Yamaguchi breathes cult. Whatever he tackles, be it comedy, horror or even crime, the result is always a bonkers genre film with infinite cult potential. Not all his work is outstanding, but he's made plenty of great films, and they're never boring.
Rare treats
Ten Nights of Dreams
A wonderful collection of shorts, visually pleasing, fun to watch and from time to time refreshingly weird.
The good stuff
If you don't mind a bunch of 40-year old actors playing 16-year old high school student with greasy hair and no manners to speak of, you're probably fine.
It sports a cool main character, some nice camera work and very atmospheric and detailed styling.
Solid pieces
The ABCs of Death
An Encyclopedia of Unconventional Women
Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
One of those films that prefaced the Sushi Typhoon age. It was Yudai Yamaguchi's first feature film, fronted by action/horror bad boy Tak Sakaguchi, and adapted from a manga. There was bound to be craziness galore, and crazy is what you're getting. It's just that the execution is a little wonky. Yakyu Jubei is new at his school. He never really fitted in, but he's a very gifted baseball player, and when his school's team is chosen to play one of the toughest, meanest teams in the league, Jubei is the only one likely enough to give them a fighting chance. He needs a bit of convincing, but finally, he commits. There are some crazy ideas and insane plot elements, which are mostly played for laughs. The film works better as a comedy, the gore is a bit basic and looks rather cheap. It doesn't hinder the film too much, but since then crazier, weirder, and more outrageous films have been released. Still good fun, but not really a masterpiece anymore.Read all
The inoffensive
Yamaguchi's latest film is probably a good indication of the position Japanese underground horror finds itself in these days. Underfunded, without a dedicated international audience and straining to survive. With the proper talent and budgets backing this film this could've been a lot of fun, now it's mostly just unrealized potential. Though they haven't seen each other in 10 years, Izumi and Mika decide to meet up again and catch up for old time's sake. Meanwhile, a string of seemingly unrelated hauntings is taking place. When Mika reveals a lingering trauma from their childhood days, everything appears to be coming together. The film plays a little like a horror anthology, with one main thread bringing all the shorts together in the end. There are some fine ideas here, and it's not hard to see how this could've been a great Japanese horror film, but cheap production values, poor performances and icky CG don't really help Yamaguchi. It's a shame, because underneath that cheapness this was good fun.Read all
