Criterion`s ECLIPSE SERIES 37: WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU

DVD Box Set Coming November 20th Source: The Criterion Collection, Image Entertainment, Shochiku Co., Ltd. Official Site: criterion.com/eclipse-series-37-when-horror-came-to-shochiku Special Thanks to Micheal Perzi and Brian Carmody

On November 20th, the Criterion Collection`s Eclipse Series imprint will release a box set of four science fiction/horror films produced by the Japanese studio, Shochiku. ECLIPSE SERIES 37: WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU marks the Region 1 DVD debuts of all four films, and the first wide US release of any kind for both THE LIVING SKELETON and GENOCIDE. The daikaiju movie THE X FROM OUTER SPACE was originally syndicated to television in the United States by American International Pictures in 1968, while GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL was distributed to theaters by Pacemaker Films in 1979. The following information and images are courtesy of The Criterion Collection... ECLIPSE SERIES 37: WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU Following years of a certain radioactive rubber beast’s domination of the box office, many Japanese studios tried to replicate the formula with their own brands of monster movies. One of the most fascinating dives into that fiendish deep end was the short-lived one from Shochiku, a studio better known for its elegant dramas by the likes of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. In 1967 and 1968, the company created four certifiably batty, low-budget fantasies, tales haunted by watery ghosts, plagued by angry insects, and stalked by aliens -- including one in the form of a giant chicken-lizard. Shochiku’s outrageous and oozy horror period shows a studio leaping into the unknown, even if only for one brief, bloody moment. The four-DVD set includes...

THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (????????, Uchuu Daikaijuu Girara) When a scientist crew returns from Mars with some space spores that contaminated their ship, they inadvertently bring about a nightmarish Earth invasion. After the spores are analyzed in a lab, one escapes, eventually growing into an enormous, rampaging beaked beast called Guilala. An intergalactic monster movie from longtime Shochiku stable director Kazui Nihonmatsu, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE was the first in the studio’s short but memorable cycle of horror pictures. 1967 • 88 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles • 2.35:1 aspect ratio Cast Captain Sano: Toshiya Wazaki Michiko: Itoko Harada Miyamoto: Shinichi Yanagisawa Dr. Shioda: Keisuke Sonoi Dr. Kato: Eiji Okada Lisa: Peggy Neal Dr. Berman: Franz Gruber Crew: Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu Producer: Wataru Nakajima Screenplay: Eibi Motomochi, Moriyoshi Ishida and Kazui Nihonmatsu Cinematography: Shizuo Hirase and Chitora Okoshi Art director: Tadataka Yoshino Editor: Akimitsu Terada Special effects: Keiji Kawakami and Shun Suganuma Music: Taku Izumi

GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL (????????, Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro) After an airplane is forced to crash-land in a remote area, its passengers find themselves face-to-face with an alien force that wants to possess their bodies and souls—and perhaps take over the entire human race. Filled with creatively repulsive effects -- including a very invasive bloblike life-form -- Hajime Sato’s GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL is a pulpy, apocalyptic gross-out. 1968 • 84 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles • 2.35:1 aspect ratio Cast Ei Sugisaka: Teruo Yoshida Kuzumi Asakura: Tomomi Sato Hirobumi Teraoka: Hideo Ko Toshiyuki Sagai: Masaya Takahashi Gozo Mano: Eizo Kitamura Noriko Tokiyasu: Yuko Kusunoki Mrs. Neal: Kathy Horan Crew: Director: Hajime Sato Producer: Takashi Inomata Screenplay: Susumu Takahisa and Kyuzo Kobayashi Cinematography: Shizuo Hirase Art director: Nobutaka Yoshino Editor: Akimitsu Terada Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi

THE LIVING SKELETON (?????, Kyuketsu Dokurosen) In this atmospheric tale of revenge from beyond the watery grave, a pirate-ransacked freighter’s violent past comes back to haunt a young woman living in a seaside town. Mixing elements of kaidan (ghost stories), doppelganger thrillers, and mad-scientist movies, Hiroshi Matsuno’s THE LIVING SKELETON is a wild and eerie work, with beautiful widescreen, black-and-white cinematography. 1968 • 80 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles • 2.35:1 aspect ratio Cast Saeko/Yoriko: Kikko Matsuoka Mochizuki: Yasunori Irikawa Priest: Masumi Okada Suetsugu: Nobuo Kaneko Nishizato: Kô Nishimura Crew: Director: Hiroshi Matsuno Producer: Takashi Inomata Screenplay: Kikuma Shimoiizaka and Kyuzo Kobayashi Cinematography: Masayuki Kato and Takashi Akamatsu Production design: Kyohei Morita Music: Noboru Nishiyama

GENOCIDE (?????, Konchu Daisenso) The insects are taking over in this nasty piece of disaster horror directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu. A group of military personnel transporting a hydrogen bomb are left to figure out how and why swarms of killer bugs took down their plane; the answer is more deliriously nihilistic -- and convoluted -- than you could imagine. Also known as WAR OF THE INSECTS, GENOCIDE enacts a cracked doomsday scenario like no other. 1968 • 84 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles • 2.35:1 aspect ratio Cast Yoshito Nagumo: Keisuke Sonoi Joji Akiyama: Yusuke Kawazu Junko Komura: Reiko Hitomi Nagumo’s assistant: Eriko Sono Annabelle: Cathy Horan Charlie: Chico Roland Gordon: Rolf Jesser Crew: Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu Producer: Tsuneo Kosumi Screenplay: Susumu Takaku and Kingen Amada Cinematography: Shizuo Hirase Art director: Tadataka Yoshino Editor: Akimitsu Terada Special effects: Keiji Kawakami and Shun Suganuma Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi

ECLIPSE SERIES 37: WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU Specs Genres: Foreign, Horror, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Japanese Cinema, Foreign Horror, Criterion Collection, Eclipse Series Rating: Not Rated Number of Discs: 4 Run Time: 336 Minutes Color Format: Color/Black & White Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1, Enhanced for 16x9 TVs Audio: PCM Mono Language: Japanese Closed Captions: No Subtitle: English Catalog #: ECL166 UPC: 7-15515-10051-9 ISBN: 978-1-60465-665-7 SRP: $59.95 Release Date: 11/20/2012

About The Criterion Collection

Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. Each film is presented uncut, in its original aspect ratio, as its maker intended it to be seen. Criterion tracks down the best available film elements in the world, uses state-of-the-art telecine equipment and a select few colorists capable of meeting our rigorous standards, then takes time during the film-to-video digital transfer to create the most pristine possible image and sound. Supplements enable viewers to appreciate Criterion films in context, through audio commentaries by filmmakers and scholars, restored director’s cuts, deleted scenes, documentaries, shooting scripts, early shorts, and storyboards. To date, more than 150 filmmakers have made Criterion`s library of Director Approved DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and laserdiscs the most significant archive of contemporary filmmaking available to the home viewer.

For more information on Shochiku`s sci-fi/horror films please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: