RIP Evil Dead Trap Director Toshiharu Ik

Wed Jan 26 09:02:38 EST 2011

Very sad news indeed.

One of my fondest memories of the Tennoji Tsutaya, was trying to find 
"Evil Dead Trap" on the shelves. In my atrocious (at the time) Japanese, 
I attempted to translate "Evil Dead Trap" with the  aid of a dictionary 
to the store worker. He started breaking a sweat trying to figure out 
what the hell I was talking about but eventually we were able to put it 
together and found the video.

"Evil Dead Trap" was really derivative of Argento, but I still thought 
it was a great film for the time, mostly due the sincerity of it's 
implementation.

Too many suicides amongst talented individuals. He will be missed.

Pete

On 1/26/2011 8:39 AM, Jasper Sharp wrote:
> I would be very keen to see Ningyo densetsu - does anyone know who the 
> rightsholder is and where to source a print from. Its ATG, so it might 
> possible be Toho, I guess.
>
> Actually, I thought Red Porno was one of the more enjoyable of the 
> Angel Guts series when I was working on these for Arts Magic, and also 
> one of the better Roman Porno's of this era, when the budgets had 
> really shrunk from the 1970s levels. It is incredibly slickly made, 
> especially when one considers the film was put together in a far 
> shorter time than usual because Ikeda was appointed to direct it only 
> after the original director ducked out of the project.
>
> I have to say it though, Evil Dead Trap isn't one of my faves - yes, 
> it is pretty well made for this type of film, I'll grant you, but it 
> was pretty heavy going stuff all the same.
>
> Definitely an interesting director though who never got his due respect.
>
>
> Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage
> http://jaspersharp.com/
>
> Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
> http://www.midnighteye.com
>
> Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK
> http://zipangufest.com/
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:32:21 +0100
> > From: eigagogo at free.fr
> > To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > Subject: Re: RIP Evil Dead Trap Director Toshiharu Ik
> >
> > Sad news indeed! Ningyo densetsu would REALLY deserve recognition 
> (guess this one was never screened abroad?)
> > (btw, my french review, if it can interest someone: 
> http://eigagogo.free.fr/Critiques/legende_sirene.htm)
> >
> > ----- Mail Original -----
> > De: hakutaku at kansaigaidai.ac.jp
> > ?: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> > Envoy?: Mercredi 26 Janvier 2011 13h58:37 GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / 
> Berlin / Berne / Rome / Stockholm / Vienne
> > Objet: Re: RIP Evil Dead Trap Director Toshiharu Ik
> >
> > This is very sad. Despite the attention in the West drawn by his 
> Shiryo no wana 1988 (which is a better film than the usual "Japan's 
> first splatter movie" might suggest), I would agree that Ningyo 
> densetsu 1984 is really his best. It starts out with a sense of a 
> realistic drama about an ama and gradually shifts into a metaphor of 
> nature's revenge on society (and the use of nuclear power). The long 
> unique sword fight scene transcends Tarantino. His best films have a 
> moody quality that is very engaging. After Ningyo densetsu I would 
> rank Kurenai monogatari 1992 next. His Masho no kaori 1985 is also an 
> interesting drama. His remake of Tanizaki's Kagi 1997 is the latest of 
> many Kagi remakes and perhaps the best since Ichikawa's, although like 
> the others not so close to the novel and with another original ending.
> > It is disturbing to have another talented, yet little recognized 
> director, depart.
> > Paul Berry
> > Kyoto
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jasper Sharp" <jasper_sharp at hotmail.com>
> > To: "kinejapan" <kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 8:31:57 PM GMT +09:00 Japan
> > Subject: RIP Evil Dead Trap Director Toshiharu Ik
> >
> >
> > Some terrible news
> > just came in, but according to news reports from Japan, the director
> > Toshiharu Ikeda has been found dead, believed to have committed
> > suicide by drowning. The main source I have for this at present can
> > be found in Japanese here
> > [http://ameblo.jp/m-ganmo/entry-10779711712.html]
> > and here
> > 
> [http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/osaka/gossip/cinema/news/20110126-OHO1T00074.htm]Ikeda 
> is known in
> > the the West for Japan?s first splatter movie Evil Dead Trap
> > (1988), a well-made but ultimately derivative film written by his
> > regular collaborator from the 1980s, Takashi Ishii, and heavily
> > influenced by Sam Raimi?s Evil Dead and the works of
> > Cronenburg and Argento. He began his
> > career at Nikkatsu, making Roman Porno films such as Sukeman
> > Mafia: Lynching (1980), One Summer?s Experience: Blue Coral
> > Reef (1981) and Angel Guts: Red Porno (1981). The latter,
> > the fourth film in the Angel Guts series based on the adult
> > manga series by Takashi Ishii, was his last for the studio, and he
> > left to go freelance, with his next film, Mermaid Legend
> > (1984) a co-production between the Director?s Company and Art
> > Theatre Guild ? incidentally, a number of Japanese authorities have
> > described this as his best, although I personally have never seen
> > it. His output following Evil Dead Trap however was fairly
> > negligible, it has to be said, mainly work in the field of erotic 
> and action V-Cinema.
> > His final film I saw, The Man Behind the Scissors,
> > played at the 2004 Tokyo International Film Festival, marking a
> > return to 35 feature film-making. I covered it for Midnight Eye back
> > then, and remember quite liking it until it started losing momentum
> > and falling apart towards the end, as I wrote at the time
> > 
> (http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/round-up_009.shtml#the-man-behind-the-scissors).
> >
> >
> >
> > I've written more on my blog about my reminiscences of when I 
> interviewed him for the Arts Magic release of Angel Guts: Red Porno 
> back in 2004: http://jaspersharp.com/blog/news/2011/01/toshiharu-ikeda/
> >
> >
> >
> > Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage
> > http://jaspersharp.com/
> >
> > Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema
> > http://www.midnighteye.com
> >
> > Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK
> > http://zipangufest.com/
> >
> >
> >

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