Electric Dragon 80.000 V - Sogo Ishii - Japan - (2001)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276935/

Plot by Imdb: "A young boy gets jolted with electricity as he's climbing a tall cable pylon. As he gets older, he experiences intense fits of violence in which bolts of electricity burst from his fists. Elsewhere in Tokyo, there is an electronics wizard who also happens to be a vigilante with a taste for electric weapons. When the pair catch each others attention, the result is a battle that will light up the city."

Very nice not so short movie (55 minutes)  by Sogo Ishii, the Japanese "post-punk" director. Beautiful black and white with tons of strange shots (specially the lizard POV) and a crazy story for a nice visually extreme final. It's the visual version of Industrial / Noise music. All done with the complicity of  Tadanobu Asano. In its extreme way, ED80V reminds of "Tetsuo" from Tsukamoto, in its experimental side but it has a much more wilder and immature feel that makes me say that this is real punk cinema: young, energetic, insolent, immature and violent. Other  Sogo Ichii movies are interesting: "Burst city", "August in the water" and others, but if you want his real masterpiece, in my humble opinion, you'll have to see "Gojoe". And if you find this short too much to handle, you're probably reading the wrong blog.

Trailer:

Super-Wolf "Can Do it " - oldschool hiphop

My wife call me "loup"; (french for wolf); so I felt like this was for me:

"Shaw Bros" Bizarre Flix 3/3 - Mo aka The Boxer's Omen - Chih-Hung Kuei - HK - (1983)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085951/

Plot from Imdb:"The plot is about a Hong Kong gangster discovering a supernatural connection with a deceased Thai monk after the monk's spirit saves him from an ambush from a rival gang. Ignoring the spirit's pleas, the gangster goes home to his beautiful (and frequently naked) girlfriend. The gangster then goes to Thailand to challenge a cheating Thai kickboxer who gravely hurt his best friend in a match. After disgorging a live Moray eel in a hotel, the gangster decides that it's a good time to find the temple that the monk resided in. The gangster learns that he was a twin brother to the dead monk in a previous life and therefore their lives are forever intertwined! The monk was about to achieve immortality but a crazy Thai dark warlock poisoned his eyes with spiders and the monk died. The gangster's life is at risk if he can't defeat the warlock and break the poison spider spell."

Holly motherfucking sheeeeeee--aaaaaat ! This movie is one mesmerizing visual experience and definitively the best thing that came out of this "Shaw Bros. bizarre flix" week. Shot in Thailand, HK and Katmandou, from the director of "Killer Snakes" and "Bamboo, House of dolls" comes this Buddhist tale, mixed with black magic and Thai boxing. One have to recognize that mixing exploitative subjects together with spiritual paraphernalia is risky at best. Not everybody can pull out movies that stays interesting, like the ones from Alejandro Jodorowski. In this case; it works perfectly, as the cheesy, funny,  disgusting, bizarre aspect of the magic is perfectly balanced with a non stopping action storyline and an amazing art direction, that creates  some of the nicest flashy images I've seen in a while. Did I mentioned it has crocodile cranium animated, bat's sacrifice, snakes blood, human cranium filed with a dirty unknown mix, birth of a female demon from the body of a crocodile, an immortal Buddhist monk held in a jar, ridiculous Thai boxing matches with no else than Bolo Yeung (unforgettable bad  guy from "Bloodsport"), lasers of goodness coming out of Monks, etc., etc... Enough talking, you HAVE to watch that movie, it's like a giant lollipop for a deepthroating artist: it's unmissable and highly desirable!

MASTERPIECE !   

Trailer:

New MACHETE Trailer

Matando gueros !!!

"Shaw Bros" Bizarre Flix 2/3 - You gui zi aka The Oily Maniac - Meng Hua Ho - HK - (1976)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075001/

Plot from Imdb: "A cripple takes revenge on criminals by using a magic spell that transforms him into an oily monster/superhero."

Second entry in our "Shaw Bros." Bizarre flix week, this one is a weird one. Obviously inspired by the American monster movies from the 50's and by the "Swamp Thing" comic , it deals with magic and corruption. Sleazy in its depiction of the corruption, it's great, and only, interest resides in the monster itself as I had never seen anything like it: An Oily Monster ? C'mon !! The most hilarious parts are when the hero needs to transform asap, as he has to get in contact with oil. Great scenes of him plunging into an oil barrel or pouring oil on himself from a gas station follow...The rest is b-movie like: ridiculous fights with a man in a suit, stupid and romantic involvement of the hero with a young innocent girl, bad guys, more evil than the devil himself. You get the picture.

At the end of the day, a great little gem from HK, for the lover of strange monsters and the those who have an hour or so to kill....

Trailer: