Castaway on the Moon [2009]

Castaway on the Moon [2009]
Original Title: Kimssi pyoryugi
South Korea
Director: Hae-jun Lee
My Rating: 10/10

This is one of those rare perfect films.  I liked everything about it: the characters, the actors, pacing, story, tone, and character arcs.  I'm not usually a fan of "feel good" movies, and although this movie doesn't have an overly happy ending (it's actually a little ambiguous) I would be surprised if anyone could watch this and not feel at least a little good.  It manages this without feeling too sappy or melodramatic, which is a rare thing.

Themes of redemption and self-reliance are especially appealing to me, even if all is for naught.  In fact that makes it more enjoyable, when the characters achieve fleeting or partial success.  That feels more realistic.  This movie is a solid 10 all around, I wish I could discover films like this more often.

Gamera: The Giant Monster [1965]

Gamera: The Giant Monster [1965]
Original Title: Daikaijû Gamera
Japan
Director: Noriaki Yuasa
My Rating: 5/10

While I'm a big fan of the Godzilla movies, Gamera just doesn't really do it for me.  If I can find an original Japanese language version with English subtitles, my opinion might change.  Until then, I regard this as an okay giant monster movie.  It's biggest drawback (besides the bad dialog/dubbing) is the annoying child.  This goofy little kid insists (based on no evidence) that Gamera is the friend of all children, even though he's messing up Japan pretty good.  Even more annoying, in the sequels this turns out to actually be true.

As for Gamera himself, he's pretty silly in appearance and basic concept.  He's a giant rocket turtle.  These first gen monsters all look pretty silly to be fair though.  This movie is still oddly watchable, maybe because I have a soft spot for the genre as a whole.  I'd give it a solid 5, which is mostly meh.

Sick Nurses [2007]

Sick Nurses [2007]
Original Title: Suay Laak Sai
Thailand
Director: Piraphan Laoyont, Thodsapol Siriwiwat
My Rating: 5/10

This movie is pretty average.  There is not much of anything in the way of story or character development, but it comes through with the gore and horror.  It all takes place in either a hospital, morgue or dormitory... I don't really know, but all the nurses seem to live there.  A gaggle of hot nurses, who spend their time fighting and generally being assholes.  There is also a doctor, but he's not terribly important until the end.

A lot of the horror aspects have been seen before, the appearance of the ghost and its hair.  However, some of the kills are interesting.  The effects are fairly well done, so fans of horror B-movies will probably enjoy this.  It ends up being a solid 5.

Tokyo Gore Poilice [2008]

Tokyo Gore Police [2008]
Original Title: Tôkyô zankoku keisatsu
Japan/USA
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
My Rating: 6/10

This movie seems to be well liked and generally well reviewed, which is surprising because it doesn't make much of an attempt to be good or coherent, instead it aims for complete ridiculousness and over the top gory and silly.  In that respect it succeeds quite admirably.  If you like Troma movies you'll probably be on board with this one; it seems to made with that audience in mind.  I can't definitively say it's the goriest thing I've seen, but it's up there and the effects aren't bad.

The plot isn't really worth mentioning, but visually it looks pretty good.  Bad taste abounds here, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Nothing is safe in this one, genitals can and will be mutilated and weaponized.  Unfortunately it doesn't really have much else going for it, and it's easy to get bored.  This is one of those movies I might put on in the background for it's visuals, but would not be likely to rewatch very often.

 

Tetsuo, the Iron Man [1989]

Tetsuo, the Iron Man [1989]
Original Title: Tetsuo
Japan
Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto
My Rating: 8/10

I'll admit, this movie doesn't have much in the way of plot.  It is still a crazy and surreal experience, absolutely worth the watch.  It strongly reminds me of Eraserhead in visual style, but gory and with an accelerated pace.

It may leave you scratching your head, but you'll probably want to see it again.  Unfortunately, it's hard to find a reasonably priced copy.