Helldriver (Nishimura's Zombie Epic!) (2010)

[HungFist]

Useless post no. 5. What the hell is going on at the Hell Driver sets?


- http://twitter.com/sushi_typhoon

[HungFist]

Hell Driver photos:
http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=co ... Itemid=167
http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=co ... Itemid=167



A few quotes:

"When I started work on the script a year back, I decided to take Romero’s approach and deal with current events. Actually, there’s quite a lot of satire and social criticism in this film."

"There are about three times more special makeup effects in this, compared to my other films."

"...a car constructed from the body parts of the undead, pole dancing, exploding heads, chainsaw katana..."

Oh, and btw, Sushi website has been active for some time:
http://www.sushi-typhoon.com/

[HungFist]

According to Nishimura the post production is now complete

[HungFist]

Synopsis at the Sushi Typhoon website

WELCOME TO ZOMBIE WORLD!

An alien-spawned, mysterious mist blankets the northern half of Japan, transforming those who inhale it into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies hell-bent on devouring the surviving human population. Plunged into chaos, Japan is torn in two—the southern half of the country, where the populace remains untouched by the deadly gas, lives behind a heavily-fortified wall, while the northern half is a lawless, zombie-infected wasteland. Political forces are locked in a stalemate over whether the living dead should remain protected as family members or exterminated like a plague. The economy withers away, and all hope seems lost for the people and the nation of Japan.

Hope arrives in the form of Kika (Yumiko Hara), a beautiful high school girl armed with a chainsaw sword powered by an artificial heart. Recruited by the government, Kika leads a ragtag group of desperados on a secret mission into the zombie-infected wilds to exterminate zombie queen Rikka (Eihi Shiina from AUDITION and TOKYO GORE POLICE) and put an end to the plague of the living dead. But the road is fraught with a thriving zombie culture that, with its own designs on the living half of Japan, refuses to lay down and die.

Visionary filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura’s first solo directorial effort since TOKYO GORE POLICE is an epic, apocalyptic road movie featuring non-stop action and over-the-top splatter. The long-awaited realization of his dreams, HELLDRIVER is Nishimura’s bid to create the ultimate zombie film.

The showdown for the future of Japan is at hand and no one, living or dead, may survive to see it!

- http://www.sushi-typhoon.com/films/helldriver

[HungFist]

Marc Falkow has sold his soul to Toei and Nikkatsu. Hell Driver Premiere at Fantastic fest


Yoshihiro "My movie is too violent??" Nishimura


- http://twitter.com/sushi_typhoon

[HungFist]

The first feedback on Hell Driver is out... and it's all negative

"Hell Driver, presented a two-hour-long ordeal more than half of the audience chose to walk out on."
- http://www.avclub.com/austin/articles/f ... ass,45758/

"messy (messier than usual), incomprehensible film is just so incredibly tiresome that it’s not worth watching."
- http://www.redcarpetcrash.com/2010/09/2 ... fest-day-6

"HELLDRIVER was just tiresome"
- http://twitter.com/redcarpetcrash

God, I can't wait to see this. Gonna be so great.

[HungFist]

Finally a full review. This guy hates the film too, but so far I haven't heard anything that would make worry about Hell Driver not being a great movie. That reviewer said the film is too dark and not enough comedy (One reason why Nishimura's pal Noboru Iguchi's movies are crap is that there's too much underlined comedy. These films are darkly humoristic even when done in serious tone, and overdoing it by saying "look, this is comedy" just kills the joke as happened with RoboGeisha).

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/review ... driver.php

It's also very possible that most viewers are missing a lot of details in the film. Nishimura said the film would be quite political. And his previous film, Vampire Girl, was full of JP pop culture satire. Now, screen a political / satirical Nishimura gore film for an unprepared Texas audience (being a secret screening, I suppose people got their tickets before knowing what they were seeing) no wonder half of the theatre escaped.

[HungFist]

TRAILER.

http://twitchfilm.net/news/2010/10/epic ... driver.php





WHERE'S THE NEXT SCREENING? I'M GONNA RESERVE MY FLIGHTS
(can't make it to Sitges)

[HungFist]

Ok, now we've got a good review:
http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/10/h ... review.php

[HungFist]

Sitges went better

"Official World Premiere of HELLDRIVER at Sitges Film Festival (with Nishimura in fundoshi) went smashingly!"

