From Fantasia 2025: «Blazing Fists» brings a shot for redemption

Posted on 30 July, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

Inspired by a speech delivered by Mikuru Asakura, a former delinquent and now a respectable MMA fighter, Ikuto and Ryoma, two inmates in a juvenile detention center, decide to turn their lives around, and dedicate themselves body and soul to follow Asakura’s foot steps and train to earn a place in the “Breaking Down” tournament once they are released.

The path to this goal, as you might imagine, won’t be easy.

This is the premise of “Blazing Fists”, the new film directed by the iconic director Takashi Miike, which was screened recently in Fantasia 2025. This sport drama combines themes of juvenile gangs, corrupt systems, and a shot of redemption.

After being released from the juvenile detention center, we see both the shy Ryoma and the apparently chill (but powerful) Ikuto training to reach their goal. At the same time, they are dealing with their own family troubles, as Ikuto’s father is awaiting trial, accused of murder, and Ryoma can’t go home due to her mom’s new boyfriend. While the friendship between Ikuto and Ryoma looks strong on the outside, there is fear and shame deep inside Ryoma. This is because he can’t find the courage to confess that he was actually the culprit of the crime Ikuto was wrongly accused and imprisoned for.

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From Fantasia 2025 : «Good Game»

Posted on 30 July, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

Recently presented at Fantasia 2025, we had the chance to check «Good Game», a film that remind us that gaming, even on competitive level, can be enjoyed by anyone, and at any age.

Facing the risk of losing his internet cafe due the lack of customers, and the increasing rent, the middle-age owner Tai decides to enter the One Shot E-sport Tournament, hoping to use the grand-prize to save his business. Seeing that this is a team event, he recruits the only gamers he can convince, creating the most odd team to log in since Steam became a thing.

Among the members of this team called “Happy Hour” Tai has Fay, a rebellious but noble young lady that can’t seem to last at any job she gets, and the internet cafe is the only place where she fits. The other member is Octo (a.k.a. “Golden Arm”), a retired movie star that has taken playing video games as a brain exercise therapy for his wife with a deteriorating mental condition. Knowing the odds are against them, Tai manages to make Solo, a recently fired hot-shot of the E-sports circuit join the team.

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From Fantasia 2025: «Garo: Taiga»

Posted on 22 July, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

“Garo: Taiga” is a prequel movie to the legendary tokusatsu series “Garo”, presented in Fantasia 2025 and was directed by the legendary director Keita Amemiya, who before creating the original “Garo” series, in the western was known for directing other cult films like “Zeiram”, “Mirai ninja” and “Kamen Rider ZO” and “Kamen Rider J”.

For those who are not familiar with the “Garo” universe (I am noob myself, don’t feel bad), here is a little quick note:

The original series centers around Kouga Saejima, a powerful Makai knight that has the mission to protect mankind from The Horrors. These are demons created by certain negative emotions that enter our world occasionally and like to feed from humans. Along with a mystic sword and a sentient ring that serves as a companion, Saejima also possesses the Garo armor; a golden armor with a wolf-like mask, that has been passed down from generations in his family.

The “Garo: Taiga” movie was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series, brings the story of Taiga Saejima, Kouga’s father. In this story, Taiga discovers the plot of Jado, a very powerful Horror that plans to capture the 4 Sacred Beasts (Elemental Spirits) that are currently encased in a magical compass.Jado’s final goal is to absorb their powers and raise hell in our world. In his new mission to stop Jado, Taiga will have the assistance of Zaruba, his sentient magical ring with attitude, and Fuki, one of the Guides of the Makai order.

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From Fantasia 2025: Death comes knocking with «Noise»

Posted on 22 July, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

South Korean horror films always brings cool things to the table, and this year Fantasia 2025 got another hit with “Noise”.

