GOvember, 2024!

In honour of Godzilla's 70th anniversary in November, I hope to write a little bit about the Big G every day. Thanks to my awesome calendar (Thanks Ed!), I have been able to gawk at Gojira whenever I go to the loo.

Here's a taste, a mini-diorama from Godzilla Raids Again. (ゴジラの逆襲 Gojira no Gyakushū, lit. "Godzilla's Counterattack")

 

Unfortunately, the hour is later than I thought, so I need to cut this short. I'll leave you with this episode of Faerie Tale Theater as a tribute to the late great Teri Garr!

Who knew Kramer was a King!

I'm off to Kitakami for a wedding tomorrow, so I bid you adieu. More Godzilla goodies plus a roundup of Countdown to Halloween bloopers.

Marathon Man

I finished watching Pyrokinesis at 5:30 am. and thoroughly enjoyed it. Pyrokinesis is also known as Crossfire and is aflame with fun. Think if Charlie McGee* had grown into an adult and started punishing bad guys by incinerating them.

*Drew Barrymore's character in Firestarter.

Here is the rest of the lineup:

I caught a few hours of ZZZs and woke up around 9:30ish for the last of Juon: The Grudge. I've seen it a few times, so that gave me a chance to have breakfast and shower. 

Next up was "World Apartment Horror (1991), a comedy about some Yakuza types who try to evict some foreigner renters so they can have the building for themselves. Lots of yelling and a ghost joined in the melee. You can give this one a pass. Not even worth linking to but the manga is worth checking out.

Evil Dead Trap (1988) is just bloody awful with an emphasis on the bloody. It has a Tubular Bells soundtrack that shows up when ever the gore starts.

 

Guzoo (1986) is only 40 minutes long and has lots of oozing tendrils attacking young ladies. Even so, it is pretty darn good. You can check it out for yourself here:

I'd seen "As the Gods Will" (2007) in the cinema and though confusing was a ton o' fun. It was nice to catch it with subs again so I could follow along. That ending though sets it up for a sequel that I don't think ever materialized. You find the Movie Pamphlet analyzed here a few years back. (Thank you dailymotion for your devotion. Watch it in its entirety at that link.)

"One Cut of the Dead" is unique and is worth checking out. I've seen it before in the cinema and with subtitles so I didn't pay much attention while it was on.

I've been wanting to watch this one for a long time and "A Slit-Mouthed Woman" was SO good! Some very troubling scenes of child abuse but the makeup, acting and everything else was topnotch. (Hey, some more dailymotion commotion has it for you!

We interrupt this marathon for a word from our Yokai Sponsor.

口裂け女 (くちさけおんな) or Kuchisake Onna who "is the ghost of a woman who was mutilated and has come back to wreak vengeance on the world. Her name comes from the deep, bloody gash which runs across her face, grinning from ear to ear. She appears at night to lone travelers on the road, covering her grizzly mouth with a cloth mask, a fan, or a handkerchief."

 Kuchisake onna sneaks up on her victims in the dark and asks them if they think she is beautiful: “Watashi, kirei?” If the victim answers yes, she pulls off her mask and reveals a red, blood-dripping, grotesque mouth. Then she asks in a grisly voice if they still think she is beautiful: “Kore demo?” If her victim answers no or screams in terror, she slashes him from ear to ear in an imitation of her own mutilation. If he lies and answers yes a second time, she walks away—only to follow her target home and slaughter him brutally that night.

The spirits of the dead who were killed in particularly violent manners—abused wives, tortured captives, defeated enemies—often do not rest well. The kuchisake onna is thought to be one such woman. However, during the Edo period, a large number of kuchisake onna attacks were blamed on shape-changed kitsune playing pranks on young men. During the 20th century, the blame began to be placed on ghosts, serial killers, and simple mass hysteria. This resulted in an explosion of kuchisake onna sightings over Japan. Over the years, clever young people claim to have outsmarted kuchisake onna by delivering quick, confusing answers, or by throwing money or hard candy at them. This buys enough time to escape from the kuchisake onna’s wrath and lose her in the darkness.

