Takuya Fujimura – Windows on Worlds

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the onsen, prehistoric sharks decide it’s time to strike back against unsuspecting bathers. Is it really so wrong to want to relax in some nice, warm water or are we actually invading the sharks’ territory? In any case, Morihito Inoue’s creature feature Hotspring SharkAttack (温泉シャーク, Onsen Shark) is as much about the ravages of capitalism as it is about aquatic terror as the social media-obsessed mayor fixes his sights on saving the town through a massive onsen complex.

Tellingly, many of the local people are against the plan, which will have profound effects on their livelihood, while many of the local politicians are reluctant to close the onsen despite knowing about the shark issue in much the same way the mayor in Jaws refuses to lose the beach because they don’t want to risk damaging the tourist industry. When they do eventually close them, little children cry to their mothers about not being allowed into the baths, which just shows how important hot springs culture is to this area.

But then it is quite weird, sharks suddenly snatching people from the baths and somehow dragging them back to sea. Modern science has an answer, thanks to top sharkologist Mayumi (Yu Nakanishi), but it’ll take a bit longer to find a way to stop them getting in while Mayumi agonises about her role in the proceedings as a lover of sharks yet essentially responsible for their destruction. A part of her still wants to find a way to coexist peacefully even as the sharks wreak havoc on the town and continue to pose a serious risk to life. Even so, the area ironically becomes a tourist hotspot after all as a swarm of live streamers arrive to try to experience the shark-infested waters for themselves despite the danger.

Meanwhile, the sharks’ gills light up like the onsen symbol on maps while the mayor is haunted by the spirits of his ancestors and also wears a tie with little onsens on it. He later thinks better of his sleazy capitalist ways and comes to the realisation that it’s his responsibility to save the town even if that means torpedoing his landmark new resort and acknowledging the harm it would do to the local area. It seems that these prehistoric, super squishy sharks only got woken up because of global warming which is why they’re drawn to warmer waters and able to terrorise innocent onsen-goers.

The same might be said of Maccho, a very buff guardian of onsen culture who can’t remember who he is or why he was born but is committed to defending protecting hot springs everywhere. Everyone in the town is keen to protect them too, and not just because they drive the local economy. The police chief’s about to retire with a vague idea about becoming a novelist but is still determined to clear up the shark problem, while his assistant later fights off a bunch of sharks single-handed to give the others time to do their thing.

Unable to use guns because these sharks are also full of methane, this particular issue requires a less conventional solution, though the irony is that it lies at the heart of the problem. The weird disease the sharks starts spreading can only be cured by an antidote found within their own fins. The government might be content to simply destroy the town first, hinting at the indifference of the Tokyo elite to small-town disaster, but the local community won’t let that happen and nor will the hot springs guardian. Inoue adds in a fair degree of absurdity in order to make his central conceit work including a series of weird gags about eating a sub on a sub while harnessing the reality of his low budget to add a note of surreality to the town. The sharks themselves have a pleasingly retro design while the practical effects add to the sense of absurdity right down to the cute little submarine the team eventually constructs using the 3D printer that was designed to build the soulless onsen complex with its rooftop pool and ill-advised bungee jumping facilities. If there’s one thing that Hotspring SharkAttack has, it’s genuine heart along with small-town pride and a sense of fun that actively revels in the ridiculousness of its premise.

Hotspring SharkAttack screens 31st May as part of this year’s Nippon Connection.

Trailer (no subtitles)

You know how it is – you turn up to make a low budget zombie movie in a disused water filtration plant apparently once used by the military for dodgy human experimentation and a load of real zombies suddenly turn up to join the fun. Then again, at least zombies don’t have over protective managers hovering on the sidelines or require catering services so in some ways they are the perfect extras. The debut feature from Shinichiro Ueda, One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな！, Camera wo Tomeru na!) is a clever bait and switch, opening with a frenetic low budget zombie chase sequence before cutting to behind the scenes where just about everything is going hilariously wrong.

As the film opens, an actress is in the middle of the 42nd take of a scene in which she is attacked by her zombified boyfriend when the director yells “cut” and begins berating her for her non-existent acting skills before storming off in a huff. The actress, the boyfriend, and the makeup artist whose many hobbies include women’s self defence are enjoying a cup of coffee when a bunch of real zombies suddenly show up with murderous intent. All shot in one cut, the 40 minute chase sequence is a celebration of all things zombie with appendages flying off with gay abandon as blood soaks the screen and our plucky heroine ends up somehow in the middle of a pentagram painted on a rooftop.

Viewers who aren’t paying attention and attempt to leave after “credits” roll will be doing themselves a huge disservice – this high impact opening has been something of a ruse to take us into the real meat of the drama in the zany backstage antics in which just about everything is going just about as wrong as it could possibly go. It turns out “One Cut of the Dead” is a one camera one cut TV special made to launch a brand new zombie channel. Our director, Higurashi, who played “The Director” in One Cut, has found himself at the helm because no one else would take on such an outrageous proposal and, unlike his onscreen counterpart, is too kind and mild mannered to say no.

Higurashi’s career has perhaps become zombified in itself. The producers have chosen him for his ironic slogan – “Fast, cheap, but…average”, and he’s made his way in the minor TV film biz by keeping his head down and just getting on with the job even when it’s as “inconsequential” as a reconstruction sequence for cheesy TV news item. The chance to direct a drama is then an exciting one even if it’s for an equally cheesy TV horror show with a gimmick that’s doomed to fail.

Thus he finds himself on set with a pair of idols – she constantly worrying about what her agency will say to the various problems presented by being in a zombie movie, and he constantly rude and arrogant. Meanwhile, a previous acquaintance of Higurashi’s set to play the cameraman has a serious drink problem, the actor playing the boom operator has a series of digestive issues, and the woman playing the makeup artist is in a car accident with the man playing the director just a couple of hours before the camera rolls. Improvising wildly and making fantastic use of a set of cue cards, Higurashi manages to keep it all together despite the ensuing chaos.

The real genius of the film lies in the cleverness of the original bait and switch. The aesthetic of the zombie sequence is pure low budget horror with noticeably low grade camera quality and deliberately iffy special effects. On the first pass through there are several moments that look like shoddy direction – Higurashi talks to the cameraman who isn’t supposed to be there, the three actors witter on about nothing, the actress continues screaming for way too long etc but each of these mini moments loops back perfectly into the second half farce in which the crew is desperately trying to overcome several obstacles at once and keep the camera rolling to get through the 30-minute live broadcast without anyone noticing.

In the background, Higurashi is also facing some minor family drama with his grown up daughter who wants to direct but needs to work on her people skills. Her keen eye for detail and youthful ingenuity eventually helps the crew figure out a way to keep going, but in the end it’s teamwork that sees them through as they learn to overcome their differences and work together to get what they need. Hilarious, self aware, and filled with homages to classic horror, One Cut of the Dead is an oddly warmhearted comedy in which the zombies are the least of anyone’s worries.

One Cut of the Dead received its international premiere at the 20th Udine Far East Film Festival and will be released in the UK by Third Window Films later in the year.

Original trailer (English subtitles)

Tag: Takuya Fujimura

Hotspring SharkAttack (温泉シャーク, Morihito Inoue, 2024)

One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな！, Shinichiro Ueda, 2017)