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Kurando Mitsutake is originally from Tokyo, Japan. He graduated with an Mfa from California Institute of the Arts and is a member of the Directors Guild of Japan and Screen Actors Guild. Mitsutake made his feature film directorial debut with “Monsters Don’t Get to Cry” in 2004. In 2008, he produced, wrote, and directed his second feature film, “Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf”. The film screened at more than ten film festivals around the world and won multiple awards. “Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf” was distributed in over 15 countries including the United States. “Gun Woman” was Mitsutake’s third feature film and it was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 24th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan. It opened theatrically in Japan nationwide in July of 2014 and was distributed in the Us in 2015. His latest film is called “Karate Kill” and will will be available from 8 Films in May.

Back in 2009, I caught a little movie called Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf at a beer-soaked midnight screening at the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. I was tipsy, but I was also blown away by this super fun slice of retro exploitation fun from a director named Kurando Mitsutake. Two years ago I stepped into a screening of a film called Gun Woman at Texas Frightmare Weekend and was absolutely enamored of it's sleazy Cannon Films vibe and a powerhouse performance from the sweetheart of Japanese splatter, Asami. This film was also directed by Kurando Mistutake. So imagine my delight when I got to interview Kurando last year for the dual Blu-ray releases of these films in the Us and he told me that...

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Gun Women: The Patriots scoops top award at Naff event.Scroll down for full awards list

The 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) wrapped its 8th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) industry event with the top Bucheon Award - for post-production costs - going to project Gun Women: The Patriots.

A reboot of director Mitsutake Kurando’s Gun Woman, which screened in Sitges and Fantasia, the Japan-us co-production features an intelligence agent with gun parts implanted in her body who is on a secret mission to kill the president of Japan.

Kurando (Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf) and his producer Yanagimoto Chiaki (Gun Woman) accepted the award which comes with KW15m ($13,000 ) cash prize.

“This award means so much especially coming from such a distinguished jury. Thank you and to Bucheon. I love the people, love the city. Special thanks to Thomas-san for guiding us to the market,” said Kurando...

Gun Women: The Patriots scoops top award at Naff event.Scroll down for full awards list

The 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) wrapped its 8th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) industry event with the top Bucheon Award - for post-production costs - going to project Gun Women: The Patriots.

A reboot of director Mitsutake Kurando’s Gun Woman, which screened in Sitges and Fantasia, the Japan-us co-production features an intelligence agent with gun parts implanted in her body who is on a secret mission to kill the president of Japan.

Kurando (Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf) and his producer Yanagimoto Chiaki (Gun Woman) accepted the award which comes with KW15m ($13,000 ) cash prize.

“This award means so much especially coming from such a distinguished jury. Thank you and to Bucheon. I love the people, love the city. Special thanks to Thomas-san for guiding us to the market,” said Kurando...

Now available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory is the revenge thriller, Gun Woman, and we've been provided with three copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.

"A brilliant doctor vows revenge on a crazy sadistic killer following the murder of his wife… and devises the perfect assassination plan by turning a young woman into the most lethal assassin the world has ever seen. This outrageous plan will unfold in the killer's heavily fortified underground lair. The lethal assassin will be placed into a temporal state of death and send into the facility as a dead body… but when she wakes, it is everyone else in the compound who will be deprived of their lives.

But there is one catch. What will she use as a weapon? The staff of the underground facility is armed with weapons that have fingerprint authentication systems so it's impossible for her to use their weapons.

In celebration of the long awaited Blu-ray release of Kurando Mitsutake's Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf, Synapse Films and TwitchFilm are happy to announce that we have 5 copies of the Blu-ray disc to give away to lucky readers like you. Mitsutake's Far East take on the Spaghetti Western is a really fun genre blend that you'll definitely want to check out!"This is the ultimate genre picture! God bless the bloody samurai USA! We haven't seen a samurai like this for a long time on the silver screen. Watch it now, or you'll miss out on a major resurrection." - Takashi Shimizu (Director, The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Marebito) After losing his eyesight, his wife, and his daughter at the hands of a deranged psychopath,...

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This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of May 26th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

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Masters Of Cinema & Eureka in August: Cruel Story Of Youth, Medium Cool, the Town That Dreaded Sundown

Screen Archives Entertainment have some new and exclusive Code Red Blu-ray titles, available now. Guy Magar’s Retribution, Tobe Hooper’s Spontaneous Combustion and Shakma.

