The new Japanese monster movie Bakemono just won Best Genre Production at the 25th Japan Film Festival Hamburg in Germany. It also won Best Creature Feature at Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco and Best Practical Effects at A Night of Horror Film Festival. At the Bay of Blood Film Festival in Canada, it won Best Beast, and it won Best Foreign Origin Feature at the Bare Bones Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Blood Makeup at the Chicago Horror Film Festival. The film features all practical FX, no CGI and no green screen.
Midori Impuls will be distributing the film on DVD+Blu-ray Mediabooks in Germany alongside such titles as Meatball Machine, Why Don’t You Play in Hell?, and LoveDeath although this release won’t have English or Japanese subtitles, only German. You can get an all-region Blu-ray with English subtitles on the latest Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/
At the above link, there is also an exclusive crowdfunding-only cut of the film with more nudity and more practical FX plus additional behind the scenes. You can learn how the FX were done and how to create your own.
Bakemono just played at the Slaughter Horror Film Festival in Serbia on July 5th, it’s showing at the BUT Festival in the Netherlands in August, it will play at the Cinema Interdit Film Festival in Belgium in September, it’ll also show at the HorrorHound Film Festival in September in Ohio, and it’ll play at the Obscura Film Fest in Berlin in October.
Every month from March to October it has been playing at a festival (sometimes more than one in a month):
• A Night of Horror Film Festival in March
• Phoenix Film Festival in April
• Bay of Blood Film Festival in May
• Bare Bones Film Festival in May
• Chicago Horror Film Festival in May
• Japan Film Fest Hamburg in June
• Slaughter Horror Film Festival in July
• BUT Festival in August
• Cinema Interdit Film Festival in September
• Fall HorrorHound Film Festival in September
• Obscura Film Fest in October
Counting the premiere in San Francisco in December last year, that’s already 12 festivals and there are more on the horizon.
Reviewers have given it some great praise too:
“… all a good monster movie needs, from a grotesque monster to gallons of gore, from suspense sequences to jump scares, from high drama to screams of fear… a very unique and utterly worthwhile cinematic experience.” -Mike Haberfelner
“… the goriest and most shocking film of 2023 and maybe of the past 10 years.” -Zisi Emporium
“… keeps you guessing till the end, while maintaining a persistent feeling of dread… this impressed me. I hoped for a good horror, and with Bakemono you have that, wonderfully edited, fantastic special effects, and great creature design, this was something special.” -The Rotting Zombie
“… if Hellraiser had been directed by Lucio Fulci.” -Voices from the Balcony
“… there’s brooding, Lovecraftian menace here to spare… the performances are surprisingly strong… a fascinating, likely unique viewing experience, and a fine example of doing a lot with a little.” -Film Blitz
“… goes for the gonzo and achieves it… a decidedly eerie monster. The practical effects work is the real star here… Gorehounds and viewers who gravitate toward excessive mayhem will want to seek this one out…” -Horror Fuel
“… a genuine sense of dread that simmers throughout the entire film.” -The Fright Club NI
“WOW! Goddamnit, this thing made me jump -poor cat nearly got launched into outer space! 4 out of 5” -Kate Trinity McQueen
“The movie never holds back and leaves you shocked…” -Movie Reviews 101
