As it was Mary's 21st birthday (at midnight), she got to pick titles this week. After a brief round of Uno, we popped in Versus (which we haven't seen since Movie Night 49).


Movie Night 49:  Versus (2000)
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Cast:Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka
Plot:There are 666 portals that lead to difference dimensions, and in Japan exists the 444th portal: The Forrest of Ressurection.Two prisoners escape from jail during transportation with the help of some Yakuza thugs, only to be entwined in a mysterious battle that they cannot understand. Apparently, the thugs were hired by a man with no name that walks around with a brief case, and he wants one of the prisoners alive, along with a girl who has strange dreams and visions. When the meeting of these groups goes bad, they soon find out that the Forrest of Ressurection can bring the dead back to life!

Now, the surviving prisoner and the girl must try to make their way out of the forrest before they become a part of the mysterious man's destiny. A destiny that spans back over 500 years!

This flick is the first movie I've seen from Ryuhei Kitamura (Alive, Azumi), and it was also the most impressive.With a little budget, he managed to make a flick with some of the most interesting / innovative camera shots ever. This movie is like a martial arts Evil Dead, only without the campiness and the cottage. It has zombies, samurais, evil demons, magic spells, sword fights, and a barrage of other things that make it worth owning, much less worth owning. It's come up a few times in the past as a title that we should watch (I think it was a choice during my birthday movie night), and we finally got to watch it.

Azumi is also a close second in personal favorite's from this director. He's also been rumored to direct the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie from Sony Pictures.

I actually had to buy two copies of this movie: one was a region 2 at a convention, which didn't always work in DVD players, which forced me to go out and find a region 1 copy at Best Buy. It took FOREVER for this movie to hit our shores, and it was a glorious thing to behold. Azumi took forever as well, and Laura had to buy it for me when we went to ACEN last year.

And it's awesome!

Later!

T