YIFFF: Yûdai Yamaguchi & Jun'ichi Yamamoto's MEATBALL MACHINE (a.k.a. "Mîtobôru mashin"), starring Issei Takahashi, Aoba Kawai, Tôru Tezuka, Shôichirô Masumoto, and Ayano Yamamoto

Yûdai Yamaguchi and Jun'ichi Yamamoto's Meatball Machine (a.k.a. "Mîtobôru mashin") - a remake of the latter's 1999 movie of the same title - is scheduled to be screened at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival 2006 (Yûbari Kokusai Fantasutikku Eigasai 2006) - "YIFFF" for short - in Hokkaido, Japan on February 24th at 6:30 p.m. (18:30). The movie premièred at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival 2005 (Tôkyô Kokusai Fantasutikku Eigasai 2005) on October 14th of last year.

The screenplay for Meatball Machine (2005) was written by Jun'ya Katô. The movie stars Issei Takahashi, Aoba Kawai, Tôru Tezuka (Teduka Tôru), Shôichirô Masumoto, and Ayano Yamamoto. Keita Amemiya designed the characters for it. (Amemiya himself directed "The Promise" ("Yakusoku") in the omnibus horror movie Tales of Terror (Kaidan Shin Mimibukuro: gekijô-ban) - a.k.a. "Tales of Terror from Tokyo: The Movie".) Yoshihiro Nishimura was responsible for its special effects, special make-up effects, and molds. (Nishimura previously worked on Noboru Iguchi's Saishû seiki! Natsume Nana - kyûkyoku no erosu (viewer discretion is advised), Impolite Education (18-kin - abunai kankei: the kinshinsôkan), "Evil Guy" ("Yôchû no harawata") - a.k.a. "Entrails of a Larva" - and A Larva to Love (Koi suru yôchû).)

Here's a synopsis for Meatball Machine (2005) from the English-language page (see below for link) for the movie on the YIFFF website: "It's a mysterious parasite that lives inside human bodies. Once you get it, you will become an ugly creature = Neoborg and be forced to kill others ferociously. A young man Youji who has been living peaceful days with his scarred heart was also a target Neoborgs are after. Youji would have to face a vicious fight that involves Sachiko he has secretly been in love with.... The dark hero of the lonesome and sad neo-generation is now born!"

For more information on Meatball Machine (2005), see Twitch's third, second, and first articles on it.

Yamaguchi's previous directing credits include Sakigake!! Cromartie High School: The Movie (Sakigake!! Kuromati Kôkô: The Movie), Present (Purezento) - one of the movies in the Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater (Umezu Kazuo: kyôfu gekijô) hexalogy - and Battlefield Baseball (Jigoku Kôshien).

GOMORRAHY.com: Meatball Machine (2005) production stills gallery
YIFFF: Meatball Machine (2005) (English)
YIFFF: Meatball Machine (2005) (Japanese)
Flyer for Meatball Machine (1999) (24 KB JPEG)
VHS box cover for Meatball Machine (1999) (8 KB JPEG)
A Larva to Love trailer (downloadable 3.4 MB Shockwave Flash file)