Hero Hero Ghost Show!

Welcome back to a new episode of Hero Hero Ghost Show! We pay respects to Ren Osugi before diving into a the Sion Sono/Ren Osugi film, Exte! Haunted hair, family drama and rampant abuse form this tale of a vengeful spirit that also serves as a surprisingly radical take on J-horror in general. Also, we dive into The G-Spot with Cort Psyops to talk Godzilla Raids Again! ★ Support this podcast on Pat...

Welcome to Hero Hero Ghost Show!, a podcast all about Asian horror, and this time around we’re going straight to Tokyo Bay with special guest Cort Psyops from Cinema Psyops to get under the scales of a temperamental gentleman named Godzilla .  Did you ever wonder who came up with Godzilla in the first place?  Or what a kaiju is?  Or maybe you just enjoy Gamera digressions.  I don’t know how you li...

It’s Bro-mies before Ho-mies when Richard-mie joins Bo-mie for our final trip into the realm of Tomie, the cinematic adaptations of Junji Ito’s manga.  And we are going out in style, friends and neighbors.  In addition to discussing two of the more interesting entries into this series, we talk a little gialli , discuss which in the series best captures the spirit of the comic and much, much more!...

Welcome back, everyone!  In further proof of our obsession with Japanese love demons, I am joined by Hello! This is the Doomed Show’s Richard Glenn Schmidt for a stroll down Tomie lane.  This time, we examine films six and seven (!) of the long-running series of films, this time helmed by original Tomie director Ataru Oikawa.  With Tomie: Beginning , Oikawa creates his own prequel.  Why do we keep...

We’re back, and this time… it’s personal!  Well, if not personal, certainly weird.  We’re talking Sion Sono’s Suicide Club with Black Annis’s Misty Marchant, and we cover this thing like pros, including why Genesis set up shop in a bowling alley, Charles Manson trivia, the gleeful black comedy of this movie and fun talk about suicide!  Also, Sion Sono time travel theories! Opening Song: Karma War...

Welcome back to Hero Hero Ghost Show!  I’ve been away a while, but back in time to celebrate a day of togetherness… and what better way to celebrate than with the two women that perhaps best represent Japanese horror?  That’s right, we’re talking Ringu vs Ju-on , yurei vs yurei… it’s Sadako vs Kayako ! In a solo run, we go through the surprisingly comprehensible story, the awesomeness of Tamao, th...

Welcome back to Hero Hero Ghost Show!  Relieved of solo duties, I am joined by Hello! This is the Doomed Show ‘s Richard Glenn Schmidt for our second venture into the land of Japanese love demons.  We begin with Takashi Shimizu’s wonderful take on the Tomie story, Tomie: Rebirth , and it’s amazing set pieces and horrible gift-giving ideas.  Then, we take on Tomie: Forbidden Fruit , the movie that...

The solo train keeps rolling, but enough bonus content, let’s do a real episode!  This time out, we take a look at a listener request in the form of Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman .  Based on an urban legend, the movie is a weird blend of urban fairy tale, slasher and treatise on child abuse… maybe?  We take a stroll through the plot before trying to figure out if this is just an entertaining piec...

Here we are, just the two of us.  Sure, we usually have some guest yammering on about one movie or another, but if we could distill the show into its purest state, something that could lead to the dawning of a new age?  Or, you could just join me for a solo show in which we discuss Takashi Miike’s entry into the Masters of Horror series, “Imprint.”  And why not get a little nutty with the low-fi g...

Ah, Asian horror…  With its technicolor lighting and Goblin-esque scores, the brutal killings, the maggots on the ceilings…  Hey, wait a second!  That doesn’t sound like Asian horror at all!  And that’s just what makes 1988’s Evil Dead Trap such an oddball piece of cinema.  The movie director Toshiharu Ikeda swears was not influenced by countless giallo movies is a weird blend of classic horror tr...

Welcome back to Season Two of Hero Hero Ghost Show!  Boy howdy, do we have a weird one tonight – the seminal Japanese body horror/cyberpunk/splatter movie, Tetsuo the Iron Man .  This is one of those movies people intend to see, yet never quite get around to it.  Along with my co-host Gary Hill (of Two Drink Minimum Commentaries and Cinema Beef fame), we explain why you kinda need to see this to k...

Hey Ghost Show Heroes!  We are back for a new ten-episode run of the best and strangest in Asian horror, and we’re starting with a bang.  That’s right, it’s Ringu , the movie that made us all scared of long haired girls in wells.  We dig into the iconic moments of the film, diabeetus ghosts, raising your children Amish, SGF treatments, the Sadako vs Scanners movie we never got and warm parenting m...

