From Beyond - Stuart Gordon - USA - (1986)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091083/

Plot by Imdb: "Scientists create a resonator to stimulate the pineal gland (sixth sense), and open up a door to a parallel (and hostile) universe..."

I like Stuart Gordon. His movies are fun and really appealing to an all-time Lovecraft fan, like myself. It reminds me of my childhood when, with  a friend of mine, we put our money together to buy the first french edition of the Lovecraft biography by Sprague de Camp. Good ol' times ! 

Back to  Stuart Gordon. Good director of fantastic movies, he went on to direct some weird movies of his own that I particularly like: King of the ants, Edmond and Stuck, for example, are a rare mix of social / cultural comment, dark humor and plain insanity. Ironic and poignant, they left you wondering if you have to laugh or cry.

In From Beyond, no problem, you can laugh. Adding to Lovecraft's strange and paranoid story, Gordon injects some 80's humor in  the dialogues and delivers a movie that's packed with action, silicon makeup and  old-school CGI. The resut is a blast for the fan of horror comedy genre, like myself. Get a beer, sit back and relax for a nice ride that will get you through psychiatry, parallel universes, monsters, a frantic Jeffrey Combs (Re - animator) with a giant hypophys gland growing out of his head, Ken Foree (Dawn of the dead) in a blaxploitation baddass mockery and Barbara Crampton, sexy as hell  in an SM outfit...A 10 in my checklist.

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Chûgoku no chôjin aka The Bird People of China - T.Miike - Japan - (1998)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142181/

Plot by Imdb:"A salaryman and yakuza are each sent by their bosses to a remote Chinese village but discover more then they expected."

Once again, Takeshi Miike reinvents himself and surprises us where we expected him the less: on the human and poetic side. We are witnessing an incredibly sensible moment of humanity as we follow two Japanese caricatures characters: a salaryman and a Yakuza, both entangled in their respective hierarchy and "world order", during  their travel to an extremely remote part of China. As soon as their chaotic journey unfold, they begin to change and to reveal themselves as much more deeper characters. At first, it's still on the comedy or drama side but it takes a much more traumatic and psychological turn when they finally reach their destination: a "out of time" village of mountain people who have some strange rituals and beliefs.
Miike here reaches yet another level and goes closer to an absolute masterpiece.
This movie only could prove that all the hype around Miike as a stakhanovist shock director that doesn't care about emotions and meaning is wrong. He's all that, clearly but he always cares about the story and, more importantly, about his characters. As usual, photography is breathtaking, framing is fantastic and the general craftsmanship of the movie is top nocth. Not to forget, two great actors and a really beautiful story of the true metaphysical nature of human beings. Anyone who has ever being to remote natural locations and stayed there some time will get it instantly.
Clearly up there with the older Japanese masters, Miike-sensei has made with this movie, I think, a classic.

Trailer:

Kinbaku · SM·18-sai aka S&M Hunter - Shûji Kataoka - Japan - (1986)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287523/

Plot by Imdb:" When the all-girl gang, The Bombers, kidnap a man to use as their personal sex slave, S&M Hunter accepts the mission to infiltrate The Bombers' hideout and show them the ropes."

The most wonderful combination of all in a Pinku is sex and humor, but when it comes in a S&M Comic Book package, what can I say ? It borders on the sublime. Sublime is the only word strong enough to express my enchantment n front of this off-the-chart epic journey into S&M fantasy, with a strong emphasis on the fantasy. A real life manga with a super twisted story of a gay client of an S&M Dungeon who asks for help the Dungeon Master after having his boyfriend kidnapped and submitted to sexual tortures by an all female gang, the Bombers. The Dungeon Master uses his secret weapon: S&M Hunter, the ultimate Super Sadist. Like a super hero, he masters his weapons perfectly. In this case, his submission ropes ! Imagine a pervert Spiderman who would have turned into a Shibari maniac ! By the way, Shiro Shimomoto is a perfect cast in the S&M Hunter role.  veteran of the Pinku, he must have seen an occasion to showcase another part of his talent. Impressive imagery and insane scenes unfold until an over-the-top final duel between evil S&M masters. The shot of the "vilain" S&M master woman suspended to a crane feets away into the air will stay with you for a long time. S&M Hunter shows once again that Shûji Kataoka, director of the "Molester Train" series, knew what he was doing and what his public was looking for. Not specially efficient on the sex aspect, it really packs a huge punch on the FUN side.

Go, SM Hunter and tie those evil bitches up !!

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