RAMPO NOIR: A Strange Anthology

RAMPO NOIR (Blu-ray)

2005 / 134 min

From Arrow Video

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Edogawa Ranpo was an author apparently considered to be Japan’s answer to Edgar Allan Poe. I'm not familiar with any of his work and have no idea if Rampo Noir is an accurate representation of it, but as horror films go, this one is certainly “out there.” Though sometimes intriguingly (and grotesquely) bizarre, it’s just as often ponderous and pretentious.

Rampo Noir is an anthology film based on four of the author’s stories, each helmed by a different director. The only connecting thread is actor Tadanobu Asano, who appears in all of them. The first story is “Mars Canal,” which consists of a naked man beating a naked woman, then he stumbles to a remote pond and collapses. With no dialogue or sound effects - just an increasingly grating synth drone - good luck trying to decipher what the hell any of it is supposed to mean. Fortunately, this segment is less than 10 minutes long.

“Mirror Hell” is at least more comprehensible, telling the story of a dreamy-but-psychotic mirror maker who uses his craft to kill women that are attracted to him. Though it features one of Ranpo’s most popular recurring characters, private detective Kogoro Akechi (Asano), there’s more emphasis on the unhinged antagonist and his sadomasochistic proclivities. Additionally, the story is pretty poky and comes to an abrupt, unsatisfying conclusion.

The new Captain Underpants.

If you can imagine Johnny Got His Gun being directed by David Cronenberg, you’ll have good idea of what to expect with “Caterpillar,” about a helpless, monstrously disfigured ex-soldier who’s subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse by his wife. Attempts at elevated, artistic horror are often offset by overall cruelty and nastiness, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t weirdly interesting.

The final story, “Crawling Bugs,” is arguably the most twisted, but also more disjointed and meandering than the others. The basic story centers on a loony, germophobic limo driver’s obsession with a popular stage actress. Creative, colorful production design enhances an overall surrealistic tone and the main character’s descent into madness. There are also surprising moments of black humor, including a final scene that will either illicit gasps or giggles. 

Like most anthology films, Rampo Noir has issues with consistency and all four stories are longer than they need to be, leaving one with the impression that these directors would have been better off focusing more on pure horror and leaving artier aspirations at the door. Half the time we’re morbidly fascinated, other half we’re certain we can grab a snack from the kitchen without bothering to hit the pause button.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

CROSS THE LENS - This is a 75-minute making-of documentary, shot during the film’s production. I actually enjoyed it more than the movie itself.

INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews with director Suguru Yakeuchi, director Hisayasu Sato, director Atsushi Kaneko, cinematography advisor Masso Nakabori, cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa, actress Yumi Yoshiyuki.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - by Jasper Sharp and Alexander Zahlten.

STAGE GREETING - Cast & directors Q&A footage at Rampo Noir’s Japanese premiere.

IMAGE GALLERIES

THE END OF THE WORLD (1916): Apocalypse Then

THE END OF THE WORLD (1916)

aka Verdins Undergang and The Flaming Sword

Starring Olaf Fønss, Carl Lauritzen, Ebba Thomsen, Johanne Fritz-Petersen, Thorlief Lund, Alf Blütecher. Directed by August Blom. (77 min)

Essay by D.M. ANDERSON💀

My ongoing quest to see every disaster movie ever made has taken me to some interesting places. Other countries, other eras…including a film that was released back when Irwin Allen was still swimming around in his mom's womb.

Before Bruce Willis saved the world in Armageddon, before Roland Emmerich ushered in a new ice age in The Day After Tomorrow, even before George Pal revealed what happens When Worlds Collide, the tiny European country of Denmark wiped out nearly all of humankind in 1916 with The End of the World, a silent film about a comet that causes catastrophic global destruction. 

And here I thought the only cool things to come out of Denmark were pastries and Lars Ulrich.

 

Disaster was at its zenith in the 1970s with such classics as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. These films popularized a reliable formula that was used time and time again: A huge cast, melodramatic subplots (with at least one sappy love story), ominous foreshadowing of the disaster to come, the expert nobody listens to until it’s too late, the greedy bad guy who denies anything is wrong (or fucks-over others in the time-honored tradition of self-preservation), and of course, those special effects money shots.

As with any popular genre, the formula was milked to death, to the point where films like The Concorde: Airport ‘79 and Meteor felt more like self-parody…a few years before a real parody (Airplane!) came along. 