 

As you can see, I saved you the trouble of going to Yokai.com and copied it all for you.

Oh No! Hunger Games Battle Royale has just started and it's a Director's Cut. Ciao for now.

Monkeying Around.

Satori (覚 さとり) are strange intelligent ape-men. "Satori appear to travelers on mountain roads, or folks living in mountain huts far from civilization. If the opportunity presents itself, they gladly dine on anyone they can get their hands on. In cases where they encounter a lone human female, they often take her away into the mountains and rape her. Satori are most well known for their uncanny ability to read people’s minds and then speak their thoughts faster than the individuals can get the words out themselves. This makes it very difficult to hunt, trick, or escape from a hungry satori. However, should something unforeseen happen, such as being unexpectedly hit by an object, satori grow very frightened and run away. One of the only ways to avoid being eaten by one of these yokai is to completely empty one’s mind; with no mind to read, the satori grows bored and wanders away."

 I'm about 1/4 the way through a 48 hour marathon of Japanese Horror, and the movie that's on now (Exte) is one that I've seen twice before. I gave a very brief review of it last year. I came home from work today while Unholy Women (2006) was on. Too bad, I missed most of the first part (Katakata/Rattle Rattle), it seemed to be the best one. Well, what do ya know, I can catch up on it here. The second part was about a girl with a sack over her head who was beaten a lot (Hagane) and the third part (Uketsugu Mono/ The Inheritance) had child abuse going on which was unsettling. So seek it out if you wish, I've linked to the only worthy section.

Next up I watched "Pulse" (2001) which I found rather dull, lots of ghostly dudes and disappearing people. Apparently it was popular enough to be remade in America and spawn two sequels. 

I kind of enjoyed "Marebito" (2004) about an underground dwelling vampire gal. If that's your cup of tea, it's worth seeking out.

Exte ended and "The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch" (1968) has just started. It's worth watching, pretty creepy and it also almost satisfies my Junjo Ito quota for it is based on a work by his mentor, Kazuo Umezu, 蛇娘と白髪魔, Hebimusume to Hakuhatsuma.

Fortunately, since I watched it last year (see link above), it makes for good background viewing so I can keep typing as I watch it.

"Pyrokinesis" is up next. That may be my last viewing before I nod off. It was called Crossfire stateside.

I had a costume party (thanks to my suitcase full of attire) and it went over well with my class of engineers who really got into it. The other class wasn't quite as enthusiastic. 

Here I am with one of the lads. (I'll upload pics of the gals once I can figure out how to blur their faces.)

I treated myself to some Halloween goodies from the Supermarket, neither were very good.

To match my Yokai theme, here is another monkey of sorts, when King Kong fought the JLA.

Here is Chimp with a bow tie by Mr. Ito.

As for a fellow blogger, Chad Savage, fits the bill.

I'm going to lie down and watch the rest of Snake Girl. I'll update you on what other flicks I view tomorrow. (It's nice to have three days off in the final hours before Samhain.)

Sticking Your Neck Out.

This giant Yokai, 大入道 (おおにゅうどう) or Ōnyūdō may resemble a priest but they are unrelated to the clergy. Ōnyūdō is a catchall term for giants and "can be separated into four general groups: those that harm humans; those that help humans; transformations of other yōkai; and other, truly unique ōnyūdō that do not fit into any of these categories."

"Regardless of how good or evil at heart a particular ōnyūdō is, they are by nature extremely dangerous. It is generally wise to leave them be. Better to avoid all contact with them than risk enraging an ōnyūdō and bringing destruction upon nearby villages."

Here is one in a parade. He will stick his neck out for anyone.

 This Junji Ito creation is not a Giant, but is an old man. Check out Professor Kinda.

As for me, I too am feeling like an old man, a dinosaur of sorts. We had a fun Halloween party for a bunch of school kids.  Mostly Marios and Princesses but there were a few standouts such as a Grim Reaper gal.

We had a fun game of Quidditch hosted by one of the Gryffindor Professors.

In the background there, you can see Alice has been mutated into a Cheshire Cat. (The Cat part of her attire was home-made.)

We were also aided by a shy witch and a Jack o' Lantern.

I paraded around in my Gachapin track suit. The epitome of lazy costuming.

This time I brought along a little friend.

After the event, I went shopping at the mall and had more gawkers than usual and a few whisperers of "Gachapin!" I took every opportunity to show off in the various displays.

I dropped another 30 bucks on Halloween decorations on sale. I'm a sucker for this.

Speaking of suckers.

And I even won a King Caesar at UFO Catcher (after innumerable attempts.)

I scored a couple of old comics as well for two bucks a piece!

All in all, a pretty good day!

She Slays Sailors at the SeaShore.

I was going to write about the 濡女 (ぬれおんな) or Nure Onna but I wrote about her several years ago.

Suffice to say that she's a blood sucking Yokai who hangs around the shore waiting for good Samaritans to hold on to her screaming baby. The baby than turns into a boulder, weighing them down and then she proceeds to suck them dry. Nasty. 

One of her colleagues is the 牛鬼 (うしおに) or Ushi Oni who hangs around the same beaches and similarly preys on fishermen or surfer dudes. " The name literally means “ox demon,” and it refers to a number of different monsters with bovine traits. Most Ushi oni resemble an ox from the head up and a demonic horror below. Many variations are known to exist; the body of an ox with a head like an oni; the head of an ox on a body like a spider’s or a cat’s; or even an ox’s head on the body of a kimono-clad human (a Japanese version of the Minotaur)."

Here is an Ushi Oni in action!

 

Ushi oni are exceedingly cruel and savage. They breath toxic poison, and eat humans. Some ushi oni are lurkers, attacking people who draw too close to their lairs; others are hunters, roaming the coasts seeking prey. The cruelest ushi oni ravage the same towns over and over, inflicting terrible curses or bringing diseases.

These two Yokai often work alongside another seafarer, 磯女 (いそおんな) or Iso Onna, a far prettier Yokai who often shares her meals with the above.

"In most cases, they appear as beautiful women who have just come out of the water, dripping wet. Their hair is long and matted, reaching almost all the way down to the sand. Their eyes are heavy with sultry, sexual energy, and their nearly transparent wet clothes stick to their skin. From the waist up, they appear like ordinary human women. But from the waist down, they are blurry and slightly transparent, betraying their otherworldly nature."

On rocky coasts without sandy beaches, iso onna appear sitting on the cliffs and calling out to passersby in an eerie voice. Their victims are mesmerized, and walk straight towards them, ignoring the dangers posed by the rocky cliffs. They walk off the cliffs and fall to their deaths, leaving the iso onna free to feed on their bodies. Iso onna are most commonly encountered during the holiday seasons of Obon and New Year’s Eve, when the border between the realm of the living and the spirit world can be more easily crossed.

I'm definitely going to more wary when I go to the beach! 

You may have noticed that I neglected to blog yesterday. Well, I went to a party for a friend's school and had a few brew (only a few, I had a wedding today!) and partook in festivities. Disappointingly, there were very few costumes of note, mostly just cat or bunny ears. (Admittedly, I too was extremely lazy in my costume, just wearing my Gachapin sweats. I'll be wearing the same gear tomorrow for another Halloween party.) One guy went all out. He actually went and got an eye infection for the cause!

Impressive! He even wore a contact lens to shrink his pupil! This school has the best pupils! Here are a few more who attended an after party.

I was given a huge Asian pear last week, and I carved it Friday morning to bring to the gig. It turned out all right.

I asked the students to provide some eerie sounds for the video version. 

On the way back from my wedding today, I popped into my friend's college who had an Open House.

I was coaxed into buying an overly sweet marshmallow concoction.

Junji Ito provides a Slug Girl!

I gave away a couple of these Key holder thingies at the party.

As for a comic, going along with the seaside creatures, how about this little ditty from DC.

That's it for tonight! I have to get up early for yet another Halloween party, this time with several dozen screaming brats!