Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

The Japan Foundation’s Touring Film Programme recently finished up in Manchester, and I was lucky enough to get myself along to three screenings throughout the season. Each of the films I watched were vastly different, ranging from comedic action to classic J-horror to off-beat dramas. While none of them are technically new releases, and I am going to try and reserve this slot for reviews of new films, while it is my first one back I thought I would treat you to three short reviews of each film.

Ghost Killer (2024) – Kensuke Sonomura

I perhaps should have none that this was going to be heavily comedic based on the premise, which sees a college student possessed by a recently murdered hitman to help him carry out his revenge. It becomes clear very early what kind of film this will be, starting with a brilliantly choreographed fight scene before introducing us to our protagonist and almost immediately bringing in comedy elements. And both the action and comedy are strong throughout. However, the film left me wanting more from a narrative perspective, which did mean that there wasn’t too much of an emotional hook. Still, a fun film overall.

Missing Child Videotape (2024) – Ryota Kondo

In his introductory video before the film, Ryota Kondo said how he wanted to capture the feeling of the now classic J-Horror films from the 90s and early 2000s. And I think he captured the style and tone of those films brilliantly. While not as scary as some of the classics of that era, it holds up very well against some from maybe the tier below that upper echelon. It has great atmosphere, is unnerving consistently, and creates its scares without jump scares which is what I really love about j-horror films. I saw this one with my girlfriend and her reactions are probably the best advert for it. She sat with her hood up and hands close to her eyes for almost the entire final third, and she gave me a real kick where during one scene she got in my ear and whispered ‘there’s someone in the window’. Really solid stuff.

Teki Cometh (2024) – Daihachi Yoshida

This one was a bit of a rollercoaster of tone, if that rollercoaster had a very long and slow opening hill, before releasing into spirals and loop-de-loop. That’s not to say that the opening hill is boring. That opening hill is full of lovely views and a pleasant breeze flows through your hair, but there is always that underlying sense of dread as you’re approaching the top. And that is what this film is. I had described it as Ozu meets Raimi, but someone on Letterboxd said it was more Ozu meets Lynch and that is a much more apt description in terms of tone and feel (my Raimi comparison came more in the technical aspects). I was often confused but always intrigued, and that matching up with some solid performances and great cinematography led to a very good film.