Twilight Time new releases for June will go live for pre-order Wednesday, May 27the st 4 Pm Eastern: Absolute Beginners (1986), State Of Grace (1990) , Mississippi Mermaid (1969), The Young Lions (1958) , The Night Of The Generals (1967) the approximate street date is June 9th.

New Releases

Ballet 422 Cannibal Ferox The Confession Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Double Indemnity Empire Of The Ants / Jaws Of Satan...

This coming Tuesday, May 26th, is a big day for Japanese filmmaker, Mitsutake Kurando. This week, two of his feature films arrive in the Us on Blu-ray for the first time. His second feature, Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf, a spaghetti western/samurai/exploitation mash up arrives from the venerable and always reliable Synapse Films, and his third feature, the love letter to '80s Cannon action film Gun Woman starring Asami (Machine Girl) arrives from Shout ! Factory's Scream sublabel. Kurando took some time out of his increasingly busy schedule to talk with TwitchFilm about the journey thus far.The first time I saw Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf was at the Asian Film Festival of Dallas in 2009. What's been going on in the meantime with the...

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Spidey better not swing too close to Wilson Fisk in his zombified form. Already a formidable foe as one of the living, Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk, is even more dangerous as a hulking zombie. The folks at Gentle Giant have captured the intimidating villain in his living dead state, complete with a wine glass filled with blood and garnished with an eyeball. We also take a look at Scream Factory's Blu-ray/DVD release of Gun Woman and the submission details for a new Sharknado 3 fan contest in our latest round-up.

Marvel Zombie Kingpin Bust: Now available to pre-order from Gentle Giant for $120.00, the Marvel Zombie Kingpin 1/6th scale bust is expected to be released in early 2016.

To learn more, visit:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/collectibles/pre-order-gallery/marvel-zombie-kingpin-bust

"The Kingpin of crime, Aka Wilson Fisk, has been a major villain in the Marvel Universe for nearly 5 decades. Though he...

Brace yourself for a mind-blowing thriller that delivers high-octane action, blood-soaked violence and a riveting tale of revenge in equal measure. From director Kurando Mitsutake, who dazed genre fans with his Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf, comes Gun Woman, a dark postmodern film-noir starring Japanese gore queen Asami (The Machine Girl, Dead Sushi). Watch crazy meet crazier in this no-holds-barred revenge flick when Gun Woman arrives on Blu-ray™ and DVD on May 26, … Continue reading →

Horrornews.net...

Following previous announcements of their film lineup, the Fantasia International Film Festival has released their full lineup of movies to be shown at the 18th Annual festival, starting July 17.

New additions to the lineup include 2014 Cannes Selection When Animals Dream, directed by Jonas Alexander Amby and the return of Fantasia’s showcase of animated films, Axis.

Tickets for the festival go on sale starting July 16, and the festival runs through August 5.

View the whole press release of additional announcements below:

Fantasia Celebrates Its 18th Birthday

With Over 160 Feature Films Montreal, Thursday July 10, 2014 – 2014 is the year that Fantasia turns 18. We can’t believe it either. Fantasia’s 18th birthday means over 160 features and something in the neighborhood of 300 shorts, many being shown for the first time on this continent, a good number screening here for the first time anywhere in the world.In addition to being stacked with a multitude of breathtaking debut filmmaker discoveries,...

Capitalising on a spirited central performance from Japanese actress Asami as the eponymous heroine, Mitsutake Kurando's blood-soaked Us-based crime thriller rises above its budgetary limitations in suitably sleazy style.Killing time on a long drive through the desert, a pair of hired guns recount an infamous story of revenge involving the lunatic son of a notorious Japanese mobster. When the elderly Hamazaki dies, his son (Noriaki R. Kamata) lashes out by raping and murdering the wife of his father's doctor. Driven made with revenge, the surgeon (Narita Kairi), now dubbed "Mastermind", acquires a mute Japanese meth addict (Asami) and grooms her to become his instrument of vengeance.Gun Woman, directed and co-written by Mitsutake Kurando (Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf) had its world premiere last week at...

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Okay cult film fans, imagine - if you will - elements of Lone Wolf And Cub and Zatoichi fused with the B-western serial and Yoshihiro Nishimura’s ‘nothing is too extreme’ lo-fi special affects aesthetic.  Got that fixed in your mind?  Because here it is on your screen in Kurando Mitsutake’s Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf.  I had the chance to talk briefly with Mitsutake - the writer / director / star of the picture - when the film screened at PiFan and came away rather impressed.  Mitsutake splits his time between Japan and La and has neatly combined influences from his two homes in this one, which looks to be good, pulpy - and bloody - fun.