Directed by Yuichi Kanemaru
Starring Chiharu Komatsu, Goshu, Ayumi Kinohita
“God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.”
Jacques Deval
Japan has been producing some of the most provocative and captivating horror films of the last decade. From the films of Takeshi Miike (Ichi the Killer), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Doppleganger), Hideo Nakata (Ring) and Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: the Iron Man) and many more too numerous to mention here, horror fans are relishing the cutting edge horror films coming from the land of the rising sun. So, how does Gun-Kyu: War Pigeon stack up? Switchblade Pictures recently released Gun-Kyu: War Pigeon on DVD and I delved in.
The Movie
Kanako (Chiharu Kamatsu) teaches science and works as a biologist. After a body is discovered on her school’s campus, her and her boyfriend are shocked and expect the police and the university will tell the public at large it was an “accident”.
Upon returning to her car after work, she sees that her car is covered in bird feces. And when I say covered, I mean covered. But why? And is this somehow connected the strange death that occurred on campus?
Kanako returns to school and goes to work in the lab. Strangely, she starts hearing birds and then sees a pigeon flying through the hallway. She goes to investigate and finds bird poop everywhere. As she is looking at the devastation, birds attack her.
Her boyfriend doesn’t believe her and blames everything on stress. But, while she is at school, the bird noises haunt her and appearances by birds are nonstop.
One day, she follows the bird noises down into a deserted janitor’s room. Suddenly, she is attacked viciously by a group of pigeons that scratch and peck at her. And when I say peck at her, I mean these little buggers try to eat her eyeballs.
What is to become of Kanako? Vengeance has wings and the sky is filled with terror in Gun Kyu: War Pigeon!
Scary birds are nothing new to the horror genre and Gun Kyu: War Pigeon doesn’t do anything groundbreaking with the little critters, but if you are fan of low budget Japanese indie films, you could add this film to your Netflix queue for an evening of fun.
Upon research I learned that star Chiharu Kamatsu is well known porn star. And if you are checking out this film just based her past film work, you are going to be disappointed. There is barely any nudity or sex. She really is trying to actually “act” in this film. So look elsewhere for tons of flesh, you perverts. This film is all about mean little birdies and blood.
So, at the end of the day, Gun-Kyu: War Pigeon isn’t going to be in your top ten Japanese horror films, but it is worth a look.
6/10
The Video
Gun-Kyu:War Pigeon is presented in widescreen The colors are vibrant and the overall image is very respectable. The black levels could be more dense.
6/10
The Audio
Gun-Kyu: War Pigeon is Dolby Digital 2.0 Mix in the original Japanese language with English Subtitles. The dialogue is crystal clear and well mixed. This isn’t going to give the home theater a work out, but is serviceable.
6/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
Gun-Kyu: War Pigeon is standard amaray case with some artsy looking cover of Kanako and one of her many feathered enemies.
There are no bonus features on this release.
1/10
Overall (Not an Average) 5/10
The Review
The Movie 6/10
The Video 6/10
The Audio 6/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 1/10
Overall (not an average) 5.5/10