Demon Pond 1979 Based on the 1913 play Demon Pond by Izumi Kyōka, screenplay by Haruhiko Mimura and Tsutomu Tamura, directed by Masahiro Shinoda. A Japanese fantasy movie staring Tsutomu Yamazaki, he played Goro in Tampopo. We watched the Criterion Blu-ray. It looks very nice.
The movie is really a vehicle for Tamasaburô Bandô. He's an actor and director, he appeared in a lot of Kabuki plays, often playing a female part. He plays both Yuki and the Dragon Princess.
The movie starts with a man called Gakuen arriving in a small remote village only to find his friend Akira. The two taught at the same school, three years ago Akira had gone on summer vacation and never returned. No contact at all, with anyone, even his mom. Akira is now married to Yuki and they are both bound to the Demon Pond. Akira rings the bell three times a day to keep the Demon Pond from flooding the village and Yuki is some sort of sorceress.
The village is in the middle of a drought and the villagers think that the only way to reverse the drought is human sacrifice. They've got Yuri in mind. Akira and Yuri get helped by Gakuen, Princess Shirayuki and the pond spirits. Things go badly for our heroes, the villagers are a horrible lot who need drowning. Lucky for us, the villagers suffer a mighty retribution for their nastiness. Don't poke the dragon.
Sadly it's rather slowly paced and not much happens. Lots of people staring into space and wondering lethargically about makes my mind wander. It looks pretty, the sets and costumes are nice and the spirits from the Demon Pond were entertaining. Still, it's not something I'm likely to see again.
Hundra 1983 Written by José Truchado, John F Goff and Matt Cimber, directed by Matt Cimber. An Italian, US and Spanish production with a bit of music by Ennio Morricone.
Hundra is a good hunter for her tribe of Amazons, she's not interested in staying home and having babies like most of the women. She's out on a hunt when the village is attacked by a horde of men. Hundra arrives at the village to find the town in heated battle. The women haven't been doing so well in the fight and Hundra arrived too late to turn the tide. She's the only one to survive in the village. She goes to see the old wise woman in the mountain only to be told to go have a baby. The old wise women is just one of several odd characters that really aren't much help to our rather dim heroine.
Hundra tries it on with some unsuitable suitors but things go poorly. Hundra finally settles on getting up the duff with the local healer in a small town. After the birth the child is kidnapped by the evil cult operating in the temple. They kidnap women to use as prostitutes for their flock. Hundra goes after the baby and gets beaten down by the local cult. Eventually she'll fight back.
It's a decent looking film but it meanders around way to slowly. At 109 mins it could use some editing, speed some bits up and strip some bloated scenes. It isn't something that I'm going to bother picking up.
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