Gohatto (1999)

Gohatto is Nagisa Ôshima's final film. It's a beautifully orchestrated period piece about a group of samurai during the bakumatsu era (here 1865).
It's unusual in that it deals with a rarely explored subject within the often strict genre: it's about the love of one samurai by another and how it fits in with their codes of practice and honour.
Ôshima's mastery of his art is evident in every facet of the production. The camera movements are so perfect that you don't even notice them unless you're looking for them. The sword fights are superb. And everything is given an extra dimension with the addition of some traditional in style but atypically sinister music by Ryûichi Sakamoto.

4½ leanings out of 5

Nightmare Detective 2 (2008)

What made the first Nightmare Detective entertaining was its beautiful visuals, and these are fully on display in Nightmare Detective 2. Where Nightmare Detective fell short was its cliche riddled plot, but that isn't really an issue in the sequel. Shinya Tsukamoto does away with the standard catch the killer plot, and instead spends time exploring the tortured Detective Kagenuma.

This film is much more ambigous than its predecessor, but that only makes it more appealing to me. At times, the movie drags, but for the most part, it's an involving feast for the eyes. If this rate of improvement continues, I'm looking forward to Nightmare Detective 3.

3.5 sleep deprived schoolgirls out of 5

Nightmare Detective (2006)

Sometimes, you want to curl up with a good mystery. And sometimes, you're willing to watch any movie with the word "Detective" in the title. The latter is why I watched Nightmare Detective, but the film wound up being a pleasant surprise. Unbeknownst to me, Nightmare Detective is the work of Shinya Tsukamoto, who has built a cult following thanks to his Tetsuo films. While I wasn't always a fan of the movie's shaky camera work, Tsukamoto's talent for visuals is on full display here, and the dream worlds are wonderful eye candy.

Unfortunately, the film's plot was a little generic. This movie seems to rely on a lot of American horror movie tropes, and the script never measures up to the bleak, creepy visuals. Kyoichi Kagenuma is an interesting hero, but most of the other character were lacking. If you don't mind the film's derivative nature, it's an interesting watch, and even if it does put you off, it's still a visual treat.

3 metaphoric murders out of 5