Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater
Promotional release poster
Created byKazuo Umezu
Years2005
Films and television
Film(s)
  • House of Bugs (or Bug's House)
  • Ambrosia (or Diet)
  • Snake Girl (or The Harlequin Girl)
  • The Wish
  • Present
  • Death Make

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater (Japanese: 楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Hepburn: Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō), also known as Kazuo Umezz's Horror Theater, is a Japanese six-part anthology horror film series based on manga works by Kazuo Umezu. It was released in 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the start of Umezu's career as a manga artist.[1][2] The series was distributed by Shochiku,[3] and features music composed by singer-songwriter Rurutia.[4]

Films

House of Bugs

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs (楳図かずお恐怖劇場蟲たちの家, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Mushi-tachi no ie, a.k.a. Bug's House) is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.[5][6][7] Its plot centers around a husband and wife, the former of whom suspects the latter of not only being unfaithful to him, but possibly mutating into a large insect.[8]

Ambrosia

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Ambrosia (楳図かずお恐怖劇場絶食, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Zesshoku, a.k.a. Diet), is directed by Itō Tadafumi and written by Hiroshi Takahashi.[9] It follows a schoolgirl who goes on an extreme diet in order to win the affections of a boy.

Snake Girl

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl (楳図かずお恐怖劇場まだらの少女, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Madara no shōjo, a.k.a. The Harlequin Girl), directed by Noboru Iguchi,[2] is an adaptation of The Spotted Girl, an installment in Umezu's 1965–66 manga trilogy Reptilia.[10] The film stars Arisa Nakamura as Yumiko, a girl who is invited by her cousin to spend her summer vacation in a rural village, where she finds herself terrorized by a half-human, half-snake witch.[11]

The Wish

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish (楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Negai) is directed by Atsushi Shimizu.[2] It follows a lonely schoolboy who carves a companion for himself in the form of a wooden doll shaped like a human head.[11]

Present

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present (楳図かずお恐怖劇場プレゼント, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Purezento), directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi,[2] sees a group of students' Christmas festivities interrupted by a murderous Santa Claus[12][13] and his band of flesh-eating reindeer.[11]

Death Make

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make (楳図かずおの恐怖劇場 デスメイク, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Death Make) is directed by Taichi Itō.[2] It follows a group of supposed psychics who, as part of a reality television program, are challenged to spend 24 hours in an abandoned office building[11] where, ten years prior, a group of girls disappeared after attempting to summon ghosts.

Release

The six films were screened at the Eurospace theater in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, on 18 June 2005.[4]

References

  1. ↑ (Kinema Junpo & June 2005, p. 92): "様図かずお恐怖劇場」今年、プロデビュー 50 周年を迎えるホラーコミックの先駆者、楳図かずお原作の 6 つの [...]"
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Murguía, Salvador Jimenez (2016). The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 345. ISBN 978-1442261662.
  3. ↑ (Harper 2009, p. 170)
  4. 1 2 "日本映画紹介". Kinema Junpo (in Japanese). No. 1444 (12月下旬号). December 2005. p. 184. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Jacoby, Alexander (2008). A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1933330532.
  6. ↑ Oumano, Elena (2010). Cinema Today: A Conversation with Thirty-Nine Filmmakers from Around the World. Rutgers University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0813548760.
  7. ↑ White, Jerry (2007). The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Master of Fear. Stone Bridge Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-1933330211.
  8. ↑ (Harper 2009, p. 171, 173)
  9. ↑ Brown, Steven T. (2018). Japanese Horror and the Transnational Cinema of Sensations. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 19. ISBN 978-3319706283.
  10. ↑ "デジタル大辞泉プラス「まだらの少女」の解説". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 (Harper 2009, p. 173)
  12. ↑ Kurland, David (December 18, 2015). "A Comprehensive Look at the History of Murder Santas". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Rosewarne, Lauren (2017). Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural. Lexington Books. p. 327. ISBN 978-1498541817.

Bibliography

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