"HELLDRIVER second screening (in Sitges). REALLY popular! Even second floor seats sold out!"

I told ya. Texas...

[HungFist]

Yoshihiro Nishimura: The monster maker (Sitges article)
http://sitgesfilmfestival.com/eng/noticies/?id=1003019

That's to Sheldon Warnock for heads up

There's an interesting bit in the article. Nishimura mentions that in Japan even young audiences have lost their interest in gore films. On one hand this is very true. So many of my friends in Japan dislike violent movies. Try to watching Hard Revenge Milly: Bloody Battle with friends and you have people walking out during the opening credits. I was quite surprised really. And Battle Royale gave em nightmares (ok, they were 10 when they saw it, but many still haven't recovered).

But then, the last Tokyo screening of Zombieland in Human Trust theatre was over-sold-out - people were standing in the corridors because there wasn't enough seats. And there were so many girls in the audience - college students and young women coming there with their friends.

I don't think anyone would argue against calling Japanese mainstream cinema relatively violent... although there's an unbelievable load of big screen jdorama makes me feel like I'm mentally choking at times. So I quess you can avoid all the moderate-level violence if you want.

The ratings are also very low. District 9, Shutter Island, Robo-Geisha, Predators... they're are all pg-12 in Japan. And Japanese video games... we're still getting censored versions in Europe and US.

But yes, the more extreme, or simply less mainstream films don't have big demand in Japan. Tetsuo 3 played for less than a dozen viewers in Sapporo at the end of its first week, Mutant Girls Squad never made it to Sapporo (a city of 1.4 million people) or anywhere in Hokkaido. Tokyo Fist was screened a half dozen times during Tsukamoto fest in Sapporo. The screening I went to was attended by me and, ehm, my friend. Private cinema, woo fucking hoo.

Gothic & Lolita Psycho got it's world premiere in theatre N in Shibuya. It think it has less than 100 seats, and some people have bigger screen home than they have at theater N. That's not to say I don't love attending these screenings, but I can't help but to think... no, actually, I can't help but to know that you could play these films for a bigger and more enthusiastic audience in any European country that is only a fraction of the size of Japan. I don't wonder at all why foreign people get to see most of these films a year before the Japanese do...

[HungFist]

Absolutely fantastic poster art


- http://twitchfilm.com/news/2010/11/afm- ... helldr.php

[HungFist]

Hmmm, Nishimura is back to editing table, preparing an international version of Hell Driver. Which is kinda interesting considering these films are primarily made for foreign markets, with domestic distribution on secondary priority. One could argue it's the domestic version that is the special version.

- http://twitter.com/sushi_typhoon
- http://blog.livedoor.jp/ni4yo4/archives/52405655.html

Hopefully both versions will be made available on DVD and BD. Nishimura will probably delete some of the less foreigner friendly parts from the film (he said long ago that the film would be quite "political"... and his past films have been full of JP pop-culture satire and insider jokes. I'm afraid the International Version may turn out "the dummie cut").

[HungFist]

Hollywood Reporter review of the International Version
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review ... view-99164

Hmmm... I hope he hasn't changed the editing tempo. The reviewer complains about too fast editing, which is something that wasn't mentioned before (when the original cut was playing), and is also something you wouldn't expect from Nishimura whose editing has sometimes been even too slow.

Whatever, the film is an obvious masterpiece. I just need to see it to confirm.

[HungFist]

Here is an excellent HellDriver review:
http://johnskeleton.com/2011/03/07/hell ... elldriver/

Tokyo premiere report:
http://johnskeleton.com/2011/03/05/yosh ... -premiere/

Facebook album from the Tokyo premiere:
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid= ... 0315676040

Cay & Maki-chan




And don't miss Nishimura's balls in the other thread:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 1&start=41

[HungFist]

Full trailer for HellDriver:
http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/03/new- ... driver.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7hRRbW28PQ

[HungFist]

Sushi Typhoon – Part 6: Helldriver
http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2 ... elldriver/

+ the short version:

Helldriver (Japan, 2010) 3.5/5
Yoshihiro Nishimura does not believe in budget limitations. With $200 000 and a two week filming schedule he set out to make the ultimate zombie movie. The outcome falls a bit short, mainly due to hectic pacing and extensive use of CGI. That is not to say Nishimura didn’t use traditional ketchup, though, he did, 8000 litres, plus admirable care put into zombie and creature makeup varying from rotten flesh-eaters to spider zombies. Even with it’s flaws Helldriver is a fun ride and an epic trash movie. The film is expected to improve in quality as the full version becomes available – the one viewed here was the 105 minute international cut.

