“Oni” is the latest from Anthony Pietromonaco, co-produced by Manifest Film LLC and Louvard Entertainment, and sponsored by Samuraiswords.store. Actors Toru Uchikado (Castlevania, Heroes Reborn, Westworld) and Masashi Odate (The Last Samurai, Letters from Iwo Jima) are the leads.
Original character design by Jaremy Aiello (Star Trek, Annabelle, Mortal Kombat) and Tanner White (Bone Tomahawk).
The film follows a young man, the real life descendent of the hero “Momotaro” from the classic Japanese folktale, as he confronts a demon trapped within a cursed sword.
“We wanted to figure out a way to make a classic folktale (one known to nearly all Japanese people) present in modern day western culture” says Pietromonaco. “The basic premise is that the historical figure “Momotaro” used an ancient sword to seal the gateway to a Japanese demon world. Thousands of years later, an American soldier finds the sword amidst the rubble of a temple during WW2, and brings it home to the states – not knowing what it really is. His grandson inherits the sword, and demons (Oni) within start to wreak havoc in an attempt to escape once again.”
The film was made as a proof of concept with an extremely limited budget, a cast/crew of less than 10 people, and was a labor of love for all involved. The film features some impressive visuals from the same team behind the starwarsdarklegacy.com fan film, and is well worth a watch with it’s 6 minute runtime.
Categorised in: horror short
This post was written by Nadia Vella