Zone Fighter Episode 08 – Taose! Kyoufu-no Inbeedaa

April 9, 2014ByTars Tarkas

Zone Fighter Episode 08 – Taose! Kyoufu-no Inbeedaa

aka 倒せ! 恐怖のインベーダー aka Smash the Terrifying Invader! aka Defeat the Invader of Fear!

1973
Written by Satoshi Kurumi
Directed by Akiyasu Kikuchi

Kirk! Is better! Than! Picard!

This episode of Zone Fighter is pretty darn weak, though it has a nice gruesome scene involving two unfortunate fishermen, and a nice fight at the very end in which the outcome is never in doubt. But to get to it we have to follow the Garogas make a bunch of dumb moves and our heroes also make a bunch of dumb moves. And that’s just not fun! If you need a Zone Fighter refresher course, feel free to drop by the Zone Fighter Guide Page. And now on with the show…

Buy Icebreakers Gum!

Zone Fighter Episode 8 Taose! Kyoufu-no Inbeedaa (Smash the Terrifying Invader! or Defeat the Invader of Fear! depending on who you trust has a better translation) opens with Akira and a pack of his young friends hanging out in Takeru Jou’s model shop. The terrifying realization that we might have FOUR children in short shorts starring instead of just one begins to materialize, luckily it will prove not to be the case. The kids are unimpressed by model trains, but one kid really likes the telescope. So much so that he notices a rocket heading for impact nearby.

Said rocket is one of the Garoga Terror-Beast Rockets, which Takeru recognizes immediately. He and Akira track the course on a map to a lake, then head over there in a car, ditching the young friends. None of the friends seem to be disturbed their young friend is getting into a car with a strange man who hangs out with young boys all day. I predict a Lifetime movie in the future…

You’ve been in all these films, help us!

Two fishermen are at the lake and having their little argue moment when the missile lands in the water. One of them is actor Senkichi Omura, who played the translator in King Kong vs Godzilla, an escaped convict in Godzilla Raids Again, a villager in Godzilla vs Mothra, a guy who tries to retrieve a hat in Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, a cameraman in Frankenstein Conquers the World, and a drunk in the first episode of Ultra Q. And all those Akira Kurasawa films he was in. The other fisherman (who isn’t instantly recognizable) drops his food. The horrors of the Garoga terrors will be sung in songs for ages!

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice!

InBad, Movie Reviews

Machi Action (Review)

March 31, 2014ByTars Tarkas

Machi Action

aka 變身

2013
Written by Giddens Ko
Directed by Jeff Chang

Machi Action is a hilarious tale of a tokusatsu hero actor who is replaced and must find a new purpose in life. The film will resonate for anyone who has lost a job and struggled through the uncomfortable period of trying to readjust their life to the new actuality. Unfortunately thanks to the Great Recession, far too many of us have experienced that reality.

A unique film in the tokusatsu genre due to the focus on the actors and decisions behind the series, instead of just a parade of easily replaceable teenage heroes. Machi Action covers all the bases, from the lame effects to generic monsters to shows growing stale due to lack of drama and repetitiveness. The visuals are largely inspired from the various Kamen Rider series, with bits of Super Sentai and Ultraman thrown in for good measure.

The success of Machi Action is due to the mix of Tie Nan’s employment struggles and the tokusatsu genre humor. The balance keeps the film grounded enough for you to feel for the character while providing plenty of joke fodder of not only the effects heroes shows, but the entertainment industry in general. 10 years and a ratings nosedive cause Tie Nan to be on the unemployment line, the hero fighting his greatest battle, trying to stay relevant in a world that has moved on. As an ongoing plot thread shows, modern children have changed, and the show’s greatest failure is being stagnant instead of moving with them. People fear change, and it’s all too easy to get stuck in a routine that becomes a rut. But the longer you put off the inevitable, the bigger the pain will be when things are finally altered. Had Space Hero Fly kept up with the times there would have been no danger, but no one looked at the big picture.

