"Ghost Story Shin-Mimibukuro" Japanese Theatrical Poster

It feels like there’s been a surplus of Asian horror anthologies as of late, but one in particular to keep an eye on is Ghost Story Shin-Mimibukuro. This horror comedy arrives from fan favorite director Noboru Iguchi of The Machine Girl and Robo Geisha fame. Ghost Story features four different spooky tales, the twist being that Iguchi is adding a healthy dose of humor to his fright flick.

In the tradition of Hausu, the story follows a group of ridiculously cute Japanese school girls who run afoul of the supernatural. But don’t take our word for it. Take a look at this poster and then hop on over to the official website where you can view the trailer. Thanks to 24 Frames Per Second for the story.

"Naked Soldier" Promotional Poster

Chances are, no Hong Kong director working today will ever manage to top the gloriously sleazy Category III exploitation of Clarence Fok’s Naked Killer. But that’s not keeping some people from trying. Back in 2002, the usually classy Ching Siu-tung helmed a movie called Naked Weapon, which was seen as a throwback of sorts to Naked Killer and starred Maggie Q and Daniel Wu.

Now Marco Mak, no stranger to Category III films, is taking a stab at things with Naked Soldier. Far East Films has the possibly NSFW but definitely senses-shattering trailer.

The plot involves a young girl who is kidnapped by an evil organization and programmed to be an assassin with the aim of killing her own father.

The funny thing about Naked Soldier is that it actually has some decent pedigree. Jenn Tse headlines but both Sammo Hung and Andy On will be making appearances, and Corey Yuen handled the action choreography. The film will bare all in Hong Kong theaters this June 14, 2012.

Enjoy the second full-length trailer for Naked Soldier. Have a gander at the stars promoting the film in Beijing.

BREAKING NEWS: Check out some wild new stills from the movie. Yup, Jenn Tse is indeed Nicholas Tse’s sister.

"Kuchisake-onna Returns" Japanese Promotional Poster

Kuchisake-onna is the urban myth involving a slit-mouthed woman that was popularized in Japan during the late 70’s and has since been immortalized in several horror movies. You can add another film to the pile with Kuchisake-onna Returns, which opens in Japan this July 7th, 2012. The story follows a young grad student who heads to a rural town in the hopes of studying the Kuchisake-onna myth. Not surprisingly, she soon finds more than she bargained for.

The trailer for the film is online here. While Kuchisake-onna Returns looks admittedly low-budget and perhaps easy to poke fun at, there’s no denying the subtle (or not so subtle) creepiness of Kuchisake-onna’s visage. This should be a good movie to watch if you ever need to stock up on nightmare fuel.

Update: It’s in Japanese, naturally, but the official website for the film has launched.

Lone Wolf & Cub Complete Blu-ray Set (Animeigo)

Animeigo has announced that the classic “Baby Cart” films, which helped shape 1980’s Shogun Assassin, will be available unedited, uncut, and remastered on HD from new prints, in its original Japanese language with English subtitles. Expect the set to go on sale this Fall.

Included in the set will be 1972’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, 1972’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx, 1972’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades, 1972’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril, 1973’s Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons and 1974’s Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell.

The first three films were directed by Kenji Misumi (The Last Samurai). The next three films were directed by Buichi Saito (The Bloody Priest), Kenji Misumi and Yoshiyuki Kuroda (The Invisible Swordsman), respectively. All films star Tomisaburo Wakayama (Ridley Scott’s Black Rain) and Akihiro Tomikawa.

BREAKING NEWS: Amazon.com now has the pre-order up for the Blu-ray edition of the complete Lone Wolf and Cub saga, which has a release date of September 25, 2012.

Scream Factory Presents "The Fun House" and "Terror Train" on Blu-ray!

Scream Factory™ presents Terror Train Collector’s Edition Blu-ray + DVD combo pack and The Fun House Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD on October 16, 2012.

Both collector’s editions of Terror Train and The Fun House feature anamorphic widescreen presentation of the movie and a spectacular array of bonus content, including new interviews and commentaries, archival material, a collectible cover featuring newly rendered retro-style artwork, a reversible wrap with original theatrical key art and more!

