Japan, 1988
115m
colour
Japanese
A Japanese horror film directed by Nobuhiko Oobayshi.
Plot Summary
Harada is devastated when his best friend announces that he is to marry Harada’s ex-wife. Drowning his sorrows at a Rakugo (sit-down comedy) show, Harada meets a man who invites him to stay at his home while he comes to terms with things. Harada is struck puzzled by the resemblance of this man and his wife to his parents died 30 years before. He continues to visit the couple while also forming a relationship with Kei, a woman from the apartment block who lives in who claims that her breasts have been badly scarred in a fire. When he starts to fall ill, Harada makes a terrible discovery – the couple are the ghosts of his parents and are feeding off his life-force…
Credits
Crew
Director: Nobuhiko Oobayshi
Shochiku Films Ltd
Script: Shin’ichi Ichikawa
Novel: Taichi Yamada
Director of Photography: Yoshitaka Sakamoto
Music: Masashi Shinozaki
Locations: Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan
Cast
Morio Kazama (Hideo Harada)
Kumiko Akiyoshi (Fusako Harada)
Yuko Natori (Kei Fujino)
Tsurutarou Kataoka (Hidekichi Harada)
Toshiyuki Nagashima (Ichiro Mamiya)
Atsuko Kawata (herself)
Bengal (taxi driver)
Takashi Sasano (dentist)
Kazue Tsunogae
Kouen Okumura
Yonemaru Katsura (Rakugo performer)
Nao Asuka
Kenjiro Ishimaru
Yasufumi Hayashi (Shigeki Harada)
Yôji Matsuda
Wakaba Irie (voice of Ayako Imamura)
Sankichi Hayashiya
Yuji Ogata
Ryoichi Kusanagi
Shoko Oda
Alternative Titles
The Discarnates – English language title
Summer Among the Zombies
References
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.447-448 – credits, review
- The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films by Salvador Murguia (ed.) pp.55-57 – credits, review (by Jim Harper)
- Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.135 – credits
- Introduction to Japanese Horror Film by Colette Balmain pp.8, 72, 86-89, 113
