Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageGozu (2003)
Director: Takashi Miike
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Miike re-teams with writer Sato (who adapted Ichi the Killer for him) in an only partly successful attempt to crossbreed the yakuza and horror genres. When his gang superior Ozaki (Aikawa) becomes deranged and paranoid, Minami (Hideki Sone) is ordered to escort him to the 'yakuza dump' in Nagoya. Minami frets over betraying his oath of loyalty to Ozaki, but Ozaki appears to peg out in the car as they approach Nagoya - except that the corpse suddenly goes AWOL. Minami's quest to authenticate the death becomes nightmarish, bringing him up against a scary, transvestite coffee-shop manager (Sato giving himself a cameo), the hyper-lactating hostess of an inn and the spirit Gozu (human body, cow's head, long tongue). Throw in copious homosexual panic, some transgendered reincarnation and a messy rebirth and you have a movie that tries a little too hard for the midnight-show market while neglecting the dynamics of its own warped story-arc.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Takashi Miike
Producer: Misako Saka, Shigeji Maeda, Tatsuya Murai
Cast: Hideki Sone, Sho Aikawa, Kimika Yoshino, Shohei Hino, Keiko Tomita, Harumi Sone, Masaya Kato, Tetsuro Tamba, Ryo Ishibashi, Sakichi Sato full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Rated: 18
Duration: 129 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now