It comes with great sadness to report that Japanese film director, special effects and makeup artist, and screenwriter Yoshihiro Nishimura […]
It comes with great sadness to report that Japanese film director, special effects and makeup artist, and screenwriter Yoshihiro Nishimura has reportedly passed away. He was 59. The news was first reported by Azz, a French YouTuber who specializes in horror movies.
Nishimura has been called “the Tom Savini of Japan” and “a legendary director and effects artist.”
His career spanned three decades and built a cult following for his lo-fi horror, centered on his astoundingly over-the-top gory special effects. He is celebrated as a king of midnight movies whose films blended gore with absurdist black comedy.
His splatter-masterpiece directorial debut, Tokyo Gore Police (2008), followed a futuristic, samurai-sword-wielding police officer hunting down mutants. His other notable works included Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, Helldriver, Mutant Girls Squad, and Meatball Machine Kodoku.
He allegedly passed away due to “liver cirrhosis“, with his final film, Geisha War, still set for posthumous release.
Dread Central received a statement from Eihi Shiina, the iconic Japanese actress known for legendary starring roles in genre films like Audition and Tokyo Gore Police, reflecting on Nishimura’s legacy and their time working together:
“I have countless memories of Nishimura—both good and bad—too many to recount.
We met on the set of Tokyo Gore Police, and since then, Nishimura and I have travelled the world together, working on various projects.
How many people truly knew his true nature—that he was sensitive, intelligent and caring, yet deep down, he was actually very timid, shy and prone to feeling lonely?
Nishimura and I had argued many times over the years, but we always made up in the end. That was because he always believed in me and loved me dearly. In a sense, perhaps our relationship was like that of family.
