Wolf Guy

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Wolf Guy

#1 Post by Ribs » Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:57 am

Image

Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba is a martial arts "manimal" in the ultra-70's, 100% bizarre mixture of horror, action and sci-fi that is Wolf Guy, one of the rarest and most sought-after cult films produced by Japan's Toei Studio. Based on a manga by Kazumasa Hirai (creator of 8 Man), and never before released outside of Japan, it's a genre film classic waiting to be discovered and a completely unclassifiable trip into phantasmagoric funk.

Chiba stars as Akira Inugami, the only survivor of a clan of ancient werewolves who relies on his supernatural powers to solve mysterious crimes. After a series of bloody killings perpetrated by an unseen force, Inugami uncovers a conspiracy involving a murdered cabaret singer, corrupt politicians, and a plot by the J-CIA to harvest his blood in order to steal his lycanthropic powers! At the same time, Inugami also discovers the truth behind his family heritage, and that he may not be the last of his kind.

Directed by B-movie genius Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Sister Streetfighter, Wandering Ginza Butterfly, Karate Bear Fighter), Wolf Guy truly is one-of-a-kind, with Chiba in full effect as the part-man, part-wolf, all-karate action hero and a collection of familiar 1970's Toei actors in support. Violence, action, nudity, real surgical footage, and a psychedelic musical score all work together to create an unforgettable trip to the heights of Japanese cinematic weirdness.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

High Definition digital transfer
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original uncompressed mono audio
New optional English subtitle translation
New video interview with actor Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba
New video interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
New video interview with producer Tatsu Yoshida
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Patrick Macias and a history of Japanese monster movie mashups by Jasper Sharp.

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Wolf Guy

#2 Post by Calvin » Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:13 pm

My favourite announcement of the month; I've been hoping for this ever since it was said that Arrow had some Sonny Chiba coming up. The film is bonkers.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Wolf Guy

#3 Post by colinr0380 » Sun May 21, 2017 5:33 am


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Telstar
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:35 pm

Re: Wolf Guy

#4 Post by Telstar » Mon May 22, 2017 5:31 pm

Very nice booklet with Wolf Guy, highlighted by an especially good piece by Jasper Sharp that's filled with great photos and references to pre-Ring Cycle Japanese horror films that would be perfect for Arrow: Last Frankenstein, various Ishii films, the Legacy of Dracula "trilogy" and numerous phenomenal 50s movies by Nobuo Nakagawa (any of which would be great as individual titles, but a holy grail if released as some sort of dream project box set).

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Wolf Guy

#5 Post by colinr0380 » Mon May 22, 2017 5:58 pm

I'd certainly be supportive of a 'Japanese Horror Project' box to compliment Stephen Thrower's work on the American Horror Project set! Though in the meantime I'd point towards Synapse Film's great US releases on DVD back in the day of Nakagawa's Snake Woman's Curse and Teruo Ishii's Horrors of Malformed Men. They're also the place to go to for the ongoing series of Roman Porno films, some of which stray into horror material, as I doubt any of those will ever get past the BBFC any time soon!

I'd be generally curious at how classic Japanese horror films from the 60s and 70s will be received in the UK. It has seemed to me that outside of the Godzilla films (along with Kwaidan and Onibaba that were situated more squarely as being arthouse films rather than horror films per se, and championed by Tartan Video on VHS as such) that barely any Japanese horror films from that period were released in the UK. Or really Japanese genre films in general, such as those headed by Sonny Chiba. Later on arguably Shinya Tsukamoto's two Tetsuo films might count as horror titles, but they're so strange and bizarre that they almost move 'beyond' horror into that strange 'cult midnight movie' area! I guess also the Urotsukidoji films, Devil Man, Wicked City, Doomed Megalopolis etc, but they were all safely segregated off more into the 'dangerous world of anime' from the get go!

I think that's another reason why the 1998 Ring film (also championed by Tartan Video!) seemed to hit with as much force as it did, seeming to appear out of nowhere and kicking off (with Tartan's "Asia Extreme" label) a wave of Asian horror films getting DVD releases. As well as being a great film it is a relatively straightforward story (spooky but not too gory or flat out weird!) with a broad audience appeal to anyone who has ever been afraid that their television will murder them one day!

At the time though Tartan seemed focused on releasing 'the next Ring' (i.e. The Eye, Phone, One Missed Call, and so on) or contemporary genre works from Japan and wider afield (such as South Korea after Park Chan-wook's Vengeance trilogy) rather than exploring past titles too much. The US distributors have been doing far more of that for longer and in more depth (HvE's Fukasaku titles, Fantoma's Masumura releases, Unearthed Films releasing Shozin Fukui titles and the Guinea Pig series, Synapse's work), but it is nice to see Arrow now doing the same for the UK too.

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