HCF Review - Creep

LOVE WILL TEAR US APART (2024)

Abusive parents, bullies, con artists, and creepy drunks might not seem like the most appropriate subjects for a slasher-comedy hybrid, but writer and director Ken’ichi Ugana gives it his best shot. To say the end results are uneven might be stating the obvious. This is a strange blend of plot clichés you’ve probably seen elsewhere, with added black comedy violence. At just under ninety minutes it doesn’t outstay its welcome, but then it doesn’t really ever explore any potential themes very deeply either. Of course eclectic genre mash-ups are also something you’ve seen elsewhere if you’ve ever taken a trip into the Japanese realm of horror cinema. Let’s take a look at whether this particular example distinguishes itself from its contemporaries or whether it’s a mixed bag.

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HCF Review - Let's Rock

FISH STORY (2009)

Pop culture references can often be a jarring inclusion within a film, particularly when it comes to humour-laden superhero stories, but there’s also an odd charm to them when they’re used appropriately. Which is the case with Yoshihiro Nakamura’s Fish Story. It’s a yarn that asks the audience; can pop culture save the world? Specifically one forgotten punk rock song from the Seventies nobody bought, from a band without a lasting career. But more broadly it considers things like television shows, books, and even ghost stories. Do individual actions and beliefs, sometimes separated by decades, have any real impact on the world in the course of human history? Or is it all just a lot of wasted time and lost memories?

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