A lot of what we do in The Basement is horror related. It's been our bread and butter for almost a decade, and we love it. But Shawn and I also dig our action movies, and few can argue Asian cinema has the action racket down. You wanna argue? Shut your mouth! Coming at audiences Nov. 23 is Hyrda, which marks the directorial debut of Kensuke Sonomura, a long-time stunt professional and the byproduct of action legend Yasuaki Kurata's Action Club, and Yuji Shimomura's U'den Flame Works. That, my friends, is a hell of a pedigree. One would expect Hyrda to be a balls-to-the-wall martial arts/action extravaganza, but it's actually a quiet film with moments of brilliant action thrown in. And, at just 75 minutes, it feels more like a TV pilot than a full-on feature film. This is not a complaint, as I don't mind leaving a movie wanting more. But all the groundwork is laid for something bigger, and better, and I'm hoping we get to see it. What we are o...

Most of us see a horror movie, like " The Grudge ", or " The Ring ", then learn it's a North American remake of a Japanese film.  And we think that the Japanese are pretty badass and awesome.  Then we see the Japanese version of a movie, like " Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead "... and then we're not sure what to think of them... A group of friends are going camping in order to find Maki a tapeworm to help her stay skinny.  After swallowing a parasite found in a fish, the group are soon attacked by shambling people, and encounter Dr. Tanaka.  Soon, they discover the connection between Dr. Tanaka and the parasites ... Wow. Just wow. This is not a film to take seriously. At all. Poo covered zombies.  Butt loving parasites.  Farting.  Tentacle loving.  Farting.  Martial arts.  Farting.  Boobs. Did I mention farting? The premise is enough to make you scratch your head, and wonder how they pull it off.  The...

Before CGI revolutionized special effects, there was the era of the Man in Suit. That's right, many times when there was a monster on the screen, it was played by a guy wearing a costume. Hands down the most famous Man-in-Suit monster is Godzilla. And on Monday, the guy who played him in 12 films -- from the original Godzilla in 1954 to Godzilla Vs. Gigan in 1972 -- passed away. Haruo Nakajima died at age 88.

This 1989 cop thriller isn't one of the decades most well known action films nor does it have much to distinguish itself from the genre other than its Japanese setting. But it is a great reminder that 80s action films are still the best action films around when it comes to having a workable formula and "realistic" violence. Even the martial arts on display here is of the variety one would encounter on the street. Trust me! It also reaffirms that Ridley Scott is one of the best directors the medium has produced and Michael Douglas is one of Hollywood's original badassess. And what happened to Andy Garcia? He was a break-out star here. Black Rain is formulaic stuff, but it's Good formulaic stuff.

The Loved Ones Jason: Wow, what an experience. I've never gone from hating a movie to loving it before. But I did here. Believe it! The first 40 minutes or so are disjointed and weird. Then the film has a brilliant turning point and it all comes together in the best possible way. Robin McLeavy is a revelation as Lola, one of the creepiest movie villains of all time. Her family makes the one from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seem oddly tame. This is a disturbing and crazy film that is also a lot of fun. I have to give it a Good. Shawn: This is kind of Hostel meets All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, but way better than both. It starts off kinda slow, but man . . . I really dug this movie. The characters were nicely built, and there is some twisted shit that was also pure coolness. The film is loaded with some great gore, great intensity, sex and pure insanity. And zombies! Kinda. A Good for me on this. Alien Vs. Ninja Jason: Predator meets Enter the Ninja by way of Mighty Morphin...

Wanna know what will make Shawn spontaneously explode? Then you need to listen to Episode XII: Ichi the Killer and Tokyo Gore Police right away! Oh yeah, we reviews some movies called Ichi the Killer and Tokyo Gore Police too. Stick with us! Listen here! http://filmreviewsfromthebasement.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-05-23T20_58_35-07_00