Take an excursion into terror with Jamie Lee Curtis in Terror Train, a classic shocker from director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies). It’s New Year’s Eve and group of college co-eds have planned a masquerade bash aboard a chartered train. What they didn’t plan on was that a knife-wielding psycho would crash the party and begin slaughtering the guests one by one!

In The Fun House, Director Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist) pays affectionate tribute to various classic horror movies in this tale of two teenage couples who spend the night in a sleazy carnival funhouse.

On her first date with Buzz, Amy disobeys her father and goes to the carnival with Richie and Liz, but their first date may end up as their last. After witnessing a murder, the four terrified teens are trapped in the maze of the funhouse and stalked by a real monster, a horribly deformed killer who lurks among the freakish exhibits to butcher them one by one. Also stars Sylvia Miles and Kevin Conway.

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED OFFER: Order any one of these titles on Blu-ray + DVD combo pack directly from ShoutFactory.com and receive an exclusive 18”x24” poster featuring the newly commissioned artwork! Less than 500 have been made, so these are only available while supplies last.

"Death Grip" DVD

Death Grip is a new independent martial arts picture that stars Johnny Yong Bosch, a former star of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as Contour director Eric Jacobus and Stunt People members Nathan Hoskins, Rebecca Ahn, Ray Carbonel, Chelsea Steffensen, Alvin Hsing, Shaun Finney, and Lucas Okuma. The film will be released in June 2012.

Check out the teaser trailer here.

Updates: The Stunt People are asking fans to contribute towards their finances so they can wrap up filming. Watch this teaser for more information.

The full official trailer has been released. A knife fight scene is on Youtube in HD.

BREAKING NEWS: The film is available to order on Blu-ray and DVD now, directly from The Stunt People. Be advised that due to delays in manufacturing, the Blu-ray won’t ship until July 15th. You can check out special features and other disc details at Far East Films.

"Bi Xian" Korean Theatrical Poster

Beyond Hollywood has the trailer for a new Chinese-language horror film called Bi Xian (“A Crazy Single Mom”), which is actually arriving from the Korean filmmaker behind movies like Phone and Nightmare. Director Byung-ki Ahn formed his own Beijing-based production company and Bi Xian is their first release.

Plot details are scarce but it looks to involve a woman who moves into a haunted house with her young son. Chinese Films also has an earlier promotional trailer. Even if some Asian horror tropes are starting to feel a little overly familiar these days, I have to admit that Bi Xian looks pretty damn terrifying. Stay tuned for more info.

Update: A striking Korean poster for the film is online here. In that country, the film apparently carries the title Bushinba.

"Wu Dang" Chinese Theatrical Poster

The trailer is online for Wu Dang, a new fantasy-based Chinese martial arts film from the director of Twins Effect II and featuring action choreography by the legendary Corey Yuen. The film stars Vincent Zhao, who is probably most famous at the moment for dropping out of Donnie Yen’s Special Identity, alongside Siu-Wong Fan (Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky) and Yang Mi.

Based on the trailer, it looks like this movie is leaving reality far behind, with characters floating through the air, walking on water, and generally defying gravity like it ain’t no thing.

Chinese Films has more details, with Wu Dang slated for a July 17th, 2012 release date in China.

Update: Some very brightly colored promotional posters over at Chinese Films. Actress Yang Mi has actually arrived in France to help promote the film at Cannes since this is her first martial arts role.

While promoting Wu Dang in Beijing yesterday, actor Vincent Zhao spoke out about the controversy surrounding his departure from the Donnie Yen aciton film Special Identity. Says Zhao: “I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years. I was taught to treat people with respect. But he [Yen] destroyed everything I knew about him.”

A final, and generally more impressive, trailer is now online. This trailer puts more emphasis on the film’s slick production values and Corey Yuen’s action choreography. Now this looks like something we’d actually want to see!

BREAKING NEWS: Guess that final trailer wasn’t so final after all. Wu Dang opens in China in just two days. Check out the latest trailer.

