The Guard From Underground
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
A deranged security guard starts a killing spree on his first day at work. Mondays, right? Bad time to be a pretty, young, new hire like Akiko, whose soon becomes the Laurie Strode to the guard’s Michael Myers. While the wacko watchman is busy stuffing ladies into lockers and splitting skulls, Akiko has to think fast if she wants to collect her first paycheck. This eerie early effort by J-horror king Kiyoshi Kurosawa (PULSE) showcases the director’s talent for slowly teasing a scary story out slowly before quickly turning on the gas and lighting a match.
A deranged security guard starts a killing spree on his first day at work.
Cast: Makiko Kuno, Yutaka Matsushige
Member Reviews
It's definitely not a good movie, but one of those that so long as you don’t take it seriously, it can be amusing. The deaths were sometimes unrealistic, the acting was most definitely awful and exaggerated, and the plot was completely lacking purpose. The most jarring thing for me was that the rikishi (sumo wrestler) was nothing close to the physique of a rikishi. He was tall, and the similarities end there. A sumo is bulky in muscle, fat, or both. I am a fan of sumo and watch every basho (tournament) on TV, so this was glaringly obvious and ruined the sumo character for me.
Quite an odd fish this one,the whole thing feels slightly 'off' but works in its own quirky way,I was hooked for the entirety & strangely satisfied upon completion (ooh. . . matron). It really kicks up a notch for the final act,& there are some unique kills. Interesting fact,the actor who plays the guard was actually only 5feet 4inches tall & the whole thing was shot using forced perspective, Peter Jackson is a huge (but not as huge as he used to be) fan of this film & used it as a reference for LOTR. 😉
Don’t waste your time. This is just woefully bad.
He's never going to hold a job down if he starts new employment like this. Seriously though, this probably had the most awesome antagonist I've ever seen. He looked like something out of Street Fighter, like young Bison (Vega) or something. I also loved the soundtrack, sounded like old Final Fantasy. Some creative yet humourous kills. I really enjoyed watching this one. It wasn't scary, was weirdly more "cool" and badass, again mainly because of the killer but the manager was also awesome.
This is an excellent low-budget suspense thriller! I had never seen any of the director's works before, and will certainly seek out more. Performanceswere reasonably effective, script good, production values good enough to make the atmosphere seem convincing, without spending much money. Biggest drawback for an American audience would be the film stock, which appears to these eyes, to be Super-8 mm! The motion seems slightly jerky, and the lighting is murky and indistinct. If so, this is the best 8mm feature I have seen! THANKS SHUDDER!