1984: The Year in Bedlam
Continuing with my Year in Bedlam year-end overviews, we arrive at 1984
TURNING JAPANESE
A short collection of six Asian Cult Cinema magazine articles, spanning the years 1997 to 2007, by the late horror novelist Jack Ketchum
1987: The Year in Bedlam
In the 1980s movie-verse 1987 was something of an anomaly, being an authentically good year for film
DUTCH WIFE IN THE DESERT
This Japanese oddity was directed by Atsushi Yamatoya, who’s best known for the screenplay of Seijun Suzuki’s bonkers yakuza pastiche BRANDED TO KILL
PRISON BREAK
PRISON BREAK was directed by Kazuo Ikehiro in 1969, and is widely believed to be the best Yakuza-themed film he and actor Matsukata Hiroki ever made
PANIC IN HIGH SCHOOL
Before ELEPHANT and LESSON OF THE EVIL there was PANIC IN HIGH SCHOOL, a 1978 film co-directed by Japan’s Sogo Ishii, who was just 19 years old
UNDO
There’s never been a love story quite like this 47 minute Japanese drama about insanity and obsessive knot-tying
THE LAST FRANKENSTEIN
This 1992 Japanese production is that rarity of rarities: a successful attempt at reimagining a classic story
THE CRAZY FAMILY
A true classic of Japanese cult cinema, a stunningly twisted black comedy that takes on suburban life in eighties-era Japan by spoofing American sitcoms of the time
LABYRINTH OF DREAMS
Arthouse devotees will appreciate this heavily stylized black and white mystery from Japan’s legendary Sogo Ishii