Amemiya isn't afraid of pulpy material and will fully commit to it even when the budget isn't there. The Garo franchise is probably his most notable accomplishment, but if you love a bit of genre pulp, his entire oeuvre is worth a gander.
Movies
Keita Amemiya is the creator of the Garo IP, so it's no surprise he also directed many of the live-action films and spin-offs. He doesn't really have the budget to do justice to his grotesque fantasy creations, but that has never stopped him to go as big and far as his imagination would take him. The demons, creatures and characters are brazen anime-like creations, the plot is pretty out there and the action is nothing less than stellar. The CG just isn't there though, giving the film is a fake and glossy look. Either you forgive Amemiya this poor presentation, and you enjoy the film for its wild fantasy elements, or you'll hate this one with a vengeance. I quite liked it.Read all
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. 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
One of the many entries in the Garo universe, a tokusatsu franchise that has been going strong for the past 15 years. I'm not too familiar with the particulars, I never watched the original series, even so these stories tend to be so generic that it's easy enough to cherry-pick some spin-offs without missing anything essential. What stands out the most is the art style here. I'll readily admit that not everything works and some parts look really cheap, even so the mix of different animation styles and live action is intriguing and gives this film a unique vibe. There's quite a lot happening in the short runtime and if you're looking for a fun but cheesy diversion, this short spin-off has you covered. Just don't expect anything grand.Read all
Tales of Terror
Pretty decent sci-fi entertainment. I didn't expect too much when I started this film and sure enough, it gets pretty damn cheesy. At the same time Hakaider has a surprising cyberpunk vibe that puts it well apart from the tokusatsu superhero nonsense (you know, Ultraman and the likes) I had in mind. The effects are really cheap and the cast is clearly C-grade, but the designs are pretty cool and Amemiya does his best to put his limited budget to good use. It's no blockbuster material, nor is it a stylish, accomplished auteur film, but if you're in the mood for some badass genre cheese, this is one of the better films I've seen.Read all
Cheesy but fun Tokusatsu film. Everything about this film screams Keiya Amemiya, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he co-wrote and directed the film. If you don't care for Tokusatsu at all this isn't a film that will change your mind, if you can look past the cheese there's some solid fun to be had. The effects are cheesy and the film is pretty low-budget, but the designs are fun and the commitment to genre pulp is pure and unrelenting. It's also a shorter film, so the pacing is high. It's not great cinema, but it's made with passion and there is plenty of fun to be had. Decent Amemiya filler.Read all
A disappointing Amemiya film. He's a director known for handling silly kitsch rather well, but this feature-length TV special is really too cheap to do the material any justice. Unless you're really invested in the Garo franchise, I can't see any reason why anyone would want to see this film. Performances are weak, the effect are dirt cheap and the look of the film comes off quite lazy. 105 minutes is also way too long for this type of cheese. Amemiya shows a lot of ambition making this film, but when means are limited it's often better to tone things down a bit. It's an interesting train wreck, but a train wreck nonetheless.Read all