While that formula was a cash cow throughout most of the decade, it didn’t start in the ‘70s. Traveling further back in time, classics like The High and the Mighty (1954), San Francisco (1936), In Old Chicago (1938) and no-less than four Titanic movies (including a German-made slab of Nazi propaganda) boast many of the same elements as Airport and The Poseidon Adventure. Older still are Deluge (1933) and the silent film, The Johnstown Flood (1926), the latter of which I initially assumed was the humble prototype for what would someday be my favorite genre.

But those crazy Danes beat everybody by ten years…

I suppose if you want to get nitpicky, The End of the World isn’t technically the “first” disaster film, either. England’s Fire!, about a family’s rescue from a burning house, was a five-minute short produced in 1901. In 1912, Germany’s In Nacht und Eis depicted the sinking of Titanic (released only four months after it sank!), but was only a 35-minute two-reeler (a pretty damn good one at that).

Something molten in the state of Denmark.

However, The End of the World is the first feature-length disaster film that contains many of the attributes associated with the genre. You’ve got your melodrama, with young Dina (Ebba Thomsen) running off to marry mining mogul Frank Stoll (Olaf Fønss), which not only alienates her entire family - eventually causing Dad to die of a heart attack - it infuriates local miner Flint (Thorlief Lund), who later seeks revenge on Frank for stealing his woman.

But don’t fear for ol’ Frank because he’s a complete bastard. In what would someday be a disaster movie tradition, he fucks over a lot of people for personal gain. Damn near everybody, in fact. For starters, the astronomer who discovered the approaching comet entrusts Frank with the grave news of impending disaster, hoping the man will use his clout to inform the press. But because he’s more concerned with selling his stock holdings, Frank demands the papers print stories assuring the public there’s nothing to worry about. 

Elsewhere, young lovers Reymers (Alf Blütecher) and Dina’s younger sister, Edith (Johanne Fritz-Petersen), miss each other terribly while he’s at sea. She spends most of the film moping around the house, lamenting her loneliness, while he’s repeatedly seen gazing sadly across the water…and occasionally up at the approaching comet. Meanwhile, Frank throws a party for his wealthy friends, with plans for he and Dina to take cover in his mine when disaster finally strikes. Fuck everybody else.

All this melodrama comprises the first two-acts, with periodic shots of the comet getting closer as people helplessly gawk upward. Frank is easily the film’s most entertaining character, mainly because he’s such a dick. Director August Blom must’ve though so, too, because Frank has the most screen time. Edith and Reymers are cute but dull, their plight dragged down by the audience’s utter certainty that these two will somehow end up back in each other’s arms. 

The comet itself causes worldwide catastrophe, though all the action centers on the mining town where everyone lives. Fire rains from the sky while buildings are wiped out by a tsunami. Those who don’t die from the disaster are killed by toxic gas or shot during a riot when oppressed miners attempt to spoil Frank’s party. For a 100+ year old film, The End of the World features pretty interesting special effects, including early examples of split-screen to show panic-stricken crowds and fiery destruction within the same shot. 

But overall, is it a good film? The story is kind of meandering and slows to a crawl whenever Frank isn’t engaged in douchebaggery, but the disaster itself is kind of fun. Later apocalyptic movies with the same premise would obviously be grander, but this one did it first. Therefore, The End of the World is an important historical milestone in the disaster genre. And it’s still better than Armageddon.

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, VOLUME TWO Is A Folk Horror Feast

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A COMPENDIUM OF FOLK HORROR, VOLUME TWO

(Blu-ray)

1952-2024 / 2113 min (24 movies)

FROM SEVERIN FILMS

Review by Mr. Paws😻

When this set arrived, my wife asked me what folk horror was, and I couldn’t really provide a concrete definition. I mean, I generally know it when I see it, but like film noir, what constitutes folk horror is fairly open ended. So instead, I offered the recent Midsommar as an example, which was enough convince the missus that she would not be joining me for this particular review. 

Too bad, really, because some of the titles included in this set, such as The Ninth Heart and the gorgeously grotesque November, could just as easily be considered dark fantasy, which she has enjoyed on occasion (okay, probably not November, which is really, really “out there”). 

In cinematic terms, when & where folk horror actually started is equally murky. Because of this, you’re likely to find conflicting views on what films were among the first in the genre. However, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two, Severin Films’ follow-up to their first massive boxed set, serves up the memorably haunting Finnish film, The White Reindeer, which was first released in 1952. 

Whether or not it actually was the first folk horror film doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it reflects another exhaustive effort by Severin to not-only acquire and remaster a variety of films from around the world, a couple of ‘em are so obscure that they’re scanned from a single known print (such as Argentina’s Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf and USA’s Who Fears the Devil).

