DVD Collectors Online

Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, a review by Antares

Revenge of a Kabuki Actor (1963) 81/100 - A wonderful performance from Kazuo Hasegawa and a vibrant color scheme go hand in hand in this rather quirky revenge film from Kon Ichikawa. Supposedly, Ichikawa was being punished by Daiei for being a little too self-indulgent in his previous films. So instead of playing by the rules, he pulls out all the stops and makes a visually daring and beautifully crafted vision of Kabuki theater. The story itself, plays a back seat to Ichikawa's indulgence and though it is a good story, it kind of lacks the punch needed to make it a masterpiece. I kept waiting for some kind of payoff, but it never really came. But that's OK, because Hasegawa does a magnificent job with the two roles he's given, and getting any chances to gaze upon Ayako Wakao, is time well spent. I'm pretty sure that my score for this unique film, will increase upon a second viewing. I made the mistake of choosing the 'all subtitles' option on the Anim-Eigo DVD, which not only translated the dialog, but also threw in pop up descriptions of terms and subjects that were being used in the film. Trying to read two sets of subtitles in different portions of the screen became difficult at times and I missed a few things along the way. I don't think I would recommend this to anyone virginal to Japanese cinema, but for anyone who has dabbled and found an appreciation for this kind of film making, it's definitely an interesting, conceptual film.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on July 18th, 2013)

Blood on Satan's Claw, a review by Jimmy

Title : Blood on Satan's Claw (1970)

Overview
This chilling tale takes place in the 17th Century England, where the discovery of furry remains believed to be the devil sparks a barrage of evil undoings in a small English town. Soon after their discovery, the devil's remains disappear, hampering the investigation by the local Judge (Partick Wymark). But the evil forces that take over are frightening proof that the devil may indeed be among the villagers. People start going mad and children, under the guidance of the sinister Angela Blake (Linda Hayden), begin participating in unspeakable rituals in which the young and pure are sacrificed and mutilated. It is up to the Judge to exorcise the demons that are destroying the village...

My Impression
I really want to like this one, but it just move too slow for my taste (but I don't usually like the film happening in the Middle Age). The story can be confusing by time, seriously it's the second time I watch this film and I don't know yet why the kids became devil's worshippers. But it isn't a bad film mostly due to the great performance of Linda Hayden who plays her character with the nuance needed, the satanic rituals and the devil's skin effect (but the devil himself isn't that impressive).

Jon if you have seen this one, your input would be appreciated.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's 2010 Horror Marathon on October 3rd, 2010)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

EPISODE 16: WHO ARE YOU
After magically switching bodies with Buffy, Faith pays a visit to Riley - leaving Buffy in the hands of the Watcher Council Special Ops Unit who've come to take Faith back to England.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode. If I am not mistaken this is the last we see of Faith till the final season of the series.

EPISODE 17: SUPERSTAR
Buffy suspects reality has somehow been altered after an unpopular former Sunnydale High student named Jonathan becomes the coolest and most popular person in town.

My Thoughts:
This is another one of those I just didn't care much for... I realize the whole alternate reality was supposed to be ridiculous... but it was a bit too ridiculous for my taste.

EPISODE 18: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
While Adam is recruiting an army of vampires and demons, Riley and Buffy's passionate lovemaking unleashes a group of poltergeists inside a frat house.

My Thoughts:
This episode was good... I enjoyed it quite a bit. I really liked the whole haunted house feel to it... as that is one of my favorite horror sub-genres.

EPISODE 19: NEW MOON RISING
Oz's surprise return to Sunnydale causes complications in Willow's current love life and leads to his transformation into a werewolf and subsequent capture by Riley.

My Thoughts:
How couldn't I enjoy this one? The return of Oz... him realizing the truth of how Willow's life has changed. very enjoyable.


EPISODE 20: THE YOKO FACTOR
As Spike and Adam plot to drive a wedge between Buffy and her friends, Angel returns to Sunnydale, only to be attacked by Riley and a group of Initiative commandos.

My Thoughts:
Another good episode... Spike does a great job of pitting the group against each other.... playing to each of their fears.

EPISODE 21: PRIMEVAL
Xander, Willow, and Giles join forces to magically imbue Buffy with supernatural powers in order to do battle against Adam and overthrow his plans for creating a "demonoid" army.

My Thoughts:
The final show-down between Buffy (and the gang) and Adam. We finally pretty much see the end of The Initiative. And we get one huge battle that is just fun to watch all the chaos of.

EPISODE 22: RESTLESS
After battling Adam, an exhausted Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles all experience dreams in which they encounter a strange, savage woman - and The Cheese Man.

My Thoughts:
Let's see.... what do I say other then "huh?"... you get some homages to the past seasons... and a few nice hints into the upcoming season all thrown together in one huge dream of an episode.... all jumbled into an episode where you really aren't sure what it is you are seeing. And what about "The Cheese Man".... talk about no sense what so ever! I think I would have personally preferred the last episode to have been the season finale... but this is definitely an episode to get you to scratch your head over.

OK... this has to be my least favorite season of the series... As I have touched on before I never thought much of the new boyfriend, Riley... and I just couldn't stand the whole Initiative story line. Sure... there was some really good episodes in this season... especially one of my all time favorite episodes, hush... but when you dislike the season long arc so much... it makes it hard to enjoy that season on a whole.

(From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon on November 22nd, 2007)