Hiruko the Goblin

Justin Decloux4.0

Holy smoke. Writer/Director Shinya Tsukamoto took a studio job after his first masterpiece TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (Gotta pay the bills) and still managed to deliver a confident outing that mixes in the wild energy of EVIL DEAD 2, the mythology of GHOSTBUSTERS, and his gnarly love of body horror mapped onto a distinctly Japanese landscape.It's a perfect sweaty summer movie: A group of teenagers go looking for a missing dad at their closed down school and discover an underground tomb has unleashed a bunch of human-faced spider monsters that love to decapitate people. I remember finding HIRUKO a little slow when I watched it a few years back but re-visiting it today right after TETSUO helped clarify how fully formed Tsukamoto was so early on in his career. He proves with HIRUKO that he can tell a conventional story with endearing characters, goofy comedy, and solid dramatic beats, and he doesn't have to sacrifice his style to do it. The end product may not be as liberating as his personal work, but it's undeniably him. It's reasonable that someone who watched TETSUO would opine "This guy could never make something for mass audiences." when in reality the wildness is actually carefully controlled. Tsukamoto knows what he's doing. It's akin to the genius painter who can also draw amazing stick figure comic books - which he can only do because he's mastered the extremes of his art.

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine4.0

100TH Review for The Collab Weekly Movie WatchA better Evil Dead Trap sequel than the actual Evil Dead Trap sequel, at least it delivers on the bonkers horror stuff much, much better.As you would expect from a Shinya Tsukamoto movie, you get dose of awesome makeup and prosthetic work with some crazy fun and disturbing creatures, especially on the third act when literally all hell breaks loose. The Japanese director especially succeeds at what I believe Andy Muschietti failed on It: Chapter 2, and that’s making an effective, terrifying, and cool looking spider human head monster. The film is also quite experimental, but not so much that makes it difficult for most people to enjoy, though you can bet many will find themselves thinking “WTF” in more than one occasion. I also grew to like the humor, some good slapstick comedy (and camerawork) that’s very reminiscent of Raimi, though never as campy. The cinematography is actually pretty good, there’s always this dreamy quality to it that adds this level of surrealism that functions extremely well with the film.All in all, while it takes a while for the movie to get fun and interesting, once it does, you can be sure you will be in for a fun ride. TODAY SCHEDULEHiruko the GoblinShadowlandsReinfeldHaunted Mansion

Kaijuman5.0

Pure unadulterated entertainment. Director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) creates a fun blast of originality that perfectly mixes horror with more campy elements. The plot to Hiruko the Goblin isn’t complex. A mysterious shroud has opened unleashing a goblin onto school grounds during summer vacation. The only ones able to stop it are the teenage son of the man who discovered the shroud and an eccentric archeologist. Together they must survive the night at the school to save humanity from falling to the goblin invasion. The simple plot allows for the movie to focus more on the sfx aspect and character development, which this excels at both. The two leads are both well-rounded and likable, making you want to see them succeed. I particularly liked the archeologist because he was played by Kenji Sawada (The Happiness of the Katakuris). The effects are both frightening and silly. Plenty of decapitations keep the gore from letting up while the goblins themselves call back to the spider-head from John Carpenter’s The Thing. Human heads with claw-like legs scuttling after people is very entertaining to watch. They look like some sorta demented hermit crab. Stop-motion is even used occasionally to animate them.Being directed by Shinya, the movie looks amazing. His natural creativity heightens the movie and helps give it a bizarre and unsettling atmosphere. Plenty of fog lit by moonlight, there’s a girls voice heard singing throughout the school, a totally not severed head hidden in the shadows speaks to draw victims to their demise, it’s both cool to look at and uncomfortable at the same time.While not his most beloved work, Hiruko is a fun ride from beginning to end. I loved it more than most might, but that sums up a lot of my reviews anyway. Highly recommended.