TOKYO LIVING DEAD IDOL coming Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 on Blu-ray

Tokyo Living Dead Idol / Tôkyô ribingu deddo aidoru

Written and directed by Yûki Kumagai

Japan, 2018, 83 minutes

Published by: Kraken Releasing

Distributed by: Section23 Films

Street Date: 3/5/2019

Format: BD

Language: Japanese with English Subtitles

SRP: $19.98

Tokyo Living Dead Idol, a charming and delightful zombie romp, will be available next Tuesday, March 5th on Blu-ray.

Synopsis:
Tokyo 27-ku's the hottest pop group around, but when singer Kamiya Miku (Nana Asakawa) gets bitten by a zombie, she goes from being on top of the charts to the top of the most wanted lists! With just 72 hours until the sizzling chanteuse becomes a shuffling zombie, Miku's only hope is finding a serum that might possibly cure her. Unfortunately, if Miku can't reach the antidote in time, she's going to transform from songbird to a dead bird singing in the middle of the night, and evading paparazzi and zealous fans is nothing compared to being pursued by teams of professional zombie hunters, the police and hordes of the living dead! From life in the fast lane to racing through the hot zone, becoming a zombie can totally bite when you're the TOKYO LIVING DEAD IDOL!

South Korean zombie horror film RAMPANT to debut on February 26th

Well Go USA

Presents

Rampant / Chang-gwol

Directed by Kim Sung-Hoon

South Korea, 2018, 127 minutes

From the creators of Train to Busan, comes a fresh new take on the zombie-horror genre when Rampant debuts on digital, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD February 26th from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Set in ancient Korea, the story follows Prince Ganglim, who after returning from a long imprisonment, discovers a bloody rampage spreading across the nation by murderous creatures known as Night Demons. He soon realizes that it will take the strength of his fellow countrymen to stop the Night Demons from overrunning the kingdom. Rampant was directed by Kim Sung-Hoon (Confidential Assignment) and stars Hyun-Bin (The Swinders), Jang Dong-Gun (The Warriors Way), Jo Woo-Jin (Inside Men), Man-Sik (Man of Will) and Kim Eui-Sung (Train to Busan). Bonus features include making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Synopsis:
A darkness looms over ancient Korea: murderous creatures known as Night Demons have overrun the country. Returning from a long imprisonment abroad, Prince Ganglim discovers that it will take the strength of his entire kingdom to stop the bloody rampage spreading across the nation in this fresh new take on zombie horror from the studios that brought you Train to Busan.

TRAIN TO BUSAN reviewed; comes to BD & DVD today, January 17th

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Train to Busan / Busanhaeng

Directed by YEON Sang-ho

South Korea, 2016, 118 minutes

Train to Busan, the outstanding zombie thriller from South Korea, debuts on Blu-ray™ and DVD today, January 17 from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available for digital download since December 13th.) This review is based on my watching the Blu-ray version.

SUH Seok-woo (GONG Yoo, The Age of Shadows) is a rather self-absorbed fund manager.  He's divorced and his young daughter Su-an (KIM Soo-an) must travel back to her mother by train. She wants to go by herself, but Seok-woo, more out of his need to exhibit control and power than for actual concern for her safety, insists on accompanying her. Unfortunately, there's been an outbreak at YS Biotech that's resulted in a zombie outbreak and one of the undead -- surprise! -- manages to get on the train before it departs. Soon there's a full-scale zombie infestation on the train and those not yet affected must use all their resources to remain so long enough to hopefully reach a safety zone.

Train to Busan was a huge box office across Asia, smashed box office records in South Korea and has become the biggest Korean film of all time. It recently received several nominations for the 11th Asian Film Awards, including GONG Yoo for Best Actor, MA Dong-seok for Best Supporting Actor, YANG Jin-mo for Best Editing, KWON Yoo-jin for Best Costume Design, and JUNG Hwang-su for Best Visual Effects. It has a 7.5 rating at IMDb and a 72 Metascore at Metacritic.

The film truly deserves all these accolades. It's a taut thriller that really delivers. And the ending had me on the edge of my couch, it was so smart and unpredictable. In fact, I found Train to Busan to be every bit as good as World War Z, which I loved. The two would make for a wonderful double bill on home video some weekend.

