Latitude Zero

[ 1969 – Ishirō Honda – 89 min ] In following Tears_in_Rain’s excellent Godzilla & Friends Marathon list (boxd.it/2GRQW) I’ve really taken an appreciation in the (somewhat) non-monster films, and the world of super powerful submarines. Latitude Zero unexpectedly delivers me another great sub, but also a very Wakanda-ish civilization hiding at the bottom of the ocean living their best lives – and they are very long lives.  Every Thursday night I put on one of these films, and I must say I was taken aback at first that the film was entirely in English, but glad to see that there wasn’t any egregious dubbing, in fact quite the opposite: the Japanese actors were speaking English throughout, and the usual tomfoolery and outlandish plots and characters were still fully intact to fit alongside the other sci-fi entries of this era.  Dr. Malic is delightfully evil, bringing along some wonderfully deranged monsters (mostly all regular size, I should note) and his own advanced submarine that just can’t quite compete with the good guys, but his diabolical plans and go-to attitude doesn’t let…

Pulse

Wow, I can’t recall the last time that I felt so much dread and unease in a horror film, but here we are with Kairo (Pulse), having me double check the shadows in my room and not only making sure that the doors in my apartment are closed, but also that they don’t have any red tape around them. Suffice to say I didn’t turn on my computer until the next day, in the safety of sunlight. We follow our characters as they navigate strange occurrences, including sightings of a recently deceased friend and a truly creepy website. Everything is driven forward by having as much information as the characters themselves: easily relatable as I never found myself questioning their behaviour: with a belief that ghosts don’t exist, who wouldn’t investigate strange markings on the wall of a friend’s home, or start asking around about how to rid yourself of some malware? These characters are never entirely sure what they’re dealing with, and the audience is given barely anything more, which I think makes the journey all the more terrifying.…

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