Shudder Sunday: Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

 Another Nicolas Cage Movie?
You spoil me, Shudder.

This is a Post-Apocalyptic, Neo-Western Samurai Film.  Enjoy...

A Prisoner- Cage- is suited up (literally) with a mission to rescue The Governor (Bill Mosely) of Samurai Town's Daughter.

If he acts up, the suit will blow him up.  Why him?

Well, some time ago, him and his partner robbed a Bank and many people died.

That sounds fair then.

The trip involves going into the titular Ghostland, which is a bad, bad idea.

He runs afoul of some really weird- even for this post-apocalyptic land- people, but...did he find his target?

The problem- she doesn't seem to remember who she is.

The traumatic events and landscape have done a number on her psychologically.

With time (and the bombs on his body) ticking away, can a crazy Cage make sense of the Ghostland?

Even if he can make it back, will it be a happy homecoming?  After all, Tak Sakaguchi is there with a katana and he's not happy.

To find out, stream the Film now.

A weird, weird Film.  When even Nic Cage describes how strange the Film is, you're on the right track.

Prisoners is, as you saw in my Intro, a hard to describe Film.  Is it a hard to enjoy Film?  No.

For me, it was an enjoyable bit of insanity involving Samurai, a man with a bomb suit, the Clock Tower from Back to the Future and radioactive Ghosts.

What's not to love?

To be fair, the Film is a bit long and takes a bit of time to explain what all happened.  Does it make sense?  Kind of.  Sort of.

This is the kind of cray that you're either going to love or hate.  Just know that if you hate it, these folks won't be happy.

A crazy Film that is big on style and excess.  While you can argue that it is a bit overlong, it is still an enjoyable car crash.

Quick Reviews: Tag (2015)

If you've ever been on the Internet, you've probably seen the opening to this Film.  

Want to know what the rest is like?  Read on...

As you probably know, a Bus full of girls on a trip is driving along until *something* chops off the top half of the vehicle...and them (save for one girl).

She's a mess as she escapes, sees more death and then...none of it happened?  Did it?!?

At School, she hangs out with her friends.  

They get on a weird tangent about Alternate Realities and one of them says this...

All seems normal later until...the Teacher just whips out a chain gun and kills everyone (save the same girl)!

All of the girls flee...in something that sure isn't more and more awkward to watch in America as time goes by.

Things get weirder as reality seems to warp and our Heroine is now...someone else.  Nice Wedding though.

I can hardly SPOIL this Film and I won't.  Instead, here's a context-less shot that sort of SPOILS things...kind of...not really.  Watch the Film.

This is weirder than I expected.  Yes, I do realize how that sounds.  Having only seen the Clip, I expected a certain level of weird.  The actual Film as a whole is far stranger than what it tells you though!  

Outside of the opening, it is chock full of more sudden, random gore.  Beyond that, it has a weird dream-like, fairy-tale element to the whole thing.  It's not long, but the Pacing definitely drags at times.  It has the feel in the later parts of a Director not wanting to cut a second of any Scene.  You can just picture him too- sitting at the back of a Theater and trying to see if the Audience is taking it all in.  That's his prerogative.  

It's also mine to point out how I'm not clear if this helps the Film at all.  The reveals at the end are odd and I'm not entirely-clear if they meant to be taken literally.  It's Japan- who's ever really sure?!?  It's interesting...but I was more interested in the first half of the Film.  

If you don't want to watch something in the vein of Jacob's Ladder or The Machinist, skip this one.  If you need to know what this is all about, watching the Film will help...mostly.  

Speaking of Tag, there's ANOTHER 2015 Film with the same name.   I'm...probably not going to review it, so feel free.

A strong opening, a confusing middle section and an even more confusing ending.  If you aren't in the mood for a real brain teaser, just stick with the clip.

Quick Reviews: Tokyo Tribe

At long last, the Action Film/Rap Musical from Japan that we've all been hoping for.  This is...

In Tokyo, the big City is divided up between 4 'Tribes.'  Our Musical Narrator is here to walk us through what happens in this Story.

 Conflict is ever present as each Tribe controls their own area, but always hopes to control more.

The City is chock full of interesting and crazy people who just so happen to love wall art.

Chaos erupts as the battle for one important person comes up.  They hold the future of all of Asia in their hands- albeit indirectly.

This brings the arrival of some big-name, scary dudes and all-out war!  Be ready for lots of kicking of both ass and 'it old-school.'

Who will win this battle for supremacy among the Tribes?  Who dies?  Who gets served?  To find out, watch the Film.

Weird, weird stuff.  The Film is all sorts of bizarre for a number of reasons.  First off, it is a Rap-based Musical.  Is that a common thing over in Japan that I've just somehow missed over the years?  Mind you, the Japanese Band I know the most- Maximum the Hormone- does have/had a Rapper in it, but still.  Second- the Tone.  The Film is all over the place tone-wise.  At some points, it is straight-up Comedy.  At other points, it is darker, featuring death and just plain evil folks.  At other points still, it is just plain campy, featuring dick jokes, funny outfits and over-the-top visuals.  The rest of the time it is some sort of mix of all three.  Make sense?  The Acting is all over the map as well, pretty much trying to keep pace with the Film.  One Character varies from super-evil to jokey to menacing in a silly way to evil to strange again.  The Film has alot of fun, crazy moments though, in spite of the Tone issues.  It builds and builds in a pretty fun way and everything pays off.  Like I said, it is a mixed-bag as far as the whole experience goes, but lovers of Japanese crazy will adore it.  It is Streaming still on Netflix, so no excuses.  While you do that, I'll pick up some Interior Decorating Tips...

Damn strange and damn fun at times.  The Story and execution is all over the map, so not all will enjoy it the same.