each had a very different feel to them, the first a more ethereal giallo type horror, the second far more steeped in its J-horror subculture. But when Takashi Shimizu takes hold of the reins, it becomes an entirely different beast indeed.

Taking a page straight from Junji Ito’s manga "Tomie: Painter" (and later on several other tales, including "Tomie: Hair") the film begins with Hideo Kamata (played by the often slightly annoying Shugo Oshinari), an award winning painter working on his latest portrait. His subject is a mysterious girl named Tomie Kawakami. Of course, she immediately rejects his painting, destroying it, and so of course Hideo, driven by his mad lust for Tomie, stabs her with his palette knife. He then calls upon his two friends, Shunichi Hosoda (Masaya Kikawada) and Takumi Aoyama (Satoshi Tsumabuki, and yes, that’s two guys who were also in Battle Royale 2) to help him dispose of the body. But then, like clockwork, Tomie reappears, visiting the group of friends on a night out. Soon friendships start to unravel, and Takumi’s relationship with his girlfriend Hitomi (Kumiko Endou) starts to crumble as she begins to exhibit signs that Tomie is slowly possessing her.

Is this the best film in the series? Yes. And no. Miki Sakai is by far the best rendition of Tomie to date. She never blinks. She has a creepily cute giggle. And she creates a more human performance of Tomie, instead of depicting her purely as a monster. It makes the mad lengths people go to in the series far more plausible if there is some slight amount of empathy. The film is technically the best of the series, and that’s probably due purely to Takashi Shimizu. The cinematography is dark and brooding, enhanced by the eerie, droning soundtrack. The camera moves slow, creeping its way towards the characters, ratcheting up the tension. And the special effects allow Shimizu to depict the true nature of Tomie once she’s been destroyed, and her body struggles to grow back into her perfect self. It’s obvious that Shimizu was going for something entirely different with this film, separating himself from "Ju-on" and the film from its pre-cursors, creating a very slow moving horror film that’s more concerned with the disintegration of relationships than it is in shocking the audience. This will probably irk some viewers, and intrigue others. There are still some wonderfully bloody and creepy moments, but they aren’t what the films really about. It’s more about how Tomie, in all her incarnations and forms, manages to survive through manipulation and abuse of power. The one thing it lacks, and the one thing that I found "Tomie: Replay" did far better, was the level of bloody mayhem. Not that a film should be based around that, but when it’s Tomie, and part of the game is the bloody insanity that ensues from everyone’s spirally madness, then it really should try to reach that milestone. But still, Shimizu’s Tomie manages to take the series in wonderful new ways, allowing Tomie to spread in wonderful new directions. Though the perfect rendition of Tomie has still to be made, "Tomie: Rebirth" is still one of the best.

Read more by Matthew Hardstaff at his blog.

Takashi Shimizu acts as special judge for 3D film at Venice Film Festival

by Chris MaGee

Who would have ever thought that in roughly a year's time 3D technology would have transformed the moviegoing experience. Shortly after the blockbuster success of James Cameron's "Avatar" studios began to either produce films with the new 3D camera technology or retro-fit upcoming releases so they could be a part of the 3D boom. Now it seems that every week a new 3D release is announced (how long before we get a 3d Woody Allen film???) so the fact that one of the world's major film festivals has appointed a special jury head for its 3D programme.

As we report this (sadly a bout of flu sidelined me earlier this week) the 67th Venice Film Festival is bringing the big films and the big stars to the Italian city. While such luminaries as Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo Arriaga, Arnaud Desplechin, Luca Guadagnino, Gabriele Salvatores and Danny Elfman have been appointed at the fest's main jury J-Horror pioneer Takashi Shimizu (above) has been named a special judge for 3D films. Makes perfect sense as Shimizu is the man who directed the first 3D feature film in Japanese film history, namely the haunted fun park chiller "Shock Labyrinth 3D", which by the way is also screening at Venice out of competition.

The 67th Venice Film Festival kicked off this past Wednesday, September 1st and will run until September 11th. Thanks to Tokyograph for this news.

Sono, Miike, Shimizu and more make their way to the 67th Venice Film Festival

by Chris MaGee

This past week the line-up for the 67th annual Venice Film Festival was announced and in keeping with the fest's prestigious reputation for premiering some of the best new films from around the world Japan has a very respectable showing.

Globetrotting Japanese film fans will be able to catch the following films in Venice between September 1st and the 11th:

Cold Fish (above) - Indie bad boy Sion Sono follows up his international success "Love Exposure" (and the much lower profile drama "Be Sure to Share") with the story of two tropical fish dealers who spiral into serial murder and madness.

13 Assassins - Takashi Miike continues his march into the mainstream with this epic remake of Eiichi Kudo's 1963 jidai-geki adventure. Koji Yakusho stars as the leader of a group of samurai who take revenge on a ruthless lord.

Norwegian Wood - French/ Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung adapts Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami's novel about a love triangle in Tokyo circa the late 1960's to the big screen. Ken'ichi Matsuyama and Rinko Kikuchi star while Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood provides the original score.
Shock Labyrinth - "Ju-on" creator Takashi Shimizu takes horror into a whole new dimension, namely 3D, in this story of a group of friends who get trapped in a haunted amusement park.

Zebraman & Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City - Takashi Miike makes his second and third appearance in this year's line-up with the original 2004 superhero film "Zebraman" as well as its futuristic sequel "Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City ", both starring Sho Aikawa.

For a complete look at this year's Venice Film Festival line-up visit its official website here; and to get you excited for this new batch of Japanese films check out the trailer for Miike's "13 Assassins" below.

Get scared twice with a double shot of "Ju-on: Kuroi Shoujo" and "Ju-on: Shiroi Roujo"

by Chris MaGee

Back in we told you about how there we going to be not one but two new films in Takashi Shimizu's "Ju-on" series. These films are being released on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the release of the first "Ju-on" film, but sadly Shimizu isn't directing either of these as he's got his hands full helming the 3D feature "The Shock Labyrinth". Therefore the directing duties on "Ju-on: Kuroi Shoujo" and "Ju-on: Shiroi Roujo" have fallen to newbies Mari Asato and Ryuta Miyake, and thanks to Nippon Cinema we can now get a good look at how both have handled this iconic series.

Asato's film "Kuroi Shoujo" tells the story of a nurse (played by Ai Kago) who discovers that the cyst that a young patient has in her body isn't a cyst at all, but a vestigial twin that carries the dreaded grudge of the title. Meanwhile Miyake's "Shiroi Roujo" revolves around a high school girl (played by Akina Minami) who is plagued by nightmarish visions of her friend who was killed in a grisly murder/ suicide.

Let's see... Dark shadowy rooms... Check. Quiet, quiet, loud pacing... Check. Pale-faced girls in white nightgowns with long black hair... Check. It seems like both these films have everything that a good "Ju-on" (or J-Horror film for that matter) should have. Now we just have to see if they'll do the job. One can only hope that with the redundancy of two film that if one fails to frighten that the other one will pick up the slack.

Head over to Nippon Cinema to see if "Ju-on: Kuroi Shoujo" and "Ju-on: Shiroi Roujo" stand up to the scare test. Both will be released in Japanese theatres on June 27th.