"Zombie 108" on UK DVD

There’s no denying the zombie genre has grown a little stale these days. George Romero has said just about everything has to say with the genre and zombies are now beamed into our homes on a regular basis thanks to The Walking Dead. But Taiwanese director Joe Chien may have stumbled upon a way to make the shambling undead seem interesting again, by adding a healthy dose of Category III-style nastiness in his new film Zombie 108.

In this highly buzzed about film, a deadly virus spreads throughout Tapei, Taiwan, turning the populace into zombies. SWAT teams are called into action to try and fight off the dead. The only trouble for them and the rest of the human survivors is that gangs have taken control of the panicked streets.

Meanwhile, a deranged killer (played by the director himself!) is preying on young women in the area, torturing them in secret while the rest of the world goes to hell outside his door.

By all accounts, Zombie 108 is one depraved and sick little zombie movie. You can watch the trailer in HD here to get a taste for the film. Unfortunately, Zombie 108 hasn’t secured a release date in North America yet, but you can purchase the Region 2 UK DVD courtesy of Amazon UK.

Wind Blast Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

It’s not even the Fourth of July yet and already I’m tired of all the fireworks that have been going off in my neighborhood. Anyway, let’s take a look at what’s available this week, shall we? Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 7/3/12:

ASIAN CINEMA

Wind Blast (Blu-ray/DVD) – Well Go USA releases this 2010 Western-tinged Chinese action film starring Wu Jing and Francis Ng

The Great Killing (DVD) – a 1964 samurai film from the director of the original “13 Assassins”

FOREIGN CINEMA

Joe + Belle (DVD) – the cover describes this 2012 Hebrew-language film as “the lesbian Thelma and Louise,” so let’s just go with that

Department (DVD) – this action-packed 2012 Bollywood picture has a bunch of tough cops fighting corruption in Mumbai

MAINSTREAM

The Hunter (Blu-ray/DVD) – Willem Dafoe tracks down the deadliest game, a Tasmanian tiger, in this acclaimed 2012 drama

God Bless America (Blu-ray/DVD) – two people fed up with contemporary society go on a shooting spree in Bobcat Goldthwait’s violent 2011 comedy

Born on the Fourth of July (Blu-ray) – Oliver Stone’s 1989 war drama starring Tom Cruise hits Blu-ray this week

Tough Enough (Blu-ray/DVD) – Dennis Quaid headlines this 1983 boxing drama, now in hi-def

Firestorm (DVD) – looks like this 1998 action vehicle starring Howie Long is receiving a new DVD pressing

Phenomenon (Blu-ray) – John Travolta has the healing touch in this 1996 drama, now in hi-def

CULT

Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (Blu-ray) – the good folks at Blue Underground bring this 1967 spaghetti Western starring Thomas Milian to Blu-ray

Barbarella (Blu-ray) – at last! The kinky 1968 sci-fi classic starring Jane Fonda is now viewable in hi-definition

No Holds Barred (DVD) – the new packaging makes this action movie looking like a wrestling event, but it’s actually a 1989 starring vehicle for Hulk Hogan

The Pirate Movie (DVD) – a 1982 update on the Pirates of Penzance, starring Kristy McNichol

Vanishing Point (DVD) – a 1997 Fox TV remake of the cult classic film, featuring Viggo Mortenson in the driver’s seat

ANIMATION

Treasure Planet (Blu-ray) – the 2002 Disney animated feature comes to hi-definition in a 10th anniversary package

Home on the Range (Blu-ray) – the 2004 Disney cartoon featuring singing barn animals is now on Blu-ray

HORROR

The Entity (Blu-ray/DVD) – Barbara Hershey is, um, violated by a ghost in this 1982 cult favorite horror film

Some Guy Who Kills People (DVD) – a 2011 pitch-black comedy about a comic fan who fantasizes about murdering people in his spare time

Ghost in the Machine (DVD) – this 1993 cyber-thriller follows a killer who is zapped by lightning and is then able to travel inside electronic devices

Nightwatch (DVD) – Ewan McGregor plays a morgue attendant in this 1997 thriller co-starring Josh Brolin

Quicksilver Highway (DVD) – two stories from horror icons Stephen King and Clive Barker are brought to life in this 1997 feature

Joshua (DVD) – Sam Rockwell and his wife try to figure out what’s up with their Satanic son in this 2007 horror flick

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