Patrick
Macias' book on Japanese cult cinema. The book covers
more than 50 films, split into 9 sections: Giant
Monsters, Sonny Chiba, Shogun Assassin, Horror,
Yakuza, Kinji Fukasaki, Banned, Pink & Violent,
Panic & Disaster, and Mike & Riki. The book's
main focus is on actor Sonny Chiba, director Kinji
Fukasaki and director Takashi Miike; however, the
book features several things that might make it
worth a purchase for fans of Toho. At the fore running
is a nice interview done with Godzilla
vs. Hedorah (1971) director Yoshimitsu Banno.
The interview goes over the film in-depth and talks
about Banno's failed attempts to make other Godzilla
films. The book also has a nice segment on banned
films in Japan. Included in this segment are Toho's
Half Human
(1955), Latitude
Zero (1969) [which as of writing this no
longer fits in this category], and Prophecies
of Nostradamus (1974); what makes this worthwhile
is that the book goes over, thoroughly, the reasons
why the films were banned. Other than that, however,
there isn't a whole lot here to merit suggesting
it to a Toho enthusiast, especially if one is only
interested in their kaiju films, as the book only
covers four of them. The Pink & Violent section
might also be a turn off for some, and yes it does
contain nudity. Also included are several drawings
and comics by Yukihiko Ujihashi, which are not only
done rather poorly but are often disturbing. The
books does a good job in getting content that you
won't find else where in publication, but unless
one's a big fan of Sonny Chiba, Kinji Fukasaki,
Takashi Miike, or just enjoys all Japanese cinema,
the book will probably have little to offer them.
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