ANOTHER HEAVEN: I first read about this film on an online chat
board. It sounded pretty interesting so I promptly tracked down the
import DVD and checked it out. And I'm sooo glad I did! Think of
DAVID FINCHER's crime sleeze drama SE7EN mixed with elements from
the Sci-Fi classic INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS with a pinch of
THE HIDDEN, and that's what you get with writer, director GEORGE
(JOUJI) IIDA's supra-slick Japanese action / horror flick. All the
ingrediants for a good time are included here: we've got drop-dead
gorgeous Japanese gals covered in blood, grisly crime scenes with
mutilated corpses, brains in boiling soup, and a couple of police
detectives chasing down super-powered serial killers possessed by
the spirits of Angels or Aliens. Frankly, I'm not too sure which,
so you can make that decision after watching it yourself. But to
say the least, it's a pretty to look at, high-gloss movie with
plenty of horror and sci-fi "genre elements" to keep even the
die-hards satisfied. It's very enjoyable and, for me, it gets
better and better per viewing. So I'd say that the only drawback I
could possibly think of would be that not ALL of the goddess-like,
beyond-beautiful Japanese women (especially actress YUKIKO OKAMOTO,
the super-bad danceclub girl in the red dress that whipped so much
ass) in this film didn't have a nude scene other than the main
star's (actor YOUSUKE EGUCHI) girlfriend (who looked just too young
and innocent for my tastes). It's also alittle more "mainstream"
compared to most of the other Asian movies I've reviewed so far.
But other than that, this is a much overlooked gem (that even
spawned a television series called ANOTHER HEAVEN ECLIPSE which
also co-starred KOU SHIBASAKI, the ultra-sexy and full blown nutso
psychotic Mitsuko from the greatest Japanese film of all time,
BATTLE ROYALE) in the Oriental action / horror cinema and I
recommend it to any fan of the genre (or anyone who likes to see
Japanese girls cry blood, and honestly, they never looked
better).
-Steve