When Horror Came To Shochiku - Eclipse From The Criterion Collection

Following years of a certain radioactive beast's domination of the box office, many Japanese studios tried to replicate the formula with their own brands of monster movies. One of the most fascinating, if short-lived, dives into that fiendish deep end for elegant dramas by the likes of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. In 1967 and 1968, the company created four certifiably batty, low-budget fantasies, tales haunted by watery ghosts, plagued by angry insects, and stalked by aliens - including one in the form of a giant chicken-lizard. Shochiku's outrageous and oozy horror period shows a studio leaping into the unknown, even if only for one brief, bloody moment.

Films Include:

The X From Outer Space:

You may be put off poultry forever once you take a gander at the destructive extraterrestrial in this bizarre and beloved monster movie.

Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell:

A plane crash is just the first trauma for a group of people about to be beset by an evil, soul-stealing force.

The Living Skeleton:

A young woman is haunted by what appears to be the ghost of her dead twin sister - as well as a boatload of other restless ghouls.

Genocide:

A swarm of ferocious bugs takes down a plane carrying an H-bomb. And they have even bigger plans.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 20 november, 2012