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Director: Tae-gyun Kim.

Writers: Kôji Matsumoto (manga), and Tetsuya Oishi (screenplay).

Cast: Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa and Kôji Yamamoto.

Despite the misleading title and the film’s comic book origins, the only real problem with Higanjima, Escape from Vampire Island is that Japanese folklore does not have any real vampires to really call their own. There are vampire-like creatures, like the Kappa, said to lure its victims to a watery grave to feast upon their blood; but, it is a creature that's also revered than always feared. There is also an Ikiryoh, a spirit that can drain its victim of its energy. That said, the real life folklore do not deter from the enjoyment of this film. Vampires can freely move about the world and amalgamate into any culture where it is given a new name by the village it is raiding.

In this film, that is almost exactly what happened.

Higanjima – Escape From Vampire Island

Stars: Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa, Kôji Yamamoto, Hideo Ishiguro, Miori Takimoto, Tomohisa Yuge | Written by Tetsuya Ôishi | Directed by Kim Tae-gyun

Two years after his brother goes missing, Akira meets a beautiful young woman, Rei, who claims he is still alive and can be found on the remote, uncharted Japanese island of Higanjima. Desperate to see his brother Atsushi again and to solve the mystery of his disappearance, Akira talks several of his friends into joining him on a trip to the island in search of Atsushi.

Arriving in Higanjima, Akira and his friends learn that they have been lured there by Rei to be food for the island’s inhabitants – a race of extremely bloodthirsty vampires! Captured by Higanjima’s bloodsucking inhabitants, Akira and his friends eventually escape, crossing paths with Atsushi, who proclaims he has devoted himself to slaying all the vampires on Higanjima.

The UK's most amazing horror film festival Film4 FrightFest has released what could very well be another one of the best horror line-ups we've seen ever for its latest show taking place from Thursday the 26th of August to Monday the 30th of August, brimming with films we've been salivating over Stateside!

From the Press Release

This year there are eight British films in the main programme (another record) including Monsters, Gareth Edwards’ sensational post-Apocalyptic debut, The Ford Brothers’ Cannes-hyped African Zombie flick The Dead and Johannes Roberts F – in which a school gets a lesson in horror! Other home-grown titles are Dead Cert (East-End gangsters meet Eastern European vampires), Isle Of Dogs (nasty gangland horror), Paul Andrew Williams’ harrowing Cherry Tree Lane and werewolf thriller 13Hrs. Plus, Jake West will be presenting his in-depth documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship And Videotape, which will be followed by a Q & A panel discussion.

The complete lineup for the 2010 edition of the Film4 Frightfest has just been announced and, as usual, it is a quality selection of the best in horror film from the UK and around the world. The program splits into two programs - the main lineup and sidebar Discovery program - and you'll find both below!

Programme = Screen 1

Thursday Aug 26

6.30pm Hatchet II  (World Premiere)

FrightFest continues its strong relationship with Adam Green by hosting the world premiere of the sequel to his 2006 slasher sensation. Picking up right where the splatter-tastic original ended, Marybeth escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling iconic killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family's connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher. Delivering unapologetically unrestrained gushers of gore,...