Japanese Trailer Trash, Hot Sauce, Sushi and Arterial Spray
by Marc Patterson
I’ll argue with genre fans all day long on this one. The Japanese have the market cornered on gore. Yes, every country has their masters of extreme gore. No one is denying the French can do extreme gore. No one is discrediting the bar-setting effects of Tom Savini. But the Japanese have taken gore to a place so outlandish that it’s damn near comical. Further, their skill at editing 80-90 minutes worth of material down to a 2-5 minute brain exploding trailer is nearly unmatched. It’s almost good enough just to watch the trailer and skip the film. Think of it like your worst acid trip set to a pulse pounding pace where your senses are barraged with intense imagery that will sear your brain. Once you see it, you don’t WANT to unsee it.
Here is a roundup of a few of my favorite trailers from the past few years. It’s not meant to be a completist’s view of the genre, but more like a personal top 5.
Tokyo Gore Police (5 minute extended trailer)
By far this is one of my favorite trailers for any Japanese film. In particular this five minute trailer. It’s the epitome of “the trailer shows all the good parts”, but believe me, to see the film is to only dive down the rabbit hole far more deeply.
Ichi the Killer – (Official Trailer)
While this lacks the audacious level of cheesy violence, it’s a clearly intense trailer that tips off viewers know they’re in for a totally fucked-up and hardcore flick.
Versus (Official Trailer)
Ryûhei Kitamura’s film is more a bloody martial arts action film than it is horror, but it’s full of fantastic sequences and you have to see it if you haven’t already. Even better – this trailer is truly just a taste of the full film. Versus is one of the rare films that doesn’t let up for the duration of its runtime. Very impressive all around.
Helldriver
There’s a longer two-minute trailer out there for the Well Go release, but even though it’s filled with more wacky imagery it somehow just doesn’t feel the same way as this shorter 43 second trailer. If I took the Pepsi challenge I’d tell you this one is created/edited by the Japanese and that some guy in an LA studio made the Well Go version. Who knows, but here’s my fav…
House (Hausu)
If you thought Japanese splatter films are a new thing, think again. Back in 1977 commercial director Nobuhiko Obayashi created House, one of the most zany Japanese films I’ve ever seen, but equally beautiful. You’d almost think Sam Raimi was influenced by this flick when he made Evil Dead.
BONUS: Lady Snowblood (Official Trailer)
I consider this film to be one of the greatest, and most perfect revenge films ever created. The trailer isn’t gushing with power washer arterial spray like the others I’ve selected, but considering it’s impact how could I leave it out?
SuperBonus: CLIP: Guinea Pig, Mermaid in a Manhole
This is considered a super bonus because it’s not a trailer at all. If you’re familiar with the Guinea Pig films then I needn’t say much more. The Guinea Pig films are excruciatingly tough to watch. I can stomach some pretty hardcore cinema, but even this shit I find hard to take. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever sat straight through one of these films without needing to get up and walk it off. It’s really tough to find a trailer online, but for those of you with the hardest constitutions, here’s a fan created six-minute clip from Mermaid in a Manhole:
