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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction to Japanese extreme cinema
Review: Another entry in Creation Book's excellent collection of cinema exploration is "Eros in Hell," which gives the reader an introduction to the bloody world of Japanese extreme cinema, from the "pink" period (adult films) of the 1960s to the extreme gore of the notorious "Guinea Pig" series. Although it certainly would have benefited for a more in-depth examination of the subject, writer Jack Hunter does cover a lot of important milestones, from the early pioneers of Japanese extreme cinema to the independent filmmakers of today. Japanese culture is complicated and full of paradoxes, and those paradoxes are reflected in the films highlighted in "Eros."
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Summary: Tokyo Decadence
Review: Being a fan of both Japanese movies in general, and horror movies in particular, this book is a rare gem indeed. Not only does it cover some of the films released by Japan Shock Video ("Naked Blood", "Mermaid In A Manhole", "Entrails Of A Vergin") but it also gives you a brief history of "pink films", exposes the Japanese fascination with fetisches of all kinds and shows some of the differences between Western and Japanese culture. While it offers only a few answers to why films like "Raping Female University Students" or "Rapeman" are tolerated in Japanese society, I'd say it's a good start for someone wanting to understand a culture so very different from ours. Since most movies are mentioned with both English and Japanese titles, it is also a good book for film collectors - for me it's more or less a shopping list. "Eros In Hell" - approved.
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Summary: Explore Japanese cinema without boundaries
Review: Jack Hunter states in his introduction that one of the only things that Japanese cinema bans is the depiction of genitalia, and states that this sole barrier has brought something that is lacking in the West: an absence of boundaries. For his book, Hunter has chosen to explore blood, sex and madness as themes running through Japanese films. For the average film viewer, chances are the only film they will have seen or heard of in this book is "In the Realm of the Senses." For the Japanese film connoisseur, this book is one of THE handbooks. Chapters detail film genres along with specific directors who have shaped the modern Japan film industry. There are also tons of black and white pictures, showing personalities as well as scenes from the many movies.
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Summary: Left me hungry for more substantial food...
Review: This is a highly distressing book. For as much information as the reader discovers, the sense of lacking mounts, creating more questions than this book has means, or intent, to answer. It is best to think of Eros in Hell as a primer for the reader interested in getting a taste of extremism in Japanese cinema. The high points of the book include the chapter on Koji Wakamatsu and the "underground" films of Shinya Tsukamoto, Shojin Fukui, et. al. Meanwhile, the rest of the book founders under the weight of excessive footnotes¹, goofy interviews of Japanese filmmakers by Parisian photographer Romain Slocombe² and a pedantic chapter covering the minutia of Nagisa Oshima's AI NO CORRIDA (IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES).
For readers with more than a passing interest in the Japanese New Wave Cinema, I recommend picking up David Desser's Eros plus Massacre (named after Yoshishige Yoshida's film). Hampered by its aggressively wide scope and passive acceptance of misogyny, Eros in Hell does a terrific job of stressing the need for a comprehensive look at the radical reaches of Japanese Cinema. (ISBN: 1871592933)
¹ All of the footnotes in Eros in Hell would work much better if integrated into the text.
² Slocombe is best known for his photographs of Asian girls in bandages and, apparently, he feels a need to bring up his fetish with everyone to whom he speaks.
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