The struggles of Tie Nan becomes the struggles of everyone to adapt and change with what life gives you, while still living up to your principles and doing what you believe in. There is always the danger of someone newer and younger coming in to replace you. But don’t give up the fight!

	Tie Nan (Wilson Chen Bo-Lin) – Actor who has portrayed the tokusatsu hero Space Hero Fly for the past decade, and soon finds himself without a job. He was born to play a super hero, having pretended to be one as a child to help his sick brother deal with his illness.
	Monster (Chiu Yang-Shiang) – Actor who plays all the monsters on the Space Hero Fly show, and best friend of Tie Nan. Opened a noodle shop with his pay. His face is never seen on tv because it’s always under a rubber suit.
	FACE (Owodog Zhuang Ao-Quan) – FACE is the new exciting Space Hero actor brought in as Space Hero Face to replace Space Hero Fly and Tie Nan. Is a recording artist and dancer for maximum multi-media penetration.
	Jingfen (Chen Ting-Hsuan) – A makeup girl on the Space Hero Fly show who secretly crushes on Tie Nan. They end up together, but his esteem freefall dealing with his home shopping network stint takes a toll until Tie Nan regains his own self-respect.
	Su Ying Ying (Puff Kuo Xue-Fu) – Daughter of SUTV Chairman Su and takes over programming after being educated in America. Her first task is to deal with the ratings disaster Super Hero Fly and fix the problems. Hates the super hero show.
	Chairman Su Wu Xiong (???) – Owner of SUTV and creator of the Super Hero Fly program. It’s his wish to keep that show on the air to help give the youth good morals to look up to. Has a distant relationship with his daughter after he sent her overseas for education so she’d have a better life.

InMovie News

Joshi Zu (女子ーズ) brings the female Super Sentai!

January 27, 2014ByTars Tarkas

Another Super Sentai (Power Rangers for us Americans!) spoof is in the works, this time featuring an all female team that fights evil suing a “Woman Tornado”! Of course, there are monsters and goons and color-coded costumes, because that’s what is expected! Joshi Zu (女子ーズ) features a team of five women who are forced to work together against their will to battle monsters and other dangers associated with the tokusatsu genre.

Plot:

To battle a malicious monster, five women are gathered in front of Commander Charles against their will. The five women are selected because they each have a family name that represents a color. The five women are filled with doubts about what they are able to do collectively, but they go up against the monster using their lethal technique “Women Tornado”. The five women can only use the “Women Tornado” when they are all gathered together.

Mirei Kiritani(Ace Attorney) plays the red Naoko Akagi, Mina Fujii(Gehara: The Dark and Long Hair Monster and Monsterz – the Japanese remake of the Korean film Haunters) the blue Mika Aota, Mitsuki Takahata the yellow Yuri Kikawada, Kasumi Arimura the green Kano Midoriyama, and Mizuki Yamamoto(Black Butler) the blue Sumire Konno. Their boss Commander Charles is played by Jiro Sato.

Aside from some promo shots from filming and a poster release, there is no monster details for Joshi Zu.

Writer/Director Yuichi Fukuda previous worked on the super hero spoof HK: Forbidden Super Hero/HK Hentai Kamen, which features a guy running around with panties on his head. He also directed Kid’s Police, the crime film starring entirely children that is not Hawk Jones.

Joshi Zu hits theaters June 7, 2014

via AsianWiki

InBad, Movie Reviews

The Golden Bat

October 7, 2013ByTars Tarkas

The Golden Bat

aka 黄金バット aka Ogon batto

1966
Written by Susumu Takaku
Directed by Hajime Sato

The Golden Bat is one of the best movies of all time. The Golden Bat is one of the craziest movies of all time. The Golden Bat is one of the funnest movies of all time. The Golden Bat is the reason movies were invented. You will watch The Golden Bat, or he will beat the tar out of you with his cane, laughing all the while!

