A Japanese action adventure by Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi, starring Naoto Takenaka, Kanji Tsuda, Suzuka Morita and Asami Sugiura.
On a girl's 16th birthday, she finds that she is a mutant called a "Hilko". Hated by humans, she slaughters everyone at a shopping area and is recruited by the Hilko clan. There she is trained to fight and sent on a mission to kill humans. She befriends 2 of the other Hilko girls and together they face the corrupt Hilko leader.
This was better than Dead Sushi and The Machine Girl, but it's pretty much impossible to be better than RoboGeisha. The style of the film was very similar to the other films made by this team, which I have described in other posts. Good action scenes and good firehose blood spray. Overall, if you think that Japanese school girls with weapons coming out of them is a good idea, you will like this. I rate it awesome. WATCH IT!
A Japanese horror comedy written and directed by Noboru Iguchi, starring Asami Sugiura with special effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura.
A young woman whose father has trained her as a sushi chef and kung fu fighter runs away from home and finds a job at a hotel. Businessmen from a pharmaceutical company visit and anger a local vagrant who used to work for them. Before vagrancy, the man was working on chemicals to bring dead things back to life and he releases the chemicals, turning sushi into monsters that infect people and other sushi with the same.
This was better than Machinegirl, but not as good as RoboGeisha. The characters were decent, with the best being a cute little singing egg sushi that befriends the female lead. The animation and voice-acting of the sushi reminded me of the Evil Dead films. In fact, I could point out several similarities in camera-work and plot presentation as well. This film was very similar to RoboGeisha, but the premise was somewhat lacking. Undead monster sushi would be a cool idea for a short, but it doesn't stand up well as a feature length film. That's really the only difference. I rate this good because I was definitely entertained, but it fell short of being epic and legendary.
A Japanese science fiction written and directed by Noboru Iguchi, starring Takumi Saito, Naoto Takenaka and Asami Sugiura with special effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura.
A geisha saves a politician from being killed by assassins and tells him the story of how she became "RoboGeisha, maiko of steel". A corrupt businessman found her as her sister's servant and trained her as an assassin, adding mechanical weapon upgrades to her body. She finds a grieving group of activists whose relatives have been abducted by the businessman and trained as she was.
I'm really into Yoshihiro Nishimura and Noboru Iguchi's films right now. This seems to be the best, alongside Tokyo Gore Police (2008). The camera-work is really good, clearly showing all of the action and using good angles and video effects to add impact. The plot was clearly presented and characters memorable, but I had trouble keeping track of which sister was which at times. Although heavily reliant on CG, the special effects were amazing. There were some actual physical special effects involved too. Overall, this film is way over the top, action-packed and fun. I rate it best. WATCH IT!
An American made for TV western directed by Ted Post, starring Clint Walker, Barry Sulivan, Kathryn Hays, Edgar Buchanan and Bing Russell.
A new sheriff comes to a lawless town. Cattlemen are running wild, a Mexican boy is stealing stuff and the local indians are being denied services that their treaty should grant them. The new law man has to solve all of the problems before the shit really hits the fan and all hell breaks loose on him.
This was pretty good. The plot was clearly presented, but I would have simplified a few sections to clean it up a little bit. The characters were memorable, but I would have included more of the Mexican boy and the hotel woman. I noticed some good camera-work that clearly showed everything that was going on. The video was a little grainy and the sound not the best, but it wasn't too shabby as far as a/v quality. Pacing was very quick to fit the complex plot into the hour and 14 minute duration. I think the style was right because it reminded me a little bit of Rio Bravo (1959). Overall, an enjoyable western. I rate it good and it's a keeper.
An American western directed by Robert Emmett Tansey, starring Sterling Holloway.
A pair of horse catchers catch a good horse.
This was hokey to the core! A Hank Williams soundtrack would have been appropriate. Besides being banal, boring and hokey, there were disruptions. Audio and video artifacts and distortions were frequent and more entertaining than the actual film. People talking and then multiplying themselves while doing a techno remix of what they're saying can do that. I rate this poor because it was representative of the time period in which it was made, but technical problems and being boring are unforgivable.
An American western musical directed by William Witney, starring Roy Rogers, Trigger, Jane Frazee and Andy Devine.
Roy Rogers returns to his ranch home to celebrate 10 years of making films. His horse is stolen by a neighboring rancher and held for ransom.
I was trying to avoid this type of movie by skipping the rest of the black and white westerns, but that has apparently not worked. Color video does not help to differentiate this film from the vast herd of others just like it. Andy Devine helped a little bit. The plot and characters were clearly presented, but everything was standard, predictable and mediocre like the rest of Roy's westerns. I'm surprised that nobody called him on this in all the time he was making these loads of crap. Oh well. I rate it tolerable.
A Spanish western directed by Jose Briz Mendez and Gilbert Kay, starring William Shatner and Joseph Cotten.
A half-white, half-redskin man has trouble fitting into society.
The actor was NOT a half-anything and didn't even have makeup on to make him look the part. He was all white and the viewer knows it. The plot was muddy and characters were definitely not memorable. Apparently, this is one of the worst movies ever made. I would beg to differ. There was a little bit of coherent plot and 1 identifiable main character. They even did a mirror trick with the camera to make people and horses disappear! I'm rating this poor because it sucked fuckin' donkey nards, but I've seen way worse! This was actually pleasurable to watch compared to the five hundred and fifty sixth Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette black and white western in which they sing the same songs and defeat the same villains.
An Italian spaghetti western directed by Gianfranco Baldanello, starring Guy Madison.
A former outlaw is now undercover and working against outlaws. His family gets involved in the conflict.
This was really unclear and seemed thrown-together and unprofessional. The plot was hard to follow and the characters difficult to identify and keep track of. I was constantly wondering who was on the screen, how they related to the other characters and why they were doing what they were doing. The lack of non-diegetic music also harmed my opinion of this film. There were some good camera shots, but amidst this mess, that didn't really matter. I rate this bad.