[HungFist]

More reviews:
http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/helldriver-2010
http://twitchfilm.com/reviews/2011/05/h ... nt=Twitter

NY coverage
http://raiwebs.com/?p=1200
http://unseenfilms.blogspot.com/2011/05 ... ities.html

Splatter Matters charity event poster

[HungFist]

Yoshihiro Nishimura just won the "Best Special Effects" prize at the Fantasy Horror Awards in Italy, and it's a heavy trophy! Congrats!
- http://twitter.com/#!/sushi_typhoon

I think he's gonna offend some random bypassers, though


- http://twitpic.com/57fy2f

[gasteropod]

Haha, it's like something Lady Gaga would wear!

[HungFist]

Buaah fucking lol, the Germans have announced Helldriver BD for September. Their Mutant Girls Squad was cut by almost 8 minutes. And Helldriver is at least twice, maybe thrice as bloody as Mutant Girls Squad was. Expect it to be cut by at least 20 minutes...

http://www.asianblurayguide.com/detail/ ... n_germany/

[HungFist]

Motherfucker, finally the Brits get something right:

Helldriver Blu-Ray
- Theatrical Cut,
- Director s Cut

- 31 Oct 2011 / Bounty Films
- http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005D75HJ4/

Well Go USA said they'd be releasing their Blu-Ray around the same time.

[HungFist]

Highway to Hell: On the Set of a “Helldriver” Spinoff
- http://johnskeleton.com/2011/07/27/high ... r-spinoff/

Three spin off short movies confirmed for Helldriver. I hope these will make it to UK / US BD's, so that I don't have to double dip again. As people should be aware by now, Nishimura and Iguchi's films have always had fantastic DVD releases in Japan, all of them including spin of short movies and sometimes soundtrack CDs, too.

Here's a brief summary of the R2J DVD release so far:

Meatball Machine: 1 Disc release with 2 spin off movies, original short film, extensive documentary, and more **
The Machine Girl: 2 Disc release with a Spin Off Short Movie, tons of documentaries, and more **
Tokyo Gore Police: 2 Disc release with 3 Spin Off Short Movies, new fake commercials, documentaries, interviews, soundtrack CD, and more **
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl: 3 Disc release with a Spin Off Short Movie, massive documentary, soundtrack CD, and more **
RoboGeisha: 2 Disc release with a Spin Off Short Movie, and more
Mutant Girls Squad: 1 Disc release with a Spin Off Short Movie, documentary, interviews, and more *

** I own
* Soundtrack available separately (I own it, of course)

Karate-Robo Zaborgar has been confirmed to have Spin Off also, so both Karate and Helldriver will join the list. It will, however, take some time before these R2J releases come out as Helldriver just opened in Tokyo and will be touring the country this fall, and Karate won't open theatrically until later this year.

[HungFist]

John's report on from the uncut version JP premiere:
http://johnskeleton.com/2011/08/03/rais ... part-deux/

And then the bastard got to hang out with Nishimura, Shiina and others. I'm bloody-red with envy:
http://johnskeleton.com/2011/08/04/rais ... 93-part-3/

[HungFist]

Well Go USA BD & DVD coming Nov 1, 2011
- Interviews
- Deleted scenes
- Making-of
- Trailer
- Photo gallery
- Run Time: 106 min.
- http://wellgousa.com/detail-helldriver.php

If these specs are correct, them they won't get my money. They should release the original (aka Director's Cut) version, not the shortened and censored International version. And where are the spin off movies?

Ok, I can see my future, it's UK BD for the movie + R2J DVD for extras (whenever it comes, probably early next year).

EDIT: at the same time Sushi Typhoon's facebook claims otherwise
"is extremely pleased to report that all our remaining titles should be on DVD and Blu-ray in North America within the next year. First up: HELLDRIVER on November 1st! Full, uncut version!"