Hey there, Ghost Show Heroes!  We’re still getting things ready for Season Two, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve your fair share of Asian horror goodness.  To keep you tantalized, I have enlisted the help of both a Japanese love demon named Tomie and an American love demon named Richard Glenn Schmidt (he of Hello! This is the Doomed Show ).  We’re making our way through every damn Tomie fil...

You may not immediately recognize the name of our guest, but you will after this episode!  Colette Balmain is a speaker and author specializing in Asian horror and literally wrote the book on the subject.  Her book, Introduction to Japanese Horror Film, is preparing for its second edition release and has been an invaluable tool in researching this show.  She was kind enough to come on and talk wha...

Welcome to the final episode of season one!  It has been a long and winding road, but we find ourselves at the end (for now) and in the arms of a love demon named Tomie.  Joined by Richard Glenn Schmidt of Hello! This is the Doomed Show! fame and resident Tomie expert, our heroes examine heads in bags, disco fashion, basket babies and just what makes Tomie such a unique and unsettling villain.  Al...

The penultimate episode of season one of Hero Hero Ghost Show has arrived!  Joined by David Anders of Devour the Podcast fame (or infamy), we sit down to talk about the Japanese ghost apocalypse film, Pulse .  We talk about the film’s creepy imagery, the existentialist horror of the film, how ghost unions work, how anyone would allow Kawashima to drive after his ghostly encounter and just how long...

Way back in episode one, I promised Takashi Miike would return, and boy is this a return worth waiting for.  Ichi the Killer is part mob story, part twisted father/son fable and all blood-drenched (among other fluids).  This movie, and the episode, are not for the faint of heart as we dive into the extreme imagery, what it takes to forget about all that semen at the beginning, how unions are affec...

This is not a test!  A brand new episode of Hero Hero Ghost Show is here and, brothers and sisters, it is a classic on the menu tonight.  Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle ROyale is a brutal, taboo-shattering slice of Japanese cinema and has earned the moniker ‘classic’ since it’s 2000 release. Joining us is Ricky Morgan, from Hail Ming Power Hour and a returning champion, having accompanied us last on Epis...

Welcome to the latest episode of Hero Hero Ghost Show! This time around, we set the Asian horror wayback machine (AHWM) to 1968 and the Kaneto Shindo ghost story, Kuroneko .  Joined by The Podcast Under the Stair’s Duncan McLeish, we dive into the traditional aspects of the story, what we would do for a goblin cat, alternate Fred Flintstone catchphrases, pink cinema, dubbed laughter and what a pai...

Welcome back to Hero Hero Ghost Show!  So, apologies for the delay in getting the latest episode to you, but scheduling and life conspired to derail us for a couple of weeks.  We’re back with a vengeance, however.  This time around, Kiss the Goat and Screen Kings host Jeffrey X Martin joins us to discuss the 1977 classic (?) Hausu .  Most times when you wonder how a movie got made, it’s due to the...

Welcome to a brand new episode of Hero Hero Ghost Show! This episode, we’re exploring the twisted (heh!) mind of Junki Ito and the film adaptation of Uzumaki .  Joined by Brian Sammons, expert editor and co-host of Evil Episodes and The ABCs of Hidden Horror, we dive into the weird world of a spiral-afflicted village.  Buckle yourself in for spiral puns, Yeats quotes and speculation on human snail...

Welcome back to Episode 6 of Hero Hero Ghost Show!  Boy, do we have a good one today.  I’m joined by Zena Dixon of Girls Will be Ghouls (a podcast you can find right here on LegionPodcasts.com ) to discuss Dream Home, a Hong Kong slasher from 2010.  We talk about our mutual love of House, Zena’s admiration for a really effective killer and whether a slasher can ever really be “too smart.”  If you’...

Welcome for round five of Hero Hero Ghost Show!  We now turn our eyes to an oft-used trope in Asian horror cinema – the technological as a source of terror.  For our first foray into techno-horror goodness, I’m joined by Ricky Morgan of the Hail Ming Power Hour to discuss Phone, a story of ghosts, possession and poor Motorola customer service.  We talk story, the amazing child actor that is probab...

Welcome back, Ghost Show heroes!  First of all, thanks to all who have been listening and offering feedback.  You guys are the best!  Enough pandering, though, we have ghosts to talk about!  In particular, Taeko, Kayako and Toshio, the unholy trinity of spooks in Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-on .  Dave Zendano of the Exploding Heads Horror Podcast joins me to talk about the often confusing plot, the simil...

 Welcome to Episode 3 of Hero Hero Ghost Show!  This time around, we’re talking Ryuhei Kitamura’s chanbara-inspired bouillabaisse of weirdness, Versus .  Is this the perfect introductory film to Japanese horror?  What’s with the kicking guy?  Is our lead character as feminist as he claims to be?  Also, we talk the origins of the film and why it’s kitchen sink approach to filmmaking may work in its...