A dreamlike haze of crazy costumes and duplications and maniac villains and monsters, The Golden Bat drags the tokusatsu genre to a surreal edge, pushing the boundaries of what a sane child would accept as proper plot progression while making great use of the black and white cinematography to give a gothic noir flavor. Sinister characters get shadows cast over them unnoticed by the good heroes. The set design is a wild 60s psychedelic take on pulp science fiction while using the light and dark contrasts to make the alien seem alien. Director Hajime Sato would later go on to direct the Bava-esque Goke – Bodysnatcher From Hell. Sato can take a straight scenario and bend it into a warped world, He would later put this pulp science fiction experience to work as a television director on Captain Ultra, which also features crazy surreal aliens that would be right at home in The Golden Bat.

Ogon Bat/Golden Bat was created in 1930 by writer Ichiro Suzuki and artist Takeo Nagamatsu for use in Kamishibai, a storytelling device where an entertainer would narrate a story for children as sequential wooden cards illustrate the exciting things that are happening. The Kamishibai merchant would make money by selling candy to the children who attend his shows. Kamishibai declined after World War 2, but a few story tellers still exist in tourist zones. The practice is said to date back to Buddhist monks in the 12th century, but the modern version used to entertain kids has it’s roots during the depression as a cheap way to entertain and make money.

Golden Bat is considered the first Japanese super hero due to these tales, and many more were created over the years (including adaptations of American heroes) Some of the art is collection in a few Kamishibai books, and slides are available for download on specialty Kamishibai sites. Ogon Batto would then appear in manga tales.

Golden Bat made his first film appearance with 1950’s Ogon bat: Matenro no kaijin (Golden Bat: Frankenstein Skyscraper). After thisThe Golden Bat film, 1967 saw an anime series, and the last official film adaptation was 1972’s Ogon Batto ga yattekuru (Golden Bat Shows Up), where a fat and stupid Golden Bat does presumably unfunny things. Neither of the other two films are easily available for watching, probably due to the lack of Sonny Chiba. There is an unofficial Korean Golden Bat film called Yong Gu and the Golden Bat (영구와 황금박쥐 – 1992) which is one of those awful awful Korean children’s films that you should never watch.

	Golden Bat (voice of Osamu Kobayashi, performer unknown) – Hero of Atlantis, Golden Bat took a nap because one day humanity would need him. It turns out they did, and thus he wakes up just in time to fight Nazo. Golden Bat beats people with his cane because that’s what cool people do.
	Akira Kazahaya (Wataru Yamagawa) – Amateur astronomer who discovers that planet Icarus has gone off it’s course and will smash into the Earth. This is all you need to do to suddenly become invited to join the Pearl Research Institute and fight evil with science. Which Akira joins and does.
	Bat (Himself) – Golden Bat’s bat, who lives as a pendant on Emily and acts as a calling device and spy for Golden Bat.
	Nazo (Koji Sekiyama) – the self-proclaimed ruler of the universe, this four-eyed lunatic wants to destroy all other life in the universe so he will be the only life. Somehow that has given him followers who can’t put 2 and 2 together. Nazo’s latest target is the Earth. He hides out in his base, Nazo Tower, which can shoot lasers. Nazo can shoot lasers from his eyes and has a flying claw hand. In the pulp series, Dr. Erich Nazō (ナゾー) runs a crime syndicate based on world domination and wears a mask that resembles this alien form.
	Keloid (Yoichi Numata) – Giggling maniac with a burnt face who likes torture. Is the chief goon of Nazo. At one point he impersonates Dr. Pearl. Yoichi Numata also appears in Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion and the first two Ring movies.
	Piranha (Keiko Kuni) – Female goon of Nazo who impersonates Naomi for an extended period in an attempt of sabotage. She fails and is killed by Nazo. Keiko Kuni appears in Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion
	Jackal (Keiichi Kitagawa) – A wolf man complete with hairy uniform, he is more of a shock troop of Nazo.
	Nazo’s goons (various) – Dressed in all black, these faceless goons are disposable troops sent in service of their evil master.

InMovie News

Fight alongside Taiwanese tokusatsu-themed flick Machi Action!