Not having seen or reviewed Volume One, I cannot draw comparisons regarding the film selection, but will say that Volume Two includes what’s easily the best bonus feature of any release this year: All the Haunts Be Ours: A Folk Horror Storybook is a beautifully bound & illustrated 252-page hardcover collection of 12 original folk horror stories by various notable authors, including Kim Newman, Ramsey Campbell, Eden Royce and Sarah Gailey, among others. 

A Little Severin Book!

That’s not the only thing new, either. Volume II kicks-off with To Fire You Come At Last, a 45-minute horror film produced by Severin Films itself (and not half bad!). Additionally, Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic is a morbidly fascinating new documentary chronicling the career (and strange life) of Indonesian scream queen Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch. Sharing that disc is one of her biggest, best-known films, Sundelbolong, a ghostly and violent rape-revenge tale.

Altogether, there are 24 films spread out over 13 discs. Like any collection, they vary in quality and one may question whether or not a few of them constitute folk horror (if you subscribe to a concrete definition). Still, this is a huge collection of titles…some that viewers might be familiar with, others I’m willing to wager few have ever seen, much less heard of. The City of the Dead and Psychomania are probably the best-known English language titles, the former being an atmospheric little gem featuring Christopher Lee. Conversely, Edge of the Knife is an unusual and earthy Haida-language film (which is hardly spoken anywhere save for a small part of Canada).

And in between, the films vary in tone, pace, aesthetic and general interest. For example, the Polish film, Demon, is an often surprisingly-funny tale of possession filled with odd, shitfaced characters. Britain’s Born of Fire is surreal and apocalyptic, while the USA’s Blood Tea and Red String is a strange stop-motion animated fantasy. Czechoslovakian director Juraj Herz is represented twice, the aforementioned November and Beauty and the Beast, which offers a dark & grimy take (but still somewhat romantic) on the oft-told story. Hailing from Wales, From the Old Earth may be short (and a little clumsy), but that ancient Celtic head a character digs out of his garden is creepy as hell. 

Other titles include Spain’s Akelarre, Japan’s kitty-fied classic, Bakeneko, USA’s The Enchanted, Korea’s Io Island, France’s Litan, Thailand’s Nang Nak, The Phillipines’ The Rites of May and Saudi Arabia’s Scales (this writer’s first Saudi film!). Not all of them are particularly good, and more-than-a-few might be an acquired taste, but for folk horror fans, there’s a ton to discover. The films also feature pretty excellent transfers, most mastered in either 2K or 4K. 

The features are only part of the journey. There are also 21 short films spread throughout the set, generally paired with titles that either feature the same director, similar subject matter or hail from the same countries. In the case of Blood on the Stars, it’s actually longer than the main feature, From the Old Earth. Additionally, there are plenty of bonus features for every film, from audio commentaries to featurettes to interviews, both new and archival (outlined below). 

It’s all packaged in a sturdy box with terrific artwork inside and out (though I’m not crazy about the disc sleeves). Like Volume One, All the Haunts Be Ours Volume Two isn’t for everyone, but for folk horror lovers who've always defined the genre by the likes of The Wicker Man and Midsommar, it's a treasure trove of obscurities. In terms of quantity, comprehensiveness and presentation, this is the best boxed set of the year.

EXTRA KIBBLES 

ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A FOLK HORROR STORYBOOK - “A Little Severin Book!”

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Detailed summaries, bonus features info/listings and technical specs for all 24 films, as well as stills and vintage promotional artwork.

DISC FEATURES (Listed in the order they appear over 13 discs)

TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST: Audio Commentary by director Sean Hogan, producers Paul Goodwin & Nicholas Harwood; Featurette - On the Lych Way; Trailer; Short Films - We Always Find Ourselves at Sea (with optional commentary) and Our Selves Unknown.

PSYCHOMANIA: Introduction by Chris Alexander; Audio Commentary by Maries J. Perez Cuervo; Return of the Living Dead -  Interviews with some of the actors; The Sound of Psychomania - Interview with composer John Cameron; Riding Free - Interview with singer Harvey Andrews; Trailer.

THE ENCHANTED: 2 Audio Commentaries - 1) By director Carter Lord & camera assistant Richard Grange; 2) By authors Chesya Burke & Sheree Renee Thomas; A Magical Place - Interview with composer Phil Sawyer; Hole in the Wall - character notes by screenwriter Charme Porter; Trailer; Short Film - Swimmer.

WHO FEARS THE DEVIL: Audio Commentary by historian Amanda Reyes; Crumble Will the Feet of Clay - Interview with producer Barney Rosenzweig; Silver Strings - Interview with actor/musician Hedges Capers; Featurettes - Manly of the Mountains with author David Drake, Occult Appalachia with historian Mitch Horowitz; Alternate Opening - With alternate title, The Legend of Hillbilly John (intro by actor Severn Darden; Trailer.

