DVD Collectors Online

Fear(s) of the Dark, a review by Danae Cassandra

Fear(s) of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir)
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By: Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Cailou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire
Starring: Christian Hincker, Aure Atika, Guilaume Depardieu, Louisa Pili, Laurent van der Rest
Genre: Horror, Animation

Overview:Black HoleMy Thoughts:
This was stylish and interesting, with quite well-done animation in a variety of styles. If all of the segments aren't as good as the others, that's almost to be expected of an anthology film. I enjoyed the insect and the haunted house stories the best, then the story of the village and the story of the dogs, and lastly the story of the bullied girl and the ghosts. Though the animation is well-done in all of them, it is best done in the haunted house story, though I enjoyed the style of the dog story more. What I didn't like was the inter-pieces of the woman complaining about all the mundane things she is afraid of. That portion seemed rather pretentious. Still, the short films are worth seeing, either for fans of animation or fans of anthology horror.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 1/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 2nd, 2016)

The Sword With No Name, a review by dfmorgan

The Sword With No Name

Year: 2009
Director: Kim Yong-Gyun
Cast: Cho Seung-Woo, Soo-Ae, Cheon Ho-Jin
Overview: A young woman of noble birth embarks on a dangerous cross-country journey, where she encounters an infamous bounty-hunter. Honour-bound, he becomes her protector and against all the odds they fall in love. A few years later, to fulfill a sacred promise, she must enter the royal court and ascend to the throne as Empress, leaving her love behind. However, when aggressive Japanese forces gather against her nation, the bounty hunter will once again stand by her side as a devoted bodyguard.

As the conflict escalates to all-out war, her irrepressible leadership will sustain her people and give them the hope of victory. Tragically, as her reputation spreads, she will become a target for assassination, but one man's courage will make all the difference...

Watched: 30th. Dec 2010
My Thoughts: I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this film. At its heart it is a romance with some action rather than action with some romance. The action is partly based on real events and takes place in Korea of the mid 1800's when nations from the West, here in the guise of France and Russia, and the East, in the guise of Japan, were trying hard to get into Korea and influence its people. A bounty hunter, Mu-Myeong (Cho Seung-Woo), meets a young woman, Ja-Yeong (Soo-Ae), and their lives become intertwined. Ja-Yeong becomes the Queen of Korea whilst he joins the palace guard to be near her. There are many political machinations as Ja-Yeong and her husband, the King Gojong (Kim Young-Min), try to broker deals which her father-in-law Daewonkun (Cheon Ho-Jin) is against. Eventually this leads to major conflicts and its final tragic ending.

My Rating: An absorbing 4- -



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on December 30th, 2010)

Death Note anime/manga/movies comparison, a review by Tom

06. Unraveling

- the agents meet L for the first time. While introducing themselves, L points his fingers like a pistol at them and says "peng". He explains they would be dead now if he were Kira. He cautions them to not use their real names. L tells them of this theory that Kira must be among the people observed by the FBI in a specific time-frame
- Light and family discuss bringing his father a change of clothes. Light volunteers.
- Naomi goes to the police headquarters. Light and Naomi meet up. Light tells her, that he can help her with meeting the investigation team. Naomi tells him of her theories. Light notices, that she is very close to linking him with Kira.

Manga: The first half of the episode is covered in manga chapter 11, the second half in chapter 12

Movies: Very similar. I love how L potrays the "peng"-scene in the movie.


(From Death Note anime/manga/movies comparison on June 27th, 2009)