From Fantasia 2025: «Garo: Taiga»

“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»

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?

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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From Fantasia 2025: «Hold The Fort» Be sure to read the HOA contract!!

Fresh from Fantasia 2025, we had the opportunity to start our remote coverage with “Hold The Fort”, the new film written and directed by William Bagley.

In this film, we meet Lucas and Jenny, a couple looking for a new home away from the stress and noise of the big city. While Jenny is not very thrilled by the high fees of the local Home Owners Association, she admits she likes the calm and apparently friendly neighborhood where they have moved into.

While attending that same night to an Equinox celebration in the community center, Lucas and Jenny discover that their new home comes with a very important inconvenience that is specified in the HOA contract, the couple signed after barely skimming through it.

It turns out that in the forest next to the suburb, there is a dimensional portal that opens every year. From this hellish portal, all kinds of horrible creatures come through into our world, wreaking havoc and killing everyone that crosses their path. This party is really the time where all the neighbors join forces to battle the monsters from the portal, in order to keep their land and their lives.

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Desde Fantasia 2024: «The Killers»

Me encantan las antologías, me gusta el género Noir y me encanta el horror. Por tanto cuando supe que la antología “The Killers” iba a presentarse en el festival Fantasia 2024, estaba más que listo para verla. No conocía mucho de los directores Kim Jong-kwan, Roh Deok, Chang Hang-jun y Lee Myung-Se, quienes combinaron sus talentos en este film. Ahora que vi el filme, me voy a dar a la tarea de checar sus trabajos anteriores.

Voy a tratar de darles mis impresiones, cuidando de no caer en spoilers…

En la primera historia “Metamosphosis” vemos a un hombre huyendo por su vida, llegando apenas a refugiarse a un bar muy privado. Estando muy confundido al principio, el hombre empieza a hacer migas con la cantinera, una dama muy misteriosa y carismática que no parece asustarse por el aspecto del hombre, ni porque trae todavía un cuchillo clavado en la espalda.

Pensé que este iba a ser la historia “base”, esa que conectaría el resto de los relatos, y que estaría siendo desarrollada en medio de los mismos. Mientras que hace un buen trabajo sentando el ambiente para el resto del filme, esta historia está separada de los demás.

Justo donde creo que es apenas el principio de algo mas grande… Me pregunto si nos darán un filme completo a partir de ester relato.

Bueno, la esperanza muere al último.

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From Fantasia 2024: «The Killers»

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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Desde Fantasia: «House Of Sayuri»

La que parecía ser la casa de los sueños para la familia Kamiki rápidamente se vuelve una pesadilla, ya que en la casa que acaban de comprar ronda el violentisimo fantasma de Sayuri, una chica que vivió ahí años antes. Por alguna razón, Sayuri esta llena de rabia y ve esta amorosa y feliz familia como algo que necesita destruir.

Justo terminando de mudarse, los Kamikis empiezan a sufrir severos accidentes por la casa, mientras que varios de la familia lo ven como solo momentos de mala suerte, la abuela senil que padece de demencia, parece ver por momentos a Sayuri. Norio, el segundo hijo de la familia y el mas cercano a la Abuela, piensa que sus alborotos son producto de su condición.

Es solo hasta que las cosas se vuelven realmente horribles cuando Norio empieza a creer las palabras de Sumida, una compañera de la escuela que le habia advertido sobre una presencia maligna en su casa. Es aquí donde también la Abuela parecer recobrar su lucidez, mostrandose ahora con una mente clara y con la misión de defender a su familia, enviando a Sayuri de regreso al infierno.

Pero como podrán imaginar, hay mas cosas de por medio, y la tarea no será nada fácil.

Esta es la premisa de “House of Sayuri” el nuevo filme dirigido por Koji Shiraishi («Noroi: The Curse» , «Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman») y que fue presentado recientemente en Fantasia 2024.

Realmente me gustó mucho este filme, pero puedo ver que no va a ser para todos. La primera parte es una muy buena película de terror, no solo para los estándares del horror asiático, sino el resto del mundo. Me atrevo a decir que rompe la formula que ya se siente muy cansada del género de casas embrujadas y se forja su propio rumbo.

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From Fantasia 2024: «House Of Sayuri»

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.

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From Fantasia 2024 : «Faces» (short film)

You know, lately after a watching a horror movie in the theaters, a phrase I hear from other fellow moviegoers is “This should have been just a short”. Years ago, most of the time I disagreed, but lately… Not so much.

And that is why it was great when I saw a short called “Faces” and all I could think was: “This should be a full movie!”

Before I lose my self geeking out, I’ll give you the official synopsis:

“Following the disappearance of a local girl on a dark October evening, Judy, a college student visiting for the weekend, is invited to a fraternity party. For Judy, what could have been a night of fun and drinking spirals out of control when she encounters a mysterious, deadly entity. As the night unfolds, the entity’s uncanny quest brings violent consequences for those who cross its path.”

This was the last short that I could check out from Fantasia 2024, and it turned out to be hands down my favorite.

At first I’m sure a lot of people will roll their eyes and think “Ah, it’s another copy of “It Follows”, but this short has it’s own thing going on, and it packs a punch!

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Desde Fantasia 2024: “Kizumonogatari – Koyomi Vamp”

Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de ver “Kizumonogatari -Koyomi Vamp” gracias a Fantasia 2024. El nombre del filme me sonaba conocido, pero no sabia nada de la franquicia que forma parte, decidí aventarme y ver si un completo novato podría engancharse con este universo.

Híjole, que viajesote!

Por lo que es la trama, vemos la historia de un estudiante llamado Koyomi Aragi, que un día de regreso a casa, encuentra un rastro de sangre en las escaleras que van a la plataforma del metro. Siguiendo el rastro, se encuentra a una bella mujer vampiro llamada Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade. Con horror Aragi descubre que esta terriblemente mutilada por haber sido atacada por 3 cazadores de vampiros. Contra todo sentido común, Aragi se apiada de ella y deja que beba de su sangre para que la vampiresa se pueda regenerar.

Al siguiente día, Aragi se descubre aun vivo, contrario a lo que había esperado, pero ve que fue convertido en un semi vampiro, obteniendo algo de los poderes y las debilidades que aplican según las leyendas.

Las cosas se ponen mas extrañas cuando Aragi se da cuenta que Kiss-shot en ese momento tiene el aspecto de una chica muy joven y no muy poderosa, ya que necesita mas sangre para regenerarse por completo. Siendo que convirtió a Aragi en su súbdito, ahora el esta tendrá la misión de combatir a los 3 caza vampiros y recobrar las partes que tomaron del cuerpo de Kiss-shot.

Ok, esta película trae mucho que digerir.

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