Gakuryu Ishii

Isn't Anyone Alive?

In a Japanese military hospital, a mysterious pandemic strikes and quickly kills seemingly at random. A group of unconnected individuals must come to terms with their own impending deaths, and the fragile absurdity of life.

Panic High School

A high school student has a mental breakdown and brings a gun to class. A standoff against the police ensues.

Labyrinth of Dreams

Tomiko falls in love with Niitaka, even though she also suspects him of being the Tokyo bus driver serial killer, who killed his female conductors after tiring of them.

Electric Dragon 80000V

A violent, guitar-playing, electrically charged boxer faces off against an electronic wizard half-merged with a metallic Buddha.

March Comes In Like a Lion

Set in Tokyo, Ice brings her amnesiac older brother Haruo home from the hospital to care for him. He is reluctant to go, until Ice tells him that she is his lover. Since he has no memory of his sister Ice, he obliges her. How long until his memory returns?

Rusty Empty Can

Matsui's debut film, "Rusty Empty Can" (1979), was photographed by Sogo Ishii; nonetheless the film turned out to be a serious and emotionally painful one unlike Ishii's speedy roller-coaster movies. The film which depicts a homosexual relationship was successful at the many film festival held in Japan, including selection at the 1979 Pia Film Festival. "Rusty Empty Can" is still shown at theatres today as it has become the pioneer of cult movies with devoted fans and approval from Nagisa Oshima and Shuji Terayama.

Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle

Benkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only as the demons. Taking up his sword once more, he sets out to end their murderous terror.

The Master of Shiatsu

An elderly man and a young woman is in a bar where they tenderly begin to touch each other's hands. Soon they find themselves in a room where the woman has shiatsu massage of the man, putting her in ecstasy. The next morning, something starts to happen with the woman ...

Instant Swamp

A woman finds out her father is not her real one after her mother falls into a coma while searching for a mythical creature. She decides to meet her real father who happens to be an off-beat antique shopkeeper.

August in the Water

A teenage girl gains supernatural power after an accident and comes to understand her place in the universe.

Asia Strikes Back

At an isolated location training camp for soldiers with supernatural powers makes a man revolt, causing a war to break out among the soldiers.

That's It

Samao Daikoku seeks a way out of the underground life that he has led. He is tortured by a gang boss after stealing a hard disk containing personal information on runaways, homeless people and prostitutes, and the mystery behind his past is revealed.

Bitter Honey

Akako, a shape-shifting goldfish in the form of a coquettish nymphet clad in diaphanous red dresses, naively plays the role of erotic muse and adoring pet for an aging writer seeking greatness. Things quickly get complicated for the odd couple, however, when the writer's deceased former student/lover enters the picture as a ghost and helps Akako realize her own desires, activating her agency and frustrating the one-sided male fantasy the writer is so keen to continue.

Panic in High School

A high school student rallies his classmates into rebelling violently when the administration refuses to take responsibility for the suicide of one of the students.

Lonely Planet

A swindler returns to her hideout at night and finds a stranger.

Dead End Run

A collection of three short films by Japanese visual genius Sogo Ishii. Each short focuses on the protagonists running away from a threat.

The Crazy Family

Shortly after moving to the suburbs, the Kobayashis start to come undone. Convinced a family curse is at the root of their erratic behavior, the man of the house takes it upon himself to course-correct before it takes the last of their sanity.

Self-Revolutionary Cinematic Struggle

Gakuryu Ishii, who is a professor of film course at Kobe Institute of Technology, suddenly disappears after falling into a mad state driven by his own idea of "self-revolutionary movie struggle work". His assistant professor Takeda and assistant Tanimoto are perplexed by the "work text for inner consciousness revolution aimed at expanding the imagination and recognition of the individual and strengthening the will" that he left behind, but try to turn it into practice with the students. By practicing, the students get lost in a labyrinthine world of expanded imagination and expanded consciousness, just like in a film. At the same time, Takeda pursues the shadow of Ishii.

Flower of Shanidar

A strange phenomenon takes place. A beautiful flower blooms on a selected woman's body and that flower is called the "Shanidar". When the Shanidar is in full bloom, the flower produces a substance which is then sold at a high cost to develop new drugs. Kenji Otaki works as a researcher at the facility where the Shanidar is grown.

Shuffle

Hiroshi Kobayashi is on the run from police who would arrest him for the murder of his girlfriend Naomi. At the same time, he wants revenge on the yakuza member Kimura who got her stuck in drugs. The entire film consists of a long hunting-scene.

Burst City

Set in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands, a rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest slow, boring, Japanese living.

Tokyo Cabbageman K

A young man wakes up one morning to find that his head has transformed into a large cabbage. He quickly becomes a source of bemusement, desire and hostility to all those around him.

Never Mind a Little Rain

An in-depth and stylish look at the hardcore punk scene in Japan at the late half of the 70's and the beginning of the 80's. Features bands such as GASTUNK, THE EXECUTE, GAUZE among others.

Crazy Thunder Road

When Ken, the leader of the once-notorious biker gang of Tokyo, falls in love with a barmaid, he quickly loses his rebellious ideals. The rest of the gang feels betrayed, especially the reputedly troubled kid Jin who revolts against his former friend.

The Private Detective Mike

Mike Hama, Private Detective, is a chain-smoking, wisecracking tough guy with a weakness for the ladies and a soft spot in his heart, especially for his kid sister Akane. Mike's so down on his luck he'll take any case, from finding a lost pet to spying on cheating spouses. But every now and then, along comes a client with dubious and dangerous case… and that's when Mike shows his stuff.

Neo Ultra Q

Ultra Q has returned, and continues investigations of monstrous appearances and strange ecological phenomenons.