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Undertaker - Archeron Pictures |
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Written by Richard Taylor
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Saturday, 10 December 2016 |
Review of Naoyoski Kawamatsu's Undertaker (2012) on Severed Cinema
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AKA:
Sôginin – andâteikâ, Souginin
Directed by: Naoyoski Kawamatsu
Written by: Naoyoski Kawamatsu
Produced by: Kikaru Hosoya
Cinematography by: Hajime Kanda
Editing by: Naoyoski Kawamatsu
Special Effects by: Akiteru Nakada, Misako Maeda
Music by: Masayoshi Tomura
Cast: Tomoka Asano, Yoshito Kobahigawa, Yuina Kumakura,
Natsuki Minami, Shinta Souma
Year: 2012
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English Subtitles)
Color: Color
Runtime: 64min
Studio: Archeron Pictures |
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This Japanese undead piece, clocks in at just above an hour
and is going to be given some new life with a re-release in
2016. There has been a bit of a buzz surrounding
Undertaker, as we see from the promo stills that it
looks like a world of crazy horror, which viewers have
become accustomed to, with a lot of the off-the-wall
material released from Japan. I'm here to tell you that it’s
actually not in the same vein of wild and wacky shit related
to, say, the days of the CAT III releases, or stuff even in
the general vicinity of Guinea Pig, or Tokyo Gore
Police, or Machine Girl, and so on. Undertaker is actually a beautifully shot and surreal horror art piece
which slowly unfolds on the screen.
We follow a young boy named Ryouichi (Shinta Souma) who is
being evacuated from his flat along with others, during what
seems to be an outbreak of sickness. Ryouichi's caregiver
packs him and his friend Megumi (Yuina Kumakura) some things
in a bag for their trip, and seemingly disappears as they
too have become sick and decide to quietly and calmly stay
behind. This is a scene which I felt was very powerful in
its emotional delivery. Once the patrons get on the road, to
get to a safe haven, it seems as if Megumi is already
infected and the bus they are on crashes. Ryouichi wakes up
to see people fleeing and Megumi in chase, she turns around
and we see she has become overtaken by whatever sickness has
enveloped society.
Ryouichi soon flees by himself, but meets up with an elderly
lady named Tomoka (Tomoka Asano), who has made it her
existence to track down those zombified, and decapitating
them to put an end to their misery. Tomoka is hired by
family members to track down their zombified kin, and lay
them to rest. She is known as an undertaker. As an adult,
Ryouichi (now played by Yoshito Kobashigawa) learns Tomoka's
ways, and he too becomes schooled in the art of undertaking.
Years pass and Tomoka has soon past as well, and Ryouichi is
now an adult carrying on the undertaker tradition. Ryouichi
is approached by a family to retrieve and put an end to
their missing daughter’s undead existence, so he suits up
with his custom axe/shovel weapon and goes to a specific
location to retrieve her.
Undertaker was not what I was expecting -- it’s actually a very well
laid out, emotional and straightforward story. It boasts
some good make up effects, and solid performances but for
the hour running time, I found it very slow in places. The
lack of dialogue really doesn't help its cause. The film
quality of Undertaker is pristine. It’s shot
beautifully, and we embark on the emotions of the characters
through facial expressions and actions. Shinta Souma does an
excellent job playing Ryouichi, as a boy, and these
sequences are my favorite in the movie. It’s a very heart
felt and sincere performance. The movie is definitely a sad
film. It does have some action in the conclusion -- when
Ryouichi must dispose of the undead he encounters in an
abandoned mall, but the gore is definitely not over-the-top,
and is actually quite restrained. Some of the undead look
and walk in a very cool fashion -- there is one zombie in
particular who seems to be strangling himself. This
character looked very effective.
Undertaker turns out to be a well-made, surprisingly tasteful and
emotionally charged affair, with a brooding atmosphere and
utter sense of despair. The life of an undertaker is one of
isolation and lack of appreciation from society. Many thanks
to Naoyoshi Kawamatsu for sending this my way, and I wish
him much success with the film.



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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 December 2016 )
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