Howl from Beyond the Fog (2019)

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Image gallery for Howl from Beyond the Fog
Credits for Howl from Beyond the Fog
Howl from Beyond the Fog soundtrack


Howl from Beyond the Fog
The Japanese poster for Howl from Beyond the Fog
Alternate titles
Flagicon Japan.png Land of Fog (2019)
See alternate titles
Directed by Daisuke Sato
Producer Daisuke Sato
Written by Daisuke Sato
Music by Chouchou
Distributor SRS CinemaUS
Rating Not Rated
Running time 35 minutes[1][2]
Aspect ratio 2.39:1
Rate this film!
4.36
(11 votes)

Howl from Beyond the Fog (狭霧の國,   Sagiri no Kuni, lit. "Land of Fog") is an independent tokusatsu kaiju short film written, directed, produced, shot, and edited by Daisuke Sato. Produced by LosGatos Works, it was crowdfunded via Kickstarter in late 2017 and premiered at the Atami Kaiju Film Festival on November 24, 2019.[3] It is inspired by the 1951 short story "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury, which also served as the basis for the 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Plot

Nebula, a giant reptilian monster, emerges from a hillside and kills two travelers on a bridge.

Years later, in 1909, a boy named Eiji returns to his hometown in Kyushu. Raised by relatives, he knows little about his mother or recently-deceased twin brother. He is startled to find a blind cousin, Takiri, also living with his mother. She instructs him not to tell his mother they've met, as she's supposed to be dead. That night, he spots her walking to the lake and follows her. Humming softly, she wakes up Nebula, who now resides in the nearby lake. Terrified, Eiji flees.

The next day, Eiji oversees developers trying to convince his mother to sell the last of her land to facilitate the construction of a dam. She refuses, as her family has worshipped there for generations. They note, dismissively, that Eiji is the last male in her family. As she and Eiji eat breakfast, she reluctantly explains that Takiri is her sister's daughter, left with her after the sister committed suicide. Believing that Takiri has gone insane, she has done her best to hide her from the town. He visits Takiri again, who offers to take him to see Nebula at dark. Rumors of the creature have spread in the village, and four of the developers conspire to flush him out.

Takiri holds her hands over Eiji's eyes as he reaches out to touch Nebula's face. As she removes her hands, Nebula disappears into the fog. The next day, the developers drag them outside and kick Takiri into the lake. As she falls, she remembers her mother, who blinded her before taking her own life. Nebula comes to her rescue and lets Eiji take her from his jaws. The developers fire on the monster, but to no effect, and he chases them into town. As he lunges at one, he knocks paper lanterns to the ground, starting a fire.

Eiji and Takiri find his mother's house destroyed. Dying in the ruins, she apologizes to Takiri for shutting her away, and tells her to leave with Eiji. They resolve to try and stop Nebula's rampage. The developers use fireworks to lure the monster to a bridge, where they are waiting with a hand cannon. The blast topples Nebula, but he recovers after Takiri goes to him and dodges the next two shots. Inhaling fog, he knocks three of the men off the bridge with a blast of wind, then crushes their leader.

Nebula returns to the lake as Takiri tells Eiji they're now free to go wherever they please.

Staff

Main article: Howl from Beyond the Fog/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Daisuke Sato
  • Written by   Daisuke Sato
  • Associate writer   Yohei Yanase
  • Executive producer   Daisuke Sato
  • Music by   Chouchou
  • Cinematography by   Daisuke Sato
  • Edited by   Daisuke Sato
  • Production design by   Daisuke Sato
  • Puppets produced by   Daisuke Sato
  • Modeling by   Keizo Murase, Tomohiro Matsumoto
  • Backgrounds painted by   Fuchimu Shimakura

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Suguru Inoue   as   Eiji (voice)
  • Akane Kanamori   as   Takiri (voice)
  • Michiyo Ishimito   as   Inami (voice)
  • Nana Nagao   as   Nagisa (voice)
  • Tomohiro Matsumoto   as   Nebula

Appearances

Monsters

Production

Production of the Nebula suit, with the cooperation of veteran suitmaker Keizo Murase, was crowdfunded through Kickstarter beginning on November 30, 2017. The campaign ultimately reached 150% of its goal[1], with ¥1,269,842 from 140 backers.[4] A Nebula rod puppet and guignol, as well as the Takiri puppet, were constructed in advance to shoot a teaser trailer. Principal photography began in January 2019.[5] A pilot reel of the film was shown at G-Fest XXVI in July of 2019. The film wrapped in November of that year with a total of 380 shots for 31 scenes.[2] It officially premiered at the 2nd Atami Kaiju Film Festival on November 24, accompanied by a special talk from director Daisuke Sato and modelers Keizo Murase and Tomohiro Matsumoto.

Gallery

Main article: Howl from Beyond the Fog/Gallery.

Alternate titles

  • Land of Fog (literal Japanese title)

Theatrical releases

  • Japan - November 24, 2019 (Atami Kaiju Film Festival)

Video releases

SRS Cinema Blu-ray (2020)

  • Region: 0
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese
  • Subtitles: English
  • Special features: Behind-the-scenes featurette (35 minutes) and three trailers
  • Notes: Reissued in 2021 with new cover art.

SRS Cinema DVD (2021)

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese
  • Subtitles: English
  • Special features: Behind-the-scenes featurette (35 minutes) and three trailers

The Howl from Beyond the Fog Kickstarter campaign offered a DVD of the film to backers who pledged ¥6,000, and a Blu-ray to those who gave ¥10,000, with a behind-the-scenes video included as a bonus feature.

Videos

Trailers

Japan Expo 2017 teaser
Design Festa teaser
Trailer #1
Trailer #1.5
Trailer #2
Theatrical trailer
15 second trailer

Miscellaneous

G-Fest pilot reel
Behind the scenes footage
Test footage
Making-of featurette
Daisuke Sato interview (subtitled in Spanish)

External links

References

This is a list of references for Howl from Beyond the Fog. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Home". Sagiri no Kuni. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Sato, Daisuke (20 November 2019). "We finished the film! 映画が完成しました!". Kickstarter.
  3. "本日開幕! 更新:2019年11月22日". Atami Kaiju Film Festival. 16 September 2019.
  4. Sato, Daisuke. "Keizo Murase is Back! Monster suit production campaign!". Kickstarter. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  5. Howl from Beyond the Fog Blu-ray behind-the-scenes featurette

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