4Digital Media Gets TOKYO GORE POLICE, MEATBALL MACHINE, and GROTESQUE Source: 4Digital Media, The Associates press materials Special Thanks to Steve Beecham and Farhana Shaikh 4Digital Asia, an imprint of the British movie and home video distributor 4Digital Media, has acquired the UK rights to the Japanese splatter and gore movies MEATBALL MACHINE (Mîtoboru Mashin, 2005), TOKYO GORE POLICE (Tokyo Zankoku Keisatsu, 2008), and GROTESQUE (Gurotesuku, 2009). The films will be released on DVD beginning this July.

MEATBALL MACHINE

Release date: 6th July 2009 Certificate: 18 Running time: 90 mins Price: £14.99 Director: Yudai Yamaguchi, Junichi Yamamoto Stars: Issei Takahashi, Shoichiro Masumoto, Toru Tezuka, Ayano Yamamoto "Plays Like a Gloriously Bloody and R-Rated Version of the MIGHTY MORPHIN` POWER RANGERS." – DVD Town

Co-directed by Yudai Yamaguchi (BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL) and Junichi Yamamoto (KABUKING Z: THE MOVIE), with special effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura (director of TOKYO GORE POLICE and effect supervisor for THE MACHINE GIRL) and starring Issei Takahashi (DETROIT METAL CITY; KILL BILL VOL.1), Shoichiro Masumoto (BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL; VERSUS), Toru Tezuka (ICHI THE KILLER; DEAD OR ALIVE 2) and Ayano Yamamoto (TOKYO GORE POLICE), MEATBALL MACHINE is a wild, Japanese splatter-punk monster of a movie that combines the "body horror" shock tactics of John Carpenter`s THE THING, the TETSUO movies and David Cronenberg`s most extreme work. Based on an original short made by Yamamoto in 1999, the feature length MEATBALL MACHINE is an all out, in-your-face gore-fest – an experimental sci-fi/horror rollercoaster that will have your entire brain and body shaken and stirred. Capable of making biomechanical weapons out of human flesh, alien parasites grotesquely invade the Earth, turning their hosts into maniacal killers who seek to destroy each other and further their own existence by eating their victims alive. In the midst of all this alien induced mayhem is a moving love story between a shy boy and the equally sheepish object of his affection. It`s just a shame the budding romantics are soon infested with slimy, tumor-like globules that drive them to all kinds of bloody distraction. Co-directors Yamamoto and Yamaguchi pull out all the stops and don t let up until the final epic battle in their deranged cinematic testament to the joys of young love, bloodletting and alien ooze. If you`re a fan of the likes of THE MACHINE GIRL, TOKYO GORE POLICE and X-CROSS, you will love the extreme MEATBALL MACHINE. MEATBALL MACHINE (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by 4Digital Asia on 6th July 2009. Special Features include: "The Making of MEATBALL MACHINE"; the original "MEATBALL MACHINE" short film; "MEATBALL MACHINE: Reject Of Death" short film; The Making of MEATBALL MACHINE: Reject Of Death"; "What`s About Doi?" short film; original Japanese trailer; Necroborg designs by character designer Keita Amamiya.

TOKYO GORE POLICE

Release date: 3rd August 2009 Certificate: 18 Running time: 109 mins Price: £15.99 Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura Stars: Eihi Shiina, Itsuji Itao, Taku Sakaguchi, Shun Sugata

"SFX Violence that`s Simply Mind-Blowing." – The Hollywood Reporter From the producers of THE MACHINE GIRL and director Yoshihiro Nishimura (the special makeup and effects supervisor on THE MACHINE GIRL and MEATBALL MACHINE) comes the extreme fantasy-horror splatterfest, TOKYO GORE POLICE, exploding on to DVD in August 2009 as a two disc Special Collectors` Edition featuring a bonus second disc of exclusive extras not featured on the US release. Starring Eihi Shiina (AUDITION), Itsuji Itao (DEATH NOTE II: THE LAST NAME), Tak Sakaguchi (YO-YO GIRL COP) and Shun Sugata (THE LAST SAMURAI; KILL BILL VOL. 1; ICHI THE KILLER; PULSE) and described by Frightfest as "the bloodiest, most outrageous and inventively enjoyable shocker in ages," TOKYO GORE POLICE combines the bodyshock horror of Cronenberg`s XISTENZ and VIDEODROME and the socio-satirical bite of Verhoeven`s ROBOCOP with the all-out, blood-letting carnage of ICHI THE KILLER and the aforementioned THE MACHINE GIRL. In a near future Tokyo, the city`s recently privatised police force is battling a wave of bio-mechanical mutants dubbed "Engineers", the result of an insane experiment by a crazed scientist known only as the Key Man. Outwardly human but psychotically homicidal, the Engineers have the ability to grow bizarre weapons out of any wound inflicted upon them and can only be killed by removing from their bodies the key shaped tumour responsible for their condition. Leading the fight against these creatures is Ruka (Eihi Shiina), a young, sexy, self-harming cop armed with a katana and a whole lot of attitude. Ruka`s bloody mission to eradicate the Engineers and her investigations into their source reveal a terrifying history of genetic experimentation and corruption at the highest levels of power and bring her face to face with the Key Man in a confrontation that will change her life forever. A feature-length remake of Nishimura`s award-winning 1995 indie short ANATOMIA EXTINCTION, TOKYO GORE POLICE delivers a graphic overload of supremely gory fetishistic violence and mayhem, along with the most inventively grotesque weaponry (including everything from a missile-launching penile cannon to acid spraying breasts!) you are ever likely to see. This is, quite possibly, extreme Asian cinema at its most excessive. The two disc Collector`s Edition of TOKYO GORE POLICE (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by 4Digital Asia on 3rd August 2009. Special Features include: "Making of" featurette; interview with director Yoshihiro Nishimura; interview with star Eihi Shiina; Japanese premiere footage; TV adverts from the film; original Japanese trailer; original promo reel; UK trailer.

GROTESQUE

Release date: 17th August 2009 Certificate: 18 Running time: 73 mins Price: £12.99 Director: Koji Shiraishi Stars: Hiroaki Kawatsure, Tsugumi Nagasawa

SAW and HOSTEL were just appetizers. Billed as "the cruelest Japanese splatter movie ever" (a statement that doesn`t do the film`s graphic scenes of torture and dismemberment anywhere near enough justice), GROTESQUE is a survival horror movie that makes the likes of SAW and HOSTEL look like MARY POPPINS in comparison. Written and directed by Koji Shiraishi (CARVED aka A SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN) and starring Hiroaki Kawatsure (CHANBARA BEAUTY; CARVED) and Japanese porn star Tsugumi Nagasawa (TOKYO GORE POLICE), the film takes the concept of Japanese extreme cinema to a whole new level. A girl, Aki (Tsugumi Nagasawa), and her new boyfriend, Kazuo (Hiroaki Kawatsure), are mugged, knocked unconscious and kidnapped by an unknown assailant. They wake up to find themselves bound and gagged in a torture chamber-style basement at the mercy of a man armed with a mind-boggling array of kitchen implements and power tools whose only pleasure is gained from the suffering of others. So begins a slow and sustained assault during which the couple is gradually hacked, mutilated and degraded to the point where death becomes a more desirable option to living. Or is it? When one captive is offered the chance to die in order to save the life of the other, the question of how far one would go for a loved one is answered in the most unpleasant of ways. Relentlessly intense and explicitly graphic in its scenes of torture, sexual abuse and violence, this is definitely not a film for the easily offended, the squeamish or the faint-hearted! GROTESQUE (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£12.99) by 4Digital Asia on 17th August 2009.