Hiruko: The Goblin

Seems a school was built on one of the gates of hell (and Lucio thought it was a graveyard!) underneath which multitudes of demons lurk within the bowels of said educational establishment awaiting their chance to burst out and roam the Earth. Hiruko, a goblin sent to Earth on a reconnaissance mission beheads students whilst an archaeology professor, and a student investigate the mysterious goings on - and are eventually drawn into battle with Hiruko. Judging from the proliferation of human heads with spider legs, director Tsukamoto has seen John Carpenter's The Thing one too many times, though this somewhat obscure film does at least have a modicum of entertainment factor to offer.

I have never really been a fan of Tsukamoto's films, the Tetsuo were pretentious atrocious wastes of space and Rokugatsu no hebi is just dire. Yokai Hanta - Hiruko is pretty much a high spirited homage/rip-off of superior films such as Sam Raimi's Evil Dead, Soavi's La Chiesa, Carpenter's The Thing, and Shiryo No Wana... with a uniquely Japanese sensibility take on the western riffs -- which sees a fondness for giggling uniformed schoolgirls hideously slaughtered and violated, constantly wailing panicking heroes, atmospheric imagery and disjointed plotting, all garnished with gore a-plenty. Enjoyable, strange and fun for the undemanding and tolerant.

VIDEO: I've heard many bad things about Artsmagic releases, but this isn't bad at all… not exactly reference material, but quite presentable. Presented fullscreen, it boasts bright accurate colouring, nice looking blacks and fleshtones that are passable. There's little grain and the darker scenes offer reasonable clarity of vision.

SOUND: Not much better than functional. A mono soundtrack is the only aural option available, and at times it has a quite noticeable lack of clarity.

EXTRAS: Nothing to write home about, or to even scribble on a post-it. The Japanese trailer is quite stylish and nicely done, the 'Artworks Showreel' is a series of cover sleeves for other Asian releases and the film/biographies don't work full-stop. Not good..

OVERALL: Each to their own 'n all that - I quite enjoyed this preview disc in a 'leave the brain elsewhere' kind of way, but I wouldn't want to pay money for it. Additionally, not all the supplements, for what it's worth, worked - a problem that needs to be addressed by quality control. I suppose this one's down to yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice - I reckon you have to be a real fan to shell out hard cash for it.

Review by Dr Obrero