By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The independent production unleashes a new monstrous menace upon Tokyo.
Writer/director Doug Roos (THE SKY HAS FALLEN) got in touch with word about his third feature BAKEMONO, in which “a gruesome creature waits for unsuspecting victims at a cheap Tokyo rental apartment,” according to the filmmaker. He further tells us, “We filmed for over 80 days because of all the extensive practical effects–transformations, tentacles, different mutations that come out of it, a high body count, etc.–and there are over 40 actors in the cast.” Lead actress Yukina Takase has numerous TV credits and starred in Takuya Matsumoto’s LR: LOST ROAD, while co-star Takashi Irie has appeared in Yasushi Koshizaka’s PLANET OF AMOEBAS and Jiro Ishikawa’s DRAGON BLACK and done voice work on numerous anime. The cast also includes Vanessa Mertenbacher, Sayuri Nakata, Hiro Senda, Alice Nemoto, Mai Mizusawa and Mone Watanabe.
“I’ve always loved Japanese cinema–anime like THE GUYVER and WICKED CITY had a huge impact on me–and John Carpenter’s THE THING is one of my all-time favorites, so making a practical-effects monster movie in Tokyo was a dream come true,” says Roos, who financed the project himself. “There is no CGI in the movie because I think it’s overused now and is often ineffective in this genre, and I just love ’80s horror like THE THING, THE BLOB, ALIENS, THE FLY, etc.
“This was a huge passion project for me,” he continues. “I’ve been living in Japan for five years now to do this, and also because I always wanted to live there. Even though this is an independent film, I wanted to make certain it looked really good. So we shot it with a RED Epic Dragon, the same camera used on Hollywood productions like GONE GIRL, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE and THE MARTIAN.
“I’m waiting to hear back from festivals now,” he adds, “and BAKEMONO should premiere at one this summer or fall. I’m obsessed with monsters and practical effects; that’s all I want to make movies about, and I want to do more of that in Japan.” Roos has opened a Kickstarter page to raise funds for additional effects shooting; you can see it here.
