The Visitor In the Eye (1977) Review

 Video version of this review can be found here: https://youtu.be/uPXReBFKIJk

Now this a 1977 adaption of a story from the Osamu Tezuka Manga 'Black Jack' directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi.
Now I'm very unfamiliar with the Manga, the most that I know is it follows a surgeon called Black Jack who has miracle healing hands.
Here the focus isn't on him though, instead it follows a tennis student who accidentally gets hit in one eye causing it go blind. With seemingly no hope of recovery she gets taken to the surgeon Black Jack who gives her a cornea trnasplant that successfully restores her sight. However despite the surgery's success she soon begins to randomly see images of a mysterious stranger that she becomes drawn to.

This initial setup kinda makes it sound like a horror movie but it is in fact a mystery romantic drama and it is the mystery to be solved that serves as the main focus of the story, it's a pretty simple one that easy enough to unravel apart from the actual specifics, so it manages to keep a good sense of intrigue throughout as it reveals to us more and more details.

Tonally and stylistically it share similarities to Obayashi's previous film 'Hausu' with Obayashi continuing to bring elements from his earlier days of  directing commercials. This film is obviously  a lot more striaghtforward than House but is still quite melodramatic and romanticised which may be off-putting for some but works with this material particulalrly the romantic elements.

It also brings in big camera movements, matte paintings and strong mood lighting to it's visuals making for a very nicely shot and executed film that is very visually interesting.

There's also a recurring piano theme used throughout that links in with the story and characters which is quite nice.

the acting isn't bad either, as I mentioned it is quite melodramatic but it works and they have a couple of interesting people playing certain roles. Black Jack is actually played by Jo Shishido who is fun to see in the full character get-up  and makes a change of pace form his usual Yakuza roles.
Etusko Shimoi also plays a small role that is the opposite of the usual badass she is known to be in martial arts movies.
Plus Sonny Chiba has a small cameo which I didn't even realise til later on.

Now the film is pretty shallow and doesn't have much depth to it, but it manages to keep your interest through it's mystery and the way that it is filmed/

It may not offer more beyond that and I'm not sure what fan of the manga think or if this is even a successful adaptation, but as a simple mystery film with a dash of romance it's pretty solid overall. ***

Assassination Classroom (2015)

Here's a fun and strange Japanese movie from 2015, based on the Manga of the same name. It concerns a powerful Octopus like creature, who has threatened to destroy the world within a year, but offer mankind a chance to stop him, by becoming teacher at a Junior High School, teaching the students the ways of assassination with the goal of assassinating him. If you can't get behind that kind of plot, then this movie definitely isn't for you. I myself really enjoyed this,  it's got some good comedy and wacky moments and Koro-Sensei (the creature) is really likeable and quirky. It's got a few other pretty interesting characters too and it's just a good solid fun time overall. I look forward to the sequel. ***1/2

Attack On Titan (2015)

Part one of the live action adaptation of the highly popular manga/anime of which I myself am a fan of, but while this film may not reach the greatness of it's source material, what we have here is still a really fun movie. For better or worse the film takes a few creative liberties and takes away alot of the character depth and story  focuses more on delivering a straight up action film. (something that has understandably annoyed alot of fan), I for one don't mind this so much as it is still a very engaging movie from start to finish, the visual effects themselves certainly aren't hollywood high standard (as expected) but they are still quite fun to look at and have some genuine good bits at times and the film still manages to feel a little different to your usual action blockbuster.
Overall the film is a bit of a disappointment but if you are willing accept the film for what it is, then there's still quite a bit of fun to be had here in this entertaining (if a little shallow) thrill ride
***1/2

The Rapeman (1993)

"Righting wrongs through penetration."

The above quote is the actual motto of Rapeman, a man who is paid to rape people who have done wrong. Based on the manga series (of course), The Rapeman is a film that sounds rather fun on the surface (well to some people like me) but turns out to be a great disappointment. The film is totally inconsistent with its tone and atmosphere (but not in a good way) and misses the chance to go all out wacky with its silly idea, instead delivering something rather tepid and only slightly odd, with the attempt to recreate the manga's black comedy failing completely. 

Still, I give the film kudos for trying and the film still managed to spawn six sequels and two spin offs, so it certainly has an audience somewhere, but for me, it just didn't work.

**

HK: The Forbidden Superhero

A film about a superhero named Hentai Kamen (Lit. Masked Pervert) who wears nothing but panties on his head, a mankini and stockings and defeats people with his crotch. This will probably be too ridiculous for some to enjoy. But I found the movie to be a lot of fun with some good comedy. The CGI is dodgy as fuck which is probably the films biggest flaw, but when you look past that  there is a very entertaining film here and remember 'being a bigger pervert doesn't make you a stronger pervert'. Ridiculous fun.
***