In October/November time a Nobuhiko Obayashi 4 film set will be released containing School in the Crosshairs, Girl of time, Island Nearest Paradise and His Motorbike Her Island. So, in perpetration for the event it seems right to look at these four films.
School in the Crosshairs is a 1981 Sci-Fi fantasy film. The film centres around Yuka a shy middle school student with psychic powers. However, when a new student with similar ability’s uses his power to steal the class election Yuka and her friends try to stop him. The film received mixed reviews with critics praising the tone of the film being funny, cute. and weird at the same time but criticised the lack of character development and an incoherent second half.
Girl of Time is a 1983 Sci-Fi film. Based on the 1965 Japanese novel of the same name it tells the story of a high-school girl who gains the ability to time-travel and repeatedly relives the same day in a time loop. The film was a box office success being the second highest-grossing Japanese film in 1983, ultimately earning 4.76 billion Yen. The film received positive reviews with critics praising the honest sentimentality, acting and story.
Island Nearest to Heaven is a 1984 about a high school girl that travels to the island of New Caledonia and goes on magical adventures. The film gained mixed reviews.
His Motorbike, Her Island was his next film in 1986 the film is about a temperamental young biker who after a failed romance meets a carefree rural girl while riding through her island home and gets her obsessed about riding a motorbike. The film gained mixed reviews with critics praising the unusual narrative and camera work but feeling the film was unnecessarily experimental with musical interludes that seemed pointless and cheesy dialogue.
I hope that more people look at the films of Nobuhiko Obayashi from both this set and the previous Anti-War Trilogy box set as well as his most famous film the 1977 experimental comedy horror film House and his final film Labyrinth of Cinema from 2019. By experiencing these films you can dive into the work of a master and one of my favourite directors of all time.
Maniac 1980
William Lustig’s 1980 psychological slasher film maniac could very much be a typical film of its era. The film centres around Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) a serial killer with an abusive childhood who in the streets of New York kills young women before thinking...
House
At first glance, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 film House a film were six schoolgirls travel to one of the aunts house in the county only for it to haunted might seem like style over substance. With its piano that eats girls, decapitated flying severed heads that...
An American Werewolf in London Review
an American werewolf in London is a 1981 United Kingdom and United States coproduction horror comedy film written and directed by John Landis and starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter and Griffin Dunne. The film follows two American college students...
Akira
Akira is a 1988 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic cyberpunk film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his 1982 manga of the same name. The film tells the story of Kaneda the leader of a biker gang whose childhood friend Tetsuo acquires telekinetic powers after...
A Boy and His Dog
A Boy and His Dog is a 1975 post-apocalyptic dark comedy written and directed by LQ Jones based off the 1969 novella of the same name by Harlan Ellison, starring Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Alvy Moore and Jason Robards. The film follows a teenage boy named Vic...
Suspiria 1977
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento. The film centres around Susy Bannion (Jessica Harper) is an American ballet student who transfers to a dance academy in Germany only to find out through a series of brutal murders...
Last Action Hero
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1993 film Last Action Hero has never been considered one of the most beloved of the actor’s work. Centring around Danny Megan (Austin O’Brien) who with the help of magical movie ticket gets transported into the fictional film world of...
The Fly
The Fly is a 1968 American science-fiction body horror film directed and cowritten by David Cronenberg. The film tells the story of an eccentric but brilliant scientist who after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong slowly turns into a giant human/fly...
Scanners Review
Scanners is a 1981 body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, Michael Ironside and Patrick McGoohan. The film centres around scanners people with unusual telepathic and kinetic powers, as well as...
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