Alita: Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel – 2019 – United States

When I was a teenager, Battle Angel (1993) the anime blew my mind and tore my heart to pieces. Now, nearly a million years later, the live-action remake Alita: Battle Angel does the same thing again but even better.

Alita is set in a grungy cyberpunk dystopia full of homicidal cyborgs. The main character is Alita, an amnesiac teenager who just wants to regain her memories and fall in love. Unfortunately, she is a super soldier with a high-tech cyborg body and lots of enemies. She and her boyfriend become wrapped in a conspiracy of oppression which, of course, ends tragically for everyone involved.

Tokyo Tribe

Tokyo Tribe – 2014 – Japan

In the decaying ghettos of Tokyo, flamboyant gangbangers sell drugs, run brothels, kill each other, and rap. The police are powerless and corrupt, and anarchy reigns. The strongest gang is Wu-Ronz, lead by the sadistic Yakuza boss Big Buppa. He sexually abuses, kills, and eats high school girls, and might worship Satan. He carries around a giant glass dildo. One of his sons is a wormy effeminate man who uses slaves as furniture. His other son is a psychotic muscleman who wears a thong and is really insecure about his penis size. The protagonists are a gang called Saru. They are a friendly bunch of dudes who just want to spread the message of love, peace, and hip-hop. They chill at a diner called Penny’s (not Denny’s) and flirt with the waitress. When their homie is murdered by Wu-Ronz, they start a rumble which triggers a war between all of Tokyo’s gangs.

Suspiria

Suspiria – 1977 – Italy

Suzy, an American woman, enrolls in a German ballet school. She arrives late at night in a torrential downpour. The door is locked and she is told to go away. She sees a panicked woman flee into the woods. The next day, Suzy returns to school to discover the fleeing woman was murdered later that night. Suzy begins training at the school and the ominous events escalate. Maggots infest the dormitory. A friendly dog goes berserk. Suzy suffers from a mysterious illness. Her friend believes the faculty is a coven of witches. When her friend disappears mysteriously, Suzy investigates the school’s mysteries.

House

House – 1977 – Japan

A teenage girl named Gorgeous visits her aunt’s idyllic country house. Gorgeous brings her six schoolgirl friends Fantasy, Melody, Sweet, Mac, Prof, and Kung Fu. However, Gorgeous’ aunt is a witch and the house is haunted. With the help of her adorable cat familiar, the witch kills the girls in order to restore her youth.

Detour

Detour – 1945 – United States

A piano player named Al hitchhikes from New York to L.A. to visit his girlfriend in Hollywood. He catches a ride with a loud-mouthed pill-popping bookie, who keels over dead suddenly and mysteriously. Suffering from a paranoid delusion, Al convinces himself that he will be accused of the crime. In a panic, he takes the bookie’s car, money, and identity and flees to L.A.

Redline

Redline – 2009 – Japan

In a Star Wars-like interplanetary future, aliens and robots drive hyper-powered cars in deadly races. The biggest race ever is happening on the planet Roboworld, a military dictatorship ruled by fascist cyborgs. Hell-bent on stopping the race, the cyborgs deploy an armada of warships to kill everyone. The hero of the racers is “Sweet” JP, a suavely brash dude with an immense pompadour and an anachronistic Trans-Am. He must survive the race, thwart the Mob, and win the love of his sexy competitor Sonoshee “Cherry Boy Hunter” McLaren.

Messiah of Evil

Messiah of Evil – 1973 – United States

Messiah of Evil was written/directed by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the husband and wife writers of American Graffiti (1973), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and Howard the Duck (1986). Their mainstream credits are surprising considering how confusingly bizarre Messiah of Evil is. Its nightmarish universe exists midway between life and death, probably borrowing from Carnival of Souls (1962). However, its blending of horror, absurdity, and ambiguity is entirely original.