Disc Specs:
-- Audio
   -- Korean DTS:X
   -- Korea 2.0 Stereo
   -- English 5.1 DTS HDMA
   -- English 2.0 Stereo
-- Subtitles
   -- English
   -- Off
-- Bonus
   -- Featurettes
      -- Behind the Scenes (13:01)
      -- That's a Wrap (4:35)
   -- Trailer (1:55)
-- Previews
   -- Operation Mekong
   -- Tunnel
   -- Phantasm Remastered
   -- The Wailing

AsianCineFest Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; very, very highly recommended

TRAIN TO BUSAN coming to Blu-ray and DVD next Tuesday, January 17th

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Train to Busan / Busanhaeng

Directed by Sang-ho Yeon

South Korea, 2016, 118 minutes

Dubbed “… a fun, fast, tightly crafted genre film,” (Daniel Barnes, Sacramento News & Review), the critically-acclaimed, zombie apocalypse thriller Train to Busan debuts and on Blu-ray™ and DVD January 17 from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available for digital download since December 13th.) Certified Fresh (96%) on Rotten Tomatoes, horror fans can take a harrowing Train to Busan, where a group of terrified passengers must fight the zombie hordes to make it to their last bastion of refuge ... or so everyone hopes.

The film that set the box office ablaze across Asia, smashed box office records in South Korea and became the biggest Korean film of all time, stars GONG Yoo (The Age of Shadows), JUNG Yu-mi (Manhole), MA Dong-seok (Doomsday Book), CHOI Woo-sik (Big Match), AN So-hee (Hellcats), KIM Eui-sung (Assassination), and KIM Su-an (Memories of the Sword).

Synopsis:
Train to Busan is a harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak, trapped on a suspicion-filled, blood-drenched bullet train ride to the Safe Zone…which may or may not still be there.

Bonus Materials Include Two Featurettes:
-- Behind the Scenes
-- That’s A Wrap

I've watched the Blu-ray version and can attest that Train to Busan is a fantastic film, a truly exhilarating viewing experience. Look for my review here at AsianCineFest next week.

ACF 2033: ZOMBIE TV - latest from gore-master Yoshihiro Nishimura

A crowd of zombies are just looking for a good time in ZOMBIE TV. (All images © 2013 Pony Canyon)

ZOMBIE TV is the splatter-ific new comedy, zombie omnibus film from the fertile and twisted mind of acclaimed cult filmmaker and special effects makeup genius Yoshihiro Nishimura (TOKYO GORE POLICE, HELLDRIVER, THE ABCs of DEATH).

Maki Mizui is the world's first zombie idol in "Pink Zombie"

A Monty Python-esque collection of shorts, animation, sketch comedy, instructional videos and more, ZOMBIE TV showcases the natural evolution of zombies in the 21st century, no longer a frightening menace, but rather an annoying neighbor you realize you simply have to put up with. ZOMBIE TV answers such natural questions as: in a world full of the undead, wouldn’t some of the surviving humans want to join the majority and become zombies themselves? Would becoming a zombie solve the emotional and relationship problems we all have as living, breathing human beings? Do zombies have their own idols? Would zombies worship a zombie god? Who would win in a fight: a cannibal, or a zombie? How did zombies evolve from walkers into runners? And the most burning question of all: how do zombies have sex?

Tomoya Maeno fulfills his last wish with well-endowed zombie Ayumi Kuroki, in "I Want to Be a Zombie!"

Nishimura has created ZOMBIE TV with the assistance of a new pair of filmmakers he’s excited to introduce to the world: award-winning splatter short film director Naoya Tashiro, and artist / animator Maelie Makuno. Bringing very different tastes and styles to their episodes, the trio have created a fun, fast-moving film that captures the feeling of flipping through late-night TV in a world gone mad. Structured to entertain without tiring out its audience, ZOMBIE TV provides food for thought—if that food were human guts and brains. Sure to delight zombie fans old and new, ZOMBIE TV offers a new- found appreciation for our walking dead friends.

Yasu Genki and Iona show viewers—in graphic detail—"How to Zombie Sex"

ZOMBIE TV held its World Premiere at Monsterfest in Melbourne, Australia on Monday, November 24th at 4:30pm local time, and will screen at film festivals across the world in early 2014.

ACF 2040: Korean zombie flick LET ME OUT playing for one night only in four U.S. cities on September 25th

Funimation Entertainment

Presents

Let Me Out

Directed by Chang-Lae Kim and Jae Soh

South Korea, 2012, 88 minutes

Let Me Out is a Korean zombie coming-of-age melodrama that will be playing in four U.S. cities simultaneously for one night only on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:30 pm. It marks the first lead role in a motion picture of actor Hyun-Sang Kwon, son of Korean director Im Kwon Taek.