THE WHITE REINDEER: The Projection Booth - Episode from the program focusing of The White Reindeer; Short Films - A Witch Drum, The Nightside of the Sky and With the Reindeer.

EDGE OF THE KNIFE: Audio Commentary by directors Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown; Featurette - Retake: Making the First Haida-Language Feature Film; Short Films - Haida Carver and Nalujuk Night.

BORN OF FIRE: Igniting the Fire - Interview with director Jamil Dehlavi; The Silent One Speaks - Interview with actor Nabil Shaban; Between the Sacred and the Profane - Lecture by Dr. Ali Nobil Ahmad; The Djinn Revisited - The djinn legend in film is discussed by director Dalia Al Kury; Trailer; Short Films - Towers of Silence and QÃF.

IO ISLAND: Audio Commentary by historian Arie Schudson; Shaman’s Eyes - Featurette on shamanism in Korean films; Short Film - The Present (animated).

SCALES: Telling Our Stories - A discussion with director Shahad Ameen and producer Rula Nasser; Trailer; Short Film - Kindil.

BAKENEKO: A VENGEFUL SPIRIT: Audio Commentary by author Jasper Sharp; Featurette - Scratched: A History of the Japanese Ghost Cat; The Vampire Cat - A story read by Tomoko Komura; Trailer; Short Film: Man-Eater Mountain.

NANG NAK: Audio Commentary by Mattie Do (a director) and scholar Katarzyna Ancuta; Love and Impermanence - Interview with director Nonzee Nimibutr; Trailer.

SUNDELBOLONG: Hantu Retribution: Female Ghosts of the Malay Archipelago - Interviews with filmmaker Katrina Irawati Graham and author Dr. Rosiland Galt; Short film - White Song.

SUZZANNA: THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC: A Conversation with Director/Co-Producer David Gregory and Co-Producer Ekky Imanjaya; Trailer.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Audio Commentary by historian Michael Brooke; Archival Interviews - With director Juraj Herz, actors Vlastimil Harapes & Zdena Studenkova; Short Film - Frantisek Hrubin.

THE NINTH HEART: Audio Commentary by author Kat Ellinger; Featurettes - The Uncanny Valley of the Dolls: The History and Liminality of Dolls, Puppets and Mannequins; The Curious Case of Juraj Herz and the Svankmajers.

DEMON: Introduction by Agnieszka Jezyk; Audio Commentary by historian Daniel Bird & critic Manuala Lazic; Video Essay - In the Shadow of the Dybbuk; Trailer; Short Film - Dybbuk.

NOVEMBER: Video Essay - The Supernatural Lore of November; Featurette - Kratt Test Footage; Trailer; Short Films - Boundary (WTF???), Journey Through Setomaa (from 1913, it's the oldest film in the entire collection); Midvinterblot.

LITAN: Audio Commentary by historian Frank Lafund; Featurette - Un Tournage Litn; TV Episode of Temps X - Jean-Pierre Mocky, Un Drole D’Oisseau.

BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING: Introduction by director Christiane Cegavske; 2021 Indie Scream Online Film Festival Q&A - Featuring director Christiane Cegavske; Stills & Illustrations; 2 Trailers (including one for the director’s current work-in-progress).

NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF: Audio Commentary by filmmakers Garcia Bogliano and Nicanor Loreti; Short Film - Love from Mother Only (with optional commentary).

AKELARRE: Individual Interviews with director Pedro Olea, actors Silvia Munt and Inaki Miramon; Featurette - Invoking The Akelarre.

FROM THE OLD EARTH: Introduction by musician Gruff Rhys; Featurettes - Getting A Head in North Wales; From the Old Earth By the Book; A Sword in the Battle of Language; Short Films - Blood on the Stars, which is actually longer than the main feature (includes introduction by Gruff Rhys), and The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras.

THE CITY OF THE DEAD: Introduction by author Kay Lynch; 4 Audio Commentaries - 1) By historians Kim Newman & Barry Forshaw, 2) By historian Jonathan Rigby, 3) By the late, great Christopher Lee, 4) By director John Llewellyn Moxey; Featurette - Sir Christopher Lee Remebers The City of the Dead; Individual Archival Interviews with director John Llewellyn Moxey and actress Venetia Stevenson; Video Essay - Burn, Witch, Burn!: A Tribute to John Llewellyn Moxey; Trailer.

THE RITES OF MAY: Audio Commentary by historian Andrew Leavold; Featurette - Portrayal of Guilt, featuring film scholar Frances N. Sangil; Short Film - Itim: An Exploration of Cinema, which is actually a Rites of May documentary.