Popular reviews

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  Review by Ben ★★★★ 6

  No industrial landscapes? No man meeting technology? No problem! Shinya Tsukamoto is a proven master of horror, even when he dials back some of his trademark themes and tricks. Gemini is a unique film of Tsukamoto's as it's a period piece, and its greatest strength lies in his restrained approach. Don't get it twisted; the film features some dazzling, frenzied camerawork and occasional gore and body horror, but used much more sparingly than usual. The end result is a subtly affecting film that oozes atmosphere every single moment.

  One of the qualities I admire most about Tsukamoto as a director is that he never seems to fill his films with too many unnecessary shots or moments. His films typically have…

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  Review by Sethsreviews ★★★★½ 4

  Shinya Tsukamoto might honestly be the greatest horror filmmaker of all time, I don’t know. What a dizzying, profound, and absurd fucking trip. Psychedelic visuals, intense choreography, and an unforgettable conclusion to a classic Shinya twisted narrative. Honestly, this might be my favourite of his so far. He’s absolutely mental.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★ 12

  Probably my least favorite of Matsumoto. Probably better than Tokyo Fist but that one has such a style and content in it that makes it a little bit more memorable. That’s not to say this one doesn’t have any. The one depicted on the poster with the woman’s back grabbing Motoki’s head around her arms, for example, or whatever of those nightmare sequences. This one has plenty of great horror imagery and elements that are pretty spooky. The performances are all great, a little over the top but there’s a charm to them, especially Motoki as his evil doppelganger. The story is simple, yet it honestly failed to engage me.

  All in all, fans of the director or those who like their horror a little more experimental may find this enjoyable enough.

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  Haunting of the Queen Mary
  Gemini
  Hardcore
  Dumb Money

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  Review by ELECTRICWIZARDx ★★★★ 4

  Tsukamoto's industrial nightmares ripped from their twisted metal and jagged wire roots and transplanted into a post-fuedal plague ridden rural Japan.

  Frantic forced motion sickness choreographed chaos fighting a pulverising Ishikawa score, whipping Gemini up into an animalistic frenzy of violence, nightmarish surrealism and stolen lives.

  No one rivals Tsukamoto when it comes to overbearing, overwhelming anxiety inducing insanity. Washed out blue hues, tattered rags, family pride and class extremes colour a gothic fairytale of extreme viscera and hellish shots.

  Deformities, scars and periods of brief, cold, unsettling calm. Off-putting and completely enthralling in equal measures. A masterclass in disorientation.

  I was hooked from the opening credits.

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  Review by Thefilmreviewer ★★★★

  A perfect movie illustrating sibling rivalry between two twins, resulting in their careless and selfish actions. Shinya Tsukamoto uses a beautiful blend of colors and the music here is very well composed. The movie is quite complex and hard to grasp, especially by the end of the movie. Speaking of the ending, I mostly think of it as a terrifying closure to the story.

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  Review by Chris ★★★★ 10

  Gemini is a fascinating deviation for Shinya Tsukamoto compared to his efforts prior, a strangely sinister period piece about a respected doctor whose family life is dismantled by an uncanny lookalike with whom he shares a cryptic connection. Notably lighter on chaotic flourishes and heavier on chilling atmosphere, it steadily provides small details and hints until the bigger picture becomes clear which creatively aligns with the plots focus on duplicity. It deftly tackles both class division and identity, particularly the link between the two in regards to societal attitude towards those with a more refined appearance and higher status; it's something most explicit in the eagerness to treat the more prestigious clientele and the aversion shown to anyone from the…

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  Review by WraithApe ★★★★

  Shinya Tsukamoto's first period film is an interesting departure from his frenetic cyberpunk style, harking back to classic kaidan, despite an absence of the supernatural. Set in 1910, at the tail end of the Meiji era, it's concerned with social changes in Japan as it transitioned into the Taishō era. Through the lens of a Manichean morality tale, we see how a privileged and prejudiced doctor is forced to learn humility. Yukio Daitokuji is made to suffer by his long-estranged identical twin Sutekichi, who superficially represents the darkness to Yukio's light (described at one point as a 'shadowy fellow', while Yukio is normally clad in the all-white attire of his profession).

  The film is (very) loosely based on a short…

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  Review by jasmin 🌙 ★★★★ 6

  Well, hi there!
  Many moons ago I watched Tetsuo: The Iron Man and the short The Phantom of Regular Size and while I'm still trying to wrap my head around just exactly it means, I *think* I've had enough distance to dive deeper into Tsukamoto's psyche with this psychological fantasy horror film.

  Okay, so we follow a doctor and his amnesiac wife as he believes a killer may be targeting them after his parent's untimely deaths.

  What a surreal nightmare. Based on a story by Ranpo Edogawa, this film deals with the animalistic side of humans - something Tsukamoto dealt with in Tetsuo and maybe his other works that I haven't had the pleasure to view yet, anyway, I guess…

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  Review by Movie Diary ★★★★ 3

  What if 'The Parent Trap' was made in Japan and given an R rating? Well, you'd get this movie.

  I like how it covers the 'switched twin' narrative. This film shows how resentments and social inequality can drive people to do whatever it takes to change their fates. Gotta be honest, if I had a chance to switch my life with my lookalike, who happens to have a better fate than me, I'd probably consider it too (though I'm not sure I'd go to the same lengths as the characters in the movie). At the same time, I can't imagine how terrifying it must be if I am the one who is about to be replaced by my creepy lookalike.

  I also like the colorful visuals in this movie; they give it a beautiful surreal atmosphere. Overall, it's an enjoyable thriller movie with plenty of interesting twist.

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  Review by Evan “Raymond Gun-Virus” Pincus ★★★★

  Tsukamoto, perhaps unsurprisingly, can build atmosphere like few others can (even without the jackhammer stylization), and applied to a slightly gothic fable, no doubt it works wonders. Another knockout score by the late, great Chu Ishikawa.

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  Review by Bob McQueen ★★★★

  Wonderfully shot fever dream of a movie. Fantastic score to go along with the amazing set/costume design. Completely captivated from the very beginning. I absolutely love how Tsukamoto can deliver such different and amazing experiences with each movie he makes.

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  Review by PlaguDocta ★★★★½

  Rising shades rode the spots of the largest mind realms. When the amalgamations of men with psychological ideas and swords come upon, where is our lushful landscape, when there is no (usual Tsukamoto) body deconstruction; only the dis-understanding idea remained, that we would be passionate to truly know of it's existence of? Struggling to live on. Oh sweet landscape. There were still parts of you left as isles.