This new film from director Kim Soo-jin presents the story of Ju-young, a young woman who returns to the apartment she and her younger sister Ju-hee acquired some months before, after Ju-hee disappears. Ju-young, who has hearing impediment and wears hearing aids, has been away for some time due to work. But as soon as she returns into the apartment, her hearing devices start picking up eerie, creepy sounds that are apparently coming from nowhere.

(Note: In the Press jacket the character main name is “Joo-young” but in the film the subtitles shows “Ju-young”, so I’m going with that in this review)

Frustrated at the lack of help from the police, and without any clues to Ju-hee whereabouts, Ju-young also has to deal with her landlady, who wants to mitigate the news of Ju-hee’s disappearance because it could delay a deal from a realty company to buy (and apparently renovate) the apartment complex where they live.

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From Fantasia 2025: «Rewrite»: Would you change your past?

Posted on 22 July, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

Shortly after having its premiere in Fantasia 2025, we had the chance to see “Rewrite”, a Japanese film that shows that without using expensive special effects you can have a great story about time travel, romance and personal growth.

So what is “Rewrite”, the new film directed by Daigo Matsui about?

Miyuki is a regular high school student who suddenly discovers that the transfer student in her class, Yasuhiko, is actually a time traveler from the future. Promising to keep this as a secret, Miyuki and him grow closer, more so when Yasuhiko confides the reason for him to travel to this point in his past.

It turns out that in his own time, Yasuhiko read a novel set in Miyuki’s town and era, and he wanted to experience the things described in the novel first hand. Soon, when Miyuki herself briefly travels into the future, her future self reveals that she is the writer of the novel, and that she should work hard to make it happen. Yasuhiko shortly returns to his time after Miyuki promises to write the book.

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“Sorop” : El hogar es donde está el corazón… Enterrado.

Posted on 14 June, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

-“Hanif… Que tal si el tío aun no está muerto?

“Sorop” nos trae la historia de Hanif e Isti, un par de jóvenes hermanas que regresan a la casa donde crecieron por petición de una tía suya, ya que el tío Koir se encuentra moribundo y repite sin cesar los nombres de las jóvenes.

La misma noche que ellas llegan, el tío Koir muere de una forma alarmantemente extraña, pidiéndole perdón a las hermanas. Este incidente claramente sacude a las chicas, sobretodo a Isti, la más joven, quien se enferma el día siguiente y le ruega a Hanif que se regresen de inmediato a su propia casa. Por desgracia empiezan a darse unos sucesos extraños y al parecer hay alguien (o algo)que quiere mantener a las hermanas en esa casa donde crecieron, como si su llegada fuera parte de un plan mas grande, que no estará finalizado hasta que todos los miembros de la familia hayan desaparecido para siempre.

“Sorop” es un filme dirigido por Upi Avianto y co-escrito con Simpleman. El filme podría haber sido catalogado a simple vista como otro más del montón en el sub-género de “Casas Embrujadas” pero les aseguro que el filme tiene muchas cosas que la hace resaltar entre otras de su nicho.

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«Sorop» ; Home is where the heart is… buried.

Posted on 14 June, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

-“Hanif… What if Uncle isn’t dead yet?”

“Sorop” is the story of Hanif and Isti, a couple of sisters that return to their childhood home at the request of their aunt, since their uncle Koir is dying and he keeps calling their names.

The same very night they arrive, their uncle Koir dies in a very strange manner, asking the sisters for forgiveness. This clearly shocks the sisters, especially Isti, the youngest one, who gets sick the next day and insists on going back home immediately. Unfortunately, strange events start to develop and it appears that something wants to keep the sisters in the house indefinitely, as if they were part of a plan that started a long time ago, and won’t be finished until everyone in the family is off the table.

“Sorop” is a film directed by Upi Avianto and co-written with Simpleman. The film could easily be dismissed as a typical tale of a haunted house, but let me assure you, this film has a lot of things that will stand out above most of the movies with a similar premise.

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«Pabrik Gula»: Overtime is not a problem, when you have angry demons.

