TOKYO HOME STAY MASSACRE **** Japan 2020 Dir: Kenta Osaka and Hirohito Takimoto. 76 mins
Tokyo Home Stay Massacre see’s two troubled American university students and their friend arrive in Japan for anything but an idyllic break. When they arrive at their destination it looks nothing like the pictures they found online, the place is completely desolate. They’re greeted by the host’s father, who’s overexcited to have new guests. But this break is anything but perfect, as they soon discover.
The teens decide to investigate the house, and enter a room they were strictly told not to go into, which results in them all being taken prisoner by the insane Japanese host’s family, who want to sacrifice them in a bizarre occult ritual.
The film stars Will Harrell, Diana G. and Alex Derycz. This is certainly an unsung horror that will send chills down your spine. This has to be the craziest film I’ve seen all year! To be honest I didn’t know what to expect, and after viewing I still feel a little bemused as to what the fuck I just watched! And why did I enjoy the film as much as I did? To be honest, I enjoyed the film because it didn’t take itself too seriously, it had a lot of suspense and a great build up. The scares and gore were delivered in such an unusual way, which can only be compared to the shot on video over the top style gore and blood scenes of the 80’s, complete with more cgi fx and blood than there is on screen. There’s even a fight with a guy with two hammers fighting two samurai sword wielding policemen which goes on for a good while.
The reason I enjoyed this was because I’m a huge fan of those straight to video horror films which were full of blood and gore and were a fun ride, just like this film is!
The cinematography and lighting here is great, and let’s say the use of very unique over the top blood and gore FX is something outlandish.
I love the films tagline “You’re not in Texas anymore. Welcome to Japan.” it’s a great play on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is very clever indeed!
Fans of Hostel and underground indie horror will love this nasty offering.
Review by Tony Newton
TOKYO HOME STAY MASSACRE IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON