Yoshihiro Nishimura

Directing

Yoshihiro Nishimura

Born 1969-04-01 · Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan

Yoshihiro Nishimura (1 April 1969 — 25 May 2026) was a Japanese film director, special effects and makeup effects artist, and a screenwriter who has worked predominantly in the horror genre. Nishimura has been described as 'a legendary director and effects artist' and 'the Tom Savini of Japan' with 'talent to burn'. He has been credited with establishing a new type of visual film presentation, the 'gore effect'.

Acting credits

Karate-Robo Zaborgar poster
5.9

An evil criminal organisation called Sigma kidnap prominment business leaders to harvest their DNA and only Karate-Robo Zaborgar can save them.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar

2011

Tokyo Gore Police poster
6.0

In a futuristic Tokyo where police have been privatized and bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the 'cutter' demographic, Ruka is on a mission to avenge her father's assassination. Ruka is a cop from a squad whose goal is to destroy homicidal mutant humans known as 'engineers', that possess the ability to transform any injury to a weapon in and of itself.

Tokyo Gore Police

2008

Extremity poster
5.2

A young woman with a severely troubled past signs up for an extreme haunt called Perdition. She believes that putting herself through Perdition's nightmarish trials will help her exorcise her internal traumas, but has no way of knowing just how shocking her ordeal will be-or what dark secrets buried in her psyche will emerge.

Extremity

2018

Mutant Girls Squad poster
5.5

Rin a young high school student is your everyday awkward girl who gets bullied by her fellow students. On her 16th birthday, Rin gets an unexpected surprise: she finds out that she is, on her father's side, a half-mutant.

Mutant Girls Squad

2010

RoboGeisha poster
5.4

Sisters Yoshie and Kikue are two Geisha who are abducted by a mysterious organization to be transformed into murderous cyborg assassins.

RoboGeisha

2009

Yakuza Weapon poster
4.3

After four years overseas, Shozo returns to Japan to avenge his yakuza boss who was assassinated by his own treacherous top man, Kurawaki. The resulting battle leaves both men severely injured, and Shozo awakens in a mysterious medical facility to find his arm replaced with an M61 Vulcan cannon and his leg replaced with a rocket launcher. Meanwhile, Kurawaki has been fitted with mechanical augmentations of his own. Get ready for the second round.

Yakuza Weapon

2011

No artwork available
NR

Documentary giving an extensive look into the design and development of the creatures created for artist Takashi Murakami's first feature film, Jellyfish Eyes.

Making F.R.I.E.N.D.s: Behind-the scenes of 'Jellyfish Eyes'

2015

Speakerman: The Boo poster
NR

The story of an odd creature called the Speakerman, who served duty in a small mining village by sounding the siren/megaphone that is his head to tell the workers when it was time for lunch and to alert people in case of a mining accident. When the mine closes, Speakerman ends up lonely and in search of new friends and meaning in his life.

Speakerman: The Boo

2004

The Wizard poster
NR

Igami would have wanted to be a manga artist, but he become an exorcist. And in this, he excels. When a yakuza boss asks for his help in dealing with a grave curse, he realizes that a supernatural insect master is active behind the scenes. Furthermore, a great master of the supernatural is putting Tokyo in danger. Igami decides to delve into his arsenal of tricks and spells to thwart these plans.

The Wizard

2024

Meatball Machine : Dissection poster
10.0

Documentary on the Japanese saga Meatball Machine. Interviews, Archive Images, Retrospective and Analyzes tell the formidable story of a saga that is as gory as it is inventive.

Meatball Machine : Dissection

2024

Behind the camera

The ABCs of Death poster
4.9

An ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the film comprises 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death.

The ABCs of Death

2013

The ABCs of Death poster
4.9

An ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the film comprises 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death.

The ABCs of Death

2013

The ABCs of Death poster
4.9

An ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the film comprises 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death.

The ABCs of Death

2013

Geisha War poster
NR

Rival bosses of Japanese Yakuza and American Mafia fight for control. Blood is shed... like fountains.

Geisha War

2026

Geisha War poster
NR

Rival bosses of Japanese Yakuza and American Mafia fight for control. Blood is shed... like fountains.

Geisha War

2026

Tokyo Gore Police poster
6.0

In a futuristic Tokyo where police have been privatized and bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the 'cutter' demographic, Ruka is on a mission to avenge her father's assassination. Ruka is a cop from a squad whose goal is to destroy homicidal mutant humans known as 'engineers', that possess the ability to transform any injury to a weapon in and of itself.

Tokyo Gore Police

2008

Tokyo Gore Police poster
6.0

In a futuristic Tokyo where police have been privatized and bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the 'cutter' demographic, Ruka is on a mission to avenge her father's assassination. Ruka is a cop from a squad whose goal is to destroy homicidal mutant humans known as 'engineers', that possess the ability to transform any injury to a weapon in and of itself.

Tokyo Gore Police

2008

Jellyfish Eyes poster
5.1

In present-day Japan, little Masashi moves from an evacuation center to a small village. There, he will discover that every child has the ability to communicate with a fantastic creature, but they are being used in an evil plan to collect the children’s negative energy.

Jellyfish Eyes

2013

Jellyfish Eyes poster
5.1

In present-day Japan, little Masashi moves from an evacuation center to a small village. There, he will discover that every child has the ability to communicate with a fantastic creature, but they are being used in an evil plan to collect the children’s negative energy.

Jellyfish Eyes

2013

Tetsudon: the kaiju dream match poster
5.0

A compilation of 28 short films about kaijus.

Tetsudon: the kaiju dream match

2017

Meatball Machine Kodoku poster
5.8

Nobody knows where they came from. They parasitize in human beings, take control of them and change their bodies into hideous monsters (Necro-borg). The Necro-borg fight each other until the other dies. Where did they come from? To what end? Yuji and Kaoru, whom both have dark secrets within themselves, get caught up in the horrific battles of Necro-borg. What will their fate be?

Meatball Machine Kodoku

2017

Meatball Machine Kodoku poster
5.8

Nobody knows where they came from. They parasitize in human beings, take control of them and change their bodies into hideous monsters (Necro-borg). The Necro-borg fight each other until the other dies. Where did they come from? To what end? Yuji and Kaoru, whom both have dark secrets within themselves, get caught up in the horrific battles of Necro-borg. What will their fate be?

Meatball Machine Kodoku

2017

Holy Mother poster
6.7

A racist corporation is looking to expand its territories of domination and for that it needs to destroy the Yakuza mafia. It is then that a transgender woman suddenly appears willing to defend the Yakuza tradition.

Holy Mother

2022

Holy Mother poster
6.7

A racist corporation is looking to expand its territories of domination and for that it needs to destroy the Yakuza mafia. It is then that a transgender woman suddenly appears willing to defend the Yakuza tradition.

Holy Mother

2022

Holy Mother poster
6.7

A racist corporation is looking to expand its territories of domination and for that it needs to destroy the Yakuza mafia. It is then that a transgender woman suddenly appears willing to defend the Yakuza tradition.

Holy Mother

2022

Rise of the Machine Girls poster
4.9

Living in the lawless Ishinari District in a future Japan, sisters Ami (Hina Nagimiya) and Yoshie (Hanakage Kanon) who sold their bodies to help their parents, try to earn a living performing as an idol group in the area. When their performance causes stranger Matsukata (Tak Sakaguchi) a notorious hitman, to notice their condition, the three realize their worth to each other in the fight against Aoyama Dharma (Kimono Negishi), the female boss of a notorious organ harvesting ring in the area. Realizing that even their skills are no match for her army of goons and henchmen, the two are outfitted with special homemade weaponry to their bodies and become the ultimate killers.

Rise of the Machine Girls

2019

Mutant Girls Squad poster
5.5

Rin a young high school student is your everyday awkward girl who gets bullied by her fellow students. On her 16th birthday, Rin gets an unexpected surprise: she finds out that she is, on her father's side, a half-mutant.

Mutant Girls Squad

2010

Helldriver poster
5.7

Still reeling from the events of a zombie apocalypse, a young woman, along with a group of allies, makes her way across a dystopian Japan in search of her mother, the Zombie Queen.

Helldriver

2010

Helldriver poster
5.7

Still reeling from the events of a zombie apocalypse, a young woman, along with a group of allies, makes her way across a dystopian Japan in search of her mother, the Zombie Queen.

Helldriver

2010

Tokyo Dragon Chef poster
8.5

After serving prison time as a scapegoat in a yakuza conflict, Tatsu (Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki) is met upon release by his sworn brother Ryu (Yasukaze Motomiya), who reveals that their gang was dissolved by a mysterious man named Gizmo and everyone has gone their separate ways. Ryu proposes they run a ramen shop together, Ryu Hanten. But trouble follows when former rivals Jin (Hitoshi Ozawa) and Kazu (Kazuyoshi Ozawa), whose gang was also disbanded by Gizmo, open a competing shop nearby called Ramen OZAWA. As a fierce ramen rivalry erupts, Gizmo’s sinister influence closes in once again.

Tokyo Dragon Chef

2020

Tokyo Dragon Chef poster
8.5

After serving prison time as a scapegoat in a yakuza conflict, Tatsu (Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki) is met