Synopsis: This zombie melodrama is a Mu-Young (Hyun-Sang Kwon) film school opus. An eternal senior, he knows everything about cinema but nothing about actual film-making. Critical of everyone else, he heckles the famous indie director Ik-June Yang at a campus screening and somehow receives film funding. His dream of working with his love-interest Ah-Young becomes a nightmare. Everything that can go wrong does. Barely surviving a disastrous shoot, Mu-Young learns making a movie is like love, you can’t do it alone.

Let Me Out is a tribute to guerrilla, indie, amateur, low-budget cineastes struggling to create. It is hope. Let Me Out opened in Korea on August 15, 2013 and is being distributed through Baekdu Daegan Film Company in approximately 15 theaters including Art House Momo (Baekdu’s Art House theaters), CGV Movie Collage (the Art House division of CJ Entertainment), and Artplus Cinema Network in various cities throughout Korea, including Seoul. The film had its red carpet US Premiere at the Downtown Independent Theater in LA on August 16, 2013 to a sold out audience with director Jae Soh and Hyun-Sang Kwon, the film’s lead actor, attending from Korea. Let Me Out is the first Korean independent film released back to back in both Korea and the U.S. and is distributed in the U.S. by Funimation Entertainment, a Group 1200 Media company, based in Flower Mound, TX.

Let Me Out will be playing at the following venues:

San Francisco, CA
Theater: AMC Van Ness 14
Date: 9/25/2013
Time: 7:30pm
http://www.tugg.com/events/5386

San Diego, CA
Theater: AMC Fashion Valley 18
Date: 9/25/2013
Time: 7:30pm
http://www.tugg.com/events/5388

Dallas, TX
Theater: Studio Movie Grill Royal Lane
Date: 9/25/13
Time: 7:30pm
http://www.tugg.com/events/5438

New York, NY
Theater: AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 IMAX
Date: 9/25/13
Time: 7:30pm
http://www.tugg.com/events/5531

ACF 661: MAKE-OUT with VIOLENCE to be released in October, limited theatrical run starts today in Brooklyn, NY

Factory 25 to release zombie love story MAKE-OUT with VIOLENCE
DVD, Blu-ray & Limited LP/DVD combo out October 26th

Limited theatrical engagement begins August 27 at
the reRun Gastropub Theater in Brooklyn, NY

"One of the Top 10 films of 2009! It’s
the "American Graffiti" of Zombie love stories."
– Tim Anderson, Bloody-Disgusting.com

"One of the best Indie Films of the decade!
The zombie hottie of the year."
– Cinematical

As I do every so often, I'm running this post about a non-Asian film that I think will appeal to many AsianCineFest readers.While I haven't an opportunity to see the film yet, Jeannette Catsoulis's review in The New York Times can be read online here and Andre Schenker's strongly positive review the village VOICE can be read here. The film is a NYT Critics' Pick and Schenker's review also was strongly posititve.

Meanwhile, here's some info I received that I'd like to share:

MAKE-OUT with VIOLENCE is a genre-bending tale of a boy trying to fulfill his unrequited love for a girl who has risen from the dead. Set against the backdrop of a summer of cicadas and swimming pools, the film blends elements of up-beat teenage melodrama with the strange gravity of classic coming of age stories.

Twin brothers Patrick and Carol Darling are fresh graduates from high school and struggling to come to terms with the unexplained disappearance of their friend, the bright and beautiful Wendy Hearst. When a drive through the countryside surrounding their suburban community leads to the discovery of Wendy’s mysteriously animated corpse, the boys secretly transport the undead Wendy to an empty house in hopes of somehow bringing her back to life. As the sweltering summer pushes on, they must maintain the appearance of normalcy for their friends and family as they search for ways to revive the Wendy they once knew, or, failing that, to satisfy their own quests for love amongst the living and the dead.

The multiple film festival winner is making its New York theatrical run for one-week only beginning August 27th at the reRun Gastropub Theater in Brooklyn, NY.

MAKE-OUT with VIOLENCE will be available on DVD, blu-ray, limited LP/DVD combo and digital download from the Factory 25 website beginning October 26th, 2010.

Theatrical Film Screening:
Brooklyn, NY- reRun Gastropub Theater, August 27 - September 2, 2010

In addition to MAKE-OUT with VIOLENCE, indie film & vinyl label Factory 25 is releasing multiple titles this year including Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be the Same and the Brock Enright/Kirsten Deirup album Torben, Until The Light Takes Us, Sir Henry At Rollinson End, Rio Breaks, NY Export: Opus Jazz, Wah Do Dem and You Wont Miss Me.