Let me preface this by saying that nobody develops a foreign film fixation on the scale that I have without a LOT of help. I mean you have to have an in – someone trustworthy who speaks the language who can steer you in the right direction. The biggest single source I’ve got for Japanese info is Midnight Eye. The head guy over there, Tom Mes, is known worldwide as an expert on Japanese film. He’s written a book on cult director Takashi Miike and is starting to turn up doing commentary tracks on English language releases of Japanese films all over the place. The man knows his stuff. He’s also a very good writer and very fair and accurate in his reviews. I have never once picked up a film based on a Midnight Eye recommendation and been disappointed. Not once. Anyway …
All that to say that the new edition of Midnight Eye has just appeared online and they include a very detailed, and generally positive, review of Casshern. I’m still lusting over this film. Read the review here.