Naomi is a university student who is leaving for the US to study in a week Read More »
Tag Archives: Yûsaku Matsuda
The Execution Game AKA Shokei yugi (1979) Tôru Murakawa, Yûsaku Matsuda, Aiko Morishita, Yoshirô Aoki
Narumi is set up by a mysterious woman. Abducted and tortured Read More »
The Killing Game AKA Satsujin yugi (1978) Tôru Murakawa, Kei Satô, Yûsaku Matsuda, Yutaka Nakajima
After making a sensational hit, Narumi has gone into hiding for 5 years. Read More »
Yokohama BJ Blues AKA Yokohama BJ burûsu (1981) Eiichi Kudô, Yûsaku Matsuda, Mari Henmi, Toby Kadoguchi
BJ is a relatively unknown blues singer who scraps some bars in Yokohama. Read More »
The Most Dangerous Game AKA Mottomo kiken na yuugi (1978) Tôru Murakawa, Yûsaku Matsuda, Keiko Tasaka, Ichirô Araki
Assassin Narumi is asked to rescue a kidnapped businessman involved in an air defense project. Read More »
The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf AKA Yomigaeru kinrô (1979) Tôru Murakawa, Yûsaku Matsuda, Jun Fubuki, Kei Satô
Yusaka Matsuda stars as a seemingly run-of-the-mill corporate salary man who leads a double life Read More »
Wuthering Heights (1988) Yoshishige Yoshida, Yûsaku Matsuda, Yûko Tanaka, Rentarô Mikuni
This erotic and violent story taken from Emily Bronte’s classic novel, and Georges Bataille’s analyzes Read More »
The Beast to Die (1980) Tôru Murakawa, Yûsaku Matsuda, Asami Kobayashi, Yoshirô Aoki
A policeman is murdered and his gun, stolen, used to commit the next crime. Read More »
Kazoku gêmu / The Family Game (1983) Yoshimitsu Morita, Yûsaku Matsuda, Jûzô Itami, Saori Yuki, Comedy, Drama
A sendup of the stereo-typical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife Read More »
Kagerô-za / Heat-Haze Theatre (1981) Seijun Suzuki, Yûsaku Matsuda, Michiyo Ohkusu, Mariko Kaga, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Playwright Matsuzaki (Yusaku Matsuda) crosses paths with a beautiful woman on her way to the hospital who tells him a friend is dying. Frightened of a mysterious older woman who sells the fruit of the Chinese Lantern Plant – rumored to be distaff souls – she implores Matsuzaki to accompany her.
Read More »
Midare karakuri / Murder in the Doll House (1979) Susumu Kodama, Shin Kishida, Koichi Kitami, Yûsaku Matsuda, Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror
In the best traditions of Japanese mystery stories which place fiendishly elaborate plots at their centre, Murder at the Doll House more than succeeds as a classic detective story. We’re presented with a set of strange occurrences which our master sleuth will explain to us in a long lecture at the end and even if one or two twists are a little obvious, the satisfaction involved in having figured them out ahead of time outweighs any kind of disappointment. Toshio may say he wants to be like Philip Marlowe but in actuality his detective is a little more in the European mould – almost like a more active Poirot or a slightly less obtuse Sherlock Holmes. Still, donning a trench coat with a turned up collar yet eschewing the classic hat which would have obscured his giant ‘70s perm, Matsuda once again turns in a very “cool” performance as super smart private eye.
Read More »