Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater (Japanese: 楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Hepburn: Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō), also known as Kazuo Umezz's Horror Theater, is a Japanese six-part anthology horror film series based on manga works by Kazuo Umezu. It was released in 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the start of Umezu's career as a manga artist.[1][2] The series was distributed by Shochiku,[3] and features music composed by singer-songwriter Rurutia.[4]

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater
Promotional release poster
Created byKazuo Umezu
Years2005
Films and television
Film(s)
  • House of Bugs (or Bug's House)
  • Ambrosia (or Diet)
  • Snake Girl (or The Harlequin Girl)
  • The Wish
  • Present
  • Death Make

Films

House of Bugs

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs (楳図かずお恐怖劇場蟲たちの家, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Mushi-tachi no ie, a.k.a. Bug's House) is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.[5][6][7] Its plot centers around a husband and wife, the former of whom suspects the latter of not only being unfaithful to him, but possibly mutating into a large insect.[8]

Ambrosia

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Ambrosia (楳図かずお恐怖劇場絶食, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Zesshoku, a.k.a. Diet), is directed by Itō Tadafumi and written by Hiroshi Takahashi.[9] It follows a schoolgirl who goes on an extreme diet in order to win the affections of a boy.

Snake Girl

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl (楳図かずお恐怖劇場まだらの少女, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Madara no shōjo, a.k.a. The Harlequin Girl), directed by Noboru Iguchi,[2] is an adaptation of The Spotted Girl, an installment in Umezu's 1965–66 manga trilogy Reptilia.[10] The film stars Arisa Nakamura as Yumiko, a girl who is invited by her cousin to spend her summer vacation in a rural village, where she finds herself terrorized by a half-human, half-snake witch.[11]

The Wish

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish (楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Negai) is directed by Atsushi Shimizu.[2] It follows a lonely schoolboy who carves a companion for himself in the form of a wooden doll shaped like a human head.[11]

Present

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present (楳図かずお恐怖劇場プレゼント, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Purezento), directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi,[2] sees a group of students' Christmas festivities interrupted by a murderous Santa Claus[12][13] and his band of flesh-eating reindeer.[11]

Death Make

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make (楳図かずおの恐怖劇場 デスメイク, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Death Make) is directed by Taichi Itō.[2] It follows a group of supposed psychics who, as part of a reality television program, are challenged to spend 24 hours in an abandoned office building[11] where, ten years prior, a group of girls disappeared after attempting to summon ghosts.

Release

The six films were screened at the Eurospace theater in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, on 18 June 2005.[4]

References
  1. (Kinema Junpo & June 2005, p. 92): "様図かずお恐怖劇場」今年、プロデビュー 50 周年を迎えるホラーコミックの先駆者、楳図かずお原作の 6 つの [...]"
  2. Murguía, Salvador Jimenez (2016). The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 345. ISBN 978-1442261662.
  3. (Harper 2009, p. 170)
  4. "日本映画紹介". Kinema Junpo (in Japanese). No. 1444 (12月下旬号). December 2005. p. 184. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  5. Jacoby, Alexander (2008). A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1933330532.
  6. Oumano, Elena (2010). Cinema Today: A Conversation with Thirty-Nine Filmmakers from Around the World. Rutgers University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0813548760.
  7. White, Jerry (2007). The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Master of Fear. Stone Bridge Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-1933330211.
  8. (Harper 2009, p. 171, 173)
  9. Brown, Steven T. (2018). Japanese Horror and the Transnational Cinema of Sensations. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 19. ISBN 978-3319706283.
  10. "デジタル大辞泉プラス「まだらの少女」の解説". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  11. (Harper 2009, p. 173)
  12. Kurland, David (December 18, 2015). "A Comprehensive Look at the History of Murder Santas". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  13. Rosewarne, Lauren (2017). Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural. Lexington Books. p. 327. ISBN 978-1498541817.

Bibliography
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