Posted on 14 June, 2025 by Zed Kosnar

Attracted by what seemed like a great job opportunity, a group of seasonal factory workers from a village in East Java, Indonesia, agree to work on a sugar factory located on a remote location. Soon, they discover that the hardest part of the job is not the long hours, the hot days or the strange curfews that are imposed in the dormitories, but the angry spirits that seem to roam freely on the land during the night.

What at first seemed like just superstitions and old maiden tales, turns out to be a very real menace as strange and dangerous accidents start to happen more and more frequently in the factory. After digging into the past of the sugar mill, the workers discover that those lands are part of some demons’ realm, and the truce set between the humans and the demons years ago has been transgressed by someone in the factory.

As days go by, the demons’ wrath increases and so do the dangers in the camp, forcing the both workers and staff to look for a way to appease the demons before death (or something worse) comes for all of them.

This is the premise for “Pabrik Gula” (A.K.A. “Sugar Mill”) and let me tell you: I liked this film a lot, but if you are not familiar with Indonesian culture, you might have to be very patient and wait for some cultural concepts to be explained later in the film. (I confess that I had to stop the screener a couple of times and google some concepts and traditions, but I am a sucker for foreign cultures and did not want to wait until the film was over). If you hang in there for the first 25 minutes, you will be rewarded with a great ghost story with good characters, very good scares, some funny moments and several surprises that will stay with you even after the credits roll.

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From Fantasia 2024: «The Killers»

Posted on 5 August, 2024 by Zed Kosnar

I love anthologies, I love the noir genre, and I love horror. Therefore, when I saw that the anthology film “The Killers” was going to be presented in Fantasia 2024, I was excited to see it. I knew very little of the directors Kim Jong-kwan, Roh Deok, Chang Hang-jun and Lee Myung-Se, who combined their talents in this film. After seeing it, you can be sure that I will be seeking their other works too.

I will do my best to talk about the stories without going into a lot of details nor spoilers.

In the first story “Metamorphosis”, we see a man running for his life, barely making it alive into a very private bar. Being very confused at first, the man starts to get friendly with the bartender, a very mysterious and charismatic lady that does not seem scared at all by him, even when he has a knife coming out from his back.

I thought this was going to be the “base” story, the one that connects the rest, and that would be playing in segments between the rest of the stories. While it sets the mood just right for the rest of the film, it is isolated from the others.

It ends where I think something bigger might be barely starting… I wonder if we will ever get a full feature of this story.

I really hope so.

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From Fantasia 2024: «House Of Sayuri»

Posted on 3 August, 2024 by Zed Kosnar

What seemed to be a dream home for the Kamiki family quickly turns into a nightmare, as it turns out that the house they just acquired is haunted by the very violent spirit of Sayuri, a girl who used to live in the house about 10 years earlier. For some reason, Sayuri is filled with rage and sees this happy, loving family as something that she needs to destroy.

Right after they finish moving in, the Kamikis start to suffer accidents all through the house, while most of the members of the family accept them as just random unlucky moments, the senile grandmother who suffers from Dementia, seems to get glimpses of Sayuri. Norio, the middle son of the family and the one closest to Grandma, thinks all her ravings are due to her condition.

It’s only when things go horribly wrong that Norio starts to believe the words of Sumida, a girl from school who warned him about an evil presence in his house. This is also the time where Grandma seems to become lucid again, with a clear mind and the mission to defend her family sending Sayuri back to hell.

But as you might guess, there is more to this, and the task won’t be that easy.

This is the premise of “House of Sayuri” a film directed by Koji Shiraishi («Noroi: The Curse» , «Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman») and was recently presented in Fantasia 2024.

I really enjoyed this film, but I can see that it won’t be for everyone. The first half of the film is a very good horror film, not only for Asian Horror standards, but also for worldwide cinema. I would dare to say that it even breaks the formula that feels overused in the haunted house genre, and creates its own path.