Tak Sakaguchi's SAMURAI ZOMBIE (YOROI)

[Sheldon Warnock]

Tak Sakaguchi's Samurai Zombie (Yoroi) is set to have its world première at this year's Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan).

Here's a description of Samurai Zombie from the PiFan website: "A family is kidnapped by a couple who have guns. Wandering lost, they get together in a place where there are zombies in samurai armor. Encountering zombies and police, reunited family struggle and get to confront a tragic secret. A fun action-horror on the low budget B-movie."

PiFan: Samurai Zombie

[Paul Casey]

I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner! haha

This one's gonna need some good gore on its side, I think. Sounds like it could be pretty fun.

[Wim C.]

Originally Posted by Paul Casey

I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner! haha

Fukasaku's Samurai Reincarnation has got zombified samurai of sorts.

[Paul Casey]

Originally Posted by Wim C.

Fukasaku's Samurai Reincarnation has got zombified samurai of sorts.

There you go! I stand corrected.

[Sheldon Warnock]

Here's a new description of Samurai Zombie from the PiFan website: "This Japanese low-budget action drama follows a family on a trip that encounters a man threatening them with a gun on a desolate mountain trail. At a moment of maximum tension, a couple shows up out of nowhere, kills the man and disappears again, and shortly after a lunatic old lady comes and warns them of death. The frightened family is headed for a showdown for no reason with samurai zombies resurrected from their graves. Samurai Zombie is a so-called fusion-style film that has established itself as a trend. What starts out as an action movie turns into a gory horror film and then goes back to action all over again. Each genre is decorated with utter tackiness. Zombies resort to traditional action using swords and bows rather than biting off the alive and actors demonstrate what overacting really is as they take comic motions at the most serious moments. Attraction of this film brimming with exaggeration throughout should be found in its freewheeling style. The unexpected, hidden drama is quite interesting as well."

In related news, Media Blasters apparently has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights for Sakaguchi's Be a Man! Samurai School (Sakigake!! Otokojuku).

BTW, Sakaguchi was the action director for Ken'ichi Fujiwara's High School Girl Rika: Zombie Hunter (Saikyô heiki joshikôsei: Rika - zonbi hantâ vs saikyô zonbi Gurorian) - the third movie in the Nihombie (Nihonbi) series.

PiFan: Samurai Zombie

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Sympatico / MSN: Be a Man! Samurai School English-subtitled promo reel page

Be a Man! Samurai School official website

Fantasia Festival: Be a Man! Samurai School

High School Girl Rika: Zombie Hunter trailer (QuickTime)

GOMORRAHY.com: High School Girl Rika: Zombie Hunter (w/ trailer, flyer, stills, etc.)

[Barry M.]

Sakaguchi was asked about this at the Fantasiafest BE A MAN screening, and he laughed and said it would be much more to the tastes of this audience, and that they would outdo Tokyo Gore Police. He qualified it a bit -- in terms of onscreen blood spillage. So, presumably not quite as OTP as TGP -- but I'd like to see something considerably gutsier than Be a Man's cheerful action.

[Sheldon Warnock]

According to the page for Samurai Zombie on Cinema Topics Online, the movie stars Yakkun Sakurazuka (Sakuraduka Yakkun), Nana Natsume, Keiko Oginome, Issei Ishida, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, and Kyôsuke Yabe.

Natsume previously starred in such movies as Joe Ma's Sasori and The Machine Girl (Kataude mashin gâru) director Noboru Iguchi's Saishû seiki! Natsume Nana - kyûkyoku no erosu.

Cinema Topics Online: Samurai Zombie (in Japanese)

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Arclight Films: Sasori

Saishû seiki! Natsume Nana - kyûkyoku no erosu stills set (JPEG - viewer discretion is advised)

Saishû seiki! Natsume Nana - kyûkyoku no erosu Japanese sale DVD cover (JPEG - viewer discretion is advised)

[Sheldon Warnock]

Above is the front of a flyer for Samurai Zombie. The official website for the movie isn't online yet; however, the URL for it is http://www.yoroi-zombie.com/.

BTW, the English-language title of Saikyô heiki joshikôsei: Rika - zonbi hantâ vs saikyô zonbi Gurorian has been changed from "High School Girl Rika: Zombie Hunter" to "RIKA: The Zombie Killer".

RIKA: The Zombie Killer trailer (QuickTime)

GOMORRAHY.com: RIKA: The Zombie Killer (w/ trailer, flyer, stills, etc.)

[Sheldon Warnock]

The official website for Samurai Zombie is now online, although at present it's just a home page. The complete romanized Japanese title of the movie is "Yoroi: samurai zonbi"; the international sales title of it is "Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie" (which I shall henceforth refer to it as).

According to the official website for Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie, the story and screenplay for the movie were written by Ryûhei Kitamura. The movie stars Hiromi Ueda (a.k.a. Yakkun Sakurazuka), Nana Natsume, Kyôsuke Yabe, Airi Nakajima, Issei Ishida, Shintarô Matsubara, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, and Keiko Oginome.

Here's a synopsis for Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie from the international sales agent for the movie, Bogeydom Licensing: "A family on a road trip comes across a car accident, and pulls over to help the driver of the car. It turns out that the driver is a fugitive, who hijacks the family's car. Pointing a gun at the father's head, the fugitive commands him to step on the gas and drive off. Guided by the fugitive, they soon encounter a blockade on the highway, so they take a road into the woods. All of a sudden, the car's navigation system monitor turns blood red. The blip on the monitor seems to be moving around in a sea of blood. Then the car breaks down for no apparent reason, and they're stuck in the woods. The fugitive tells the father to go look for tools to fix the car with, while he holds the rest of the family hostage. Having no choice, the father starts walking. ¶ Soon, the father finds a ghost village. He walks up to the top of a hill from where he can look down at the village. It looks like there's a cemetery up on the hill. He digs in the ground, and finds a rusty knife. He brings the knife up to his throat, and cuts off his own head. Blood splatters. The decapitated head falls down onto a tomb, and blood runs into the ground. After a moment, a razor-sharp Japanese sword comes out of the ground, and then an eerie samurai warrior crawls out of it. The samurai zombie chops up the father's head, then starts heading for the car. Meanwhile, the rest of the family and the fugitive have wandered into the woods. Their presence here is no accident - they were summoned. A rain of blood is about to wash everything in the village away with a curse and vengeance!"

Those who are interested in Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie may wish to watch the trailer for Bruno Mattei's Zombies: The Beginning (Zombi: la creazione).

Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie official website

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Zombies: The Beginning trailer (Windows Media Video)


News source: GOMORRAHY.com: Trailer Park subsite (an "NSFW ghetto", and unabashedly so!)

[Sheldon Warnock]

A trailer for Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie was added yesterday to the official website for the movie. Also, there's a stills gallery for the movie on AllCinema Online.

Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie official website (w/ trailer)

AllCinema Online: Yoroi: The Samurai Zombie stills gallery


News source: GOMORRAHY.com: Trailer Park subsite (an "NSFW ghetto", and unabashedly so!)

[Al Edwards]

http://asiancinefest.blogspot.com/20...e-another.html