January 25, 2013ByTars Tarkas

Machi Action is a tokusatsu flick with a twist, as it’s about the actors who star in the tokusatsu shows. Specifically, it’s about the actor who plays Cosmo Universe Space Hero Fly, and what happens when his low-rated show is replaced by a newer, cooler show with a better suit and a more hip actor. The acto then needs to find himself and become the sort of hero he played on tv. Judging from the look of Machi Action, director Zhang Shilin “borrowed” a lot of the visual style from some of the Kamen Rider series. Which isn’t a bad thing (and wouldn’t be the only time Taiwan had their own version of “Kamen Rider” properties.) Bolin Chen plays the soon-to-be unemployed actor.

via Maser Patrol

Here are some pics I ganked off the official Facebook page for Machi Action!

InMovie Reviews, Podcasts

Starman – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 14

September 4, 2012ByTars Tarkas

The Fantastic Four reboot failed to please comic book purists

Starman, a question a child might ask, but not a childish question. Because it’s a children’s movie! Nine of them! Combined into four American versions! Confused? Well, don’t be, because Tars and Todd are back again with another edition of the Infernal Brains Podcast to teach you all you need to know about Japan’s first cinematic super hero. He’s like Prince of Space, except better, because Prince of Space stole from him. Join us for the leaping and the long punching fight sequences and children being chased by witch women and corndog alien costumes and dance numbers. And find out why his girlfriend calls him “Super Giant”!

As usual, we got so many listening choices that even someone who is sickened by Salamander Men interpretive dancing can find a way: downloadable mp3, embedded flash with slideshow, embedded audio player, and iTunes feed link. So many choices, you’ll wave your arms randomly in the air as the Emerald Council decides to send Starman to save you once again!

Download the mp3 (right click, save as)

Watch in slideshow form:

Subscribe to the Infernal Brains on YouTube!

Films Discussed:
Starman – Atomic Rulers
Starman – Attack From Space
Starman – Evil Brain From Outer Space
Starman – Invaders From Space

Super Giant (スーパー・ジャイアンツ)
Super Giant Continues (続スーパー・ジャイアンツ)
Super Giant – The Mysterious Spacemen’s Demonic Castle (スーパー・ジャイアンツ怪星人の魔城)
Super Giant – Earth on the Verge of Destruction (スーパー・ジャイアンツ地球滅亡寸前)
Super Giant – The Artificial Satellite and the Destruction of Humanity (スーパー・ジャイアンツ人工衛星と人類の破滅)
Super Giant – The Spaceship and the Clash of the Artificial Satellite (スーパー・ジャイアンツ宇宙艇と人工衛星の激突)
Super Giant – The Space Mutant Appears (スーパー・ジャイアンツ宇宙怪人出現)
Super Giant Continues – The Devil’s Incarnation (続スーパー・ジャイアンツ悪魔の化身)
Super Giant Continues – The Poison Moth Kingdom (続スーパー・ジャイアンツ毒蛾王国)

Some source images from BlackSun

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Starman is Buffalo Bill?!?! It all makes sense..

Prior Infernal Brains:
Taiwanese Giant Monster Films Part 1
Taiwanese Giant Monster Films Part 2
Polly Shang Kuan
Turkish Pop Cinema Part 1
Turkish Pop Cinema Part 2
Dara Singh
Infernal Brains Podcast – 07 – Insee Daeng
Infernal Brains Podcast – 08 – Worst Podcast Ever
The Mummies of Guanajuato – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 09
Jane Bond – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 10
Daigoro vs Goliath – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 11
Down the Rabbit Hole with Pearl Cheung Ling – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 12
Through the Looking Glass with Pearl Cheung Ling – Infernal Brains Podcast Episode 13

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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	Superman (Telugu)
	The 113 Must See Flicks From the American Film Market 2013
	Sweet Prudence & the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot
	March of Godzilla Island
	Let the Bullets Fly
	I Married a Monster From Outer Space
	“They Look Like They Make Sense, Don’t They?” – A Reassessment of Prometheus
	James Band 007