Genocide (1968)

AFG presents at the Club (AKUMB, 40 Tumanyan Str.)
April 4 – 25, 2017 Film Program
WHEN HORROR CAME TO SHOCHIKU

Following years of a certain radioactive beast’s domination at the box office, many Japanese studios tried to replicate the formula with their own brands of monster movies. One of the most fascinating, if short-lived, dives into that fiendish deep end was the one by Shochiku, a studio better known for elegant dramas by the likes of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. In 1967 and 1968, the company created four certifiably batty, low-budget fantasies, tales haunted by watery ghosts, plagued by angry insects, and stalked by aliens—including one in the form of a giant chicken-lizard. Shochiku’s outrageous and oozy horror period shows a studio leaping into the unknown, even if only for one brief, bloody moment.

* Programs are free of charge, but seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.
* Films are screened in original language with English subtitles.
* DVDs for the program are from Khachatur Aloyan’s (USA) collection.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 20:00
KONCHÛ DAISENSÔ (Genocide)
1968, Japan, 84 min, Horror / Sci-Fi, DVD
Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu (as Norman Cooper)
Stars: Keisuke Sonoi, Yûsuke Kawazu, Emi Shindô
The insects are taking over in this nasty piece of disaster horror directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu. A group of military personnel transporting a hydrogen bomb are left to figure out how and why swarms of killer bugs took down their plane; the answer is more deliriously nihilistic—and convoluted—than you could imagine. Also known as War of the Insects, Genocide enacts a cracked doomsday scenario like no other.