Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater (Japanese: 楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Hepburn: Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō), also known as Kazuo Umezz's Horror Theater, is a Japanese six-part anthology horror film series based on manga works by Kazuo Umezu. It was released in 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the start of Umezu's career as a manga artist. The series was distributed by Shochiku, and features music composed by singer-songwriter Rurutia.

Films

House of Bugs

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs (楳図かずお恐怖劇場蟲たちの家, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Mushi-tachi no ie, a.k.a. Bug's House) is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Its plot centers around a husband and wife, the former of whom suspects the latter of not only being unfaithful to him, but possibly mutating into a large insect.

Ambrosia

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Ambrosia (楳図かずお恐怖劇場絶食, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Zesshoku, a.k.a. Diet), is directed by Itō Tadafumi and written by Hiroshi Takahashi. It follows a schoolgirl who goes on an extreme diet in order to win the affections of a boy.

Snake Girl

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl (楳図かずお恐怖劇場まだらの少女, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Madara no shōjo, a.k.a. The Harlequin Girl), directed by Noboru Iguchi, is an adaptation of The Spotted Girl, an installment in Umezu's 1965–66 manga trilogy Reptilia. The film stars Arisa Nakamura as Yumiko, a girl who is invited by her cousin to spend her summer vacation in a rural village, where she finds herself terrorized by a half-human, half-snake witch.

The Wish

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish (楳図かずお恐怖劇場, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Negai) is directed by Atsushi Shimizu. It follows a lonely schoolboy who carves a companion for himself in the form of a wooden doll shaped like a human head.

Present

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present (楳図かずお恐怖劇場プレゼント, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Purezento), directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi, sees a group of students' Christmas festivities interrupted by a murderous Santa Claus and his band of flesh-eating reindeer.

Death Make

Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make (楳図かずおの恐怖劇場 デスメイク, Umezu Kazuo: Kyōfu gekijō - Death Make) is directed by Taichi Itō. It follows a group of supposed psychics who, as part of a reality television program, are challenged to spend 24 hours in an abandoned office building where, ten years prior, a group of girls disappeared after attempting to summon ghosts.

Release

The six films were screened at the Eurospace theater in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, on 18 June 2005.

References

Bibliography

• "New Cinema Rush". Kinema Junpo (in Japanese). No. 1431 (6月下旬号). June 2005. p. 92. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
• Harper, Jim (2009). Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film. Noir Publishing. ISBN 978-0953656479.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs at IMDb
• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Ambrosia at IMDb
• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl at IMDb
• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish at IMDb
• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present at IMDb
• Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make at IMDb

1. Kazuo Umezu
2. Reptilia (manga)
3. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
4. Rurutia
5. Yoko Mitsuya
6. Yūdai Yamaguchi
7. Akira Tsuburaya
8. Horror comics
9. List of Jujutsu Kaisen chapters
10. List of comedy films of the 2000s
11. Rumiko Takahashi
12. Jujutsu Kaisen
13. Shiho (actress)
14. Gamera
15. International Military Tribunal for the Far East
16. TMS Entertainment
17. List of directorial debuts
18. Gengoroh Tagame
19. List of series run in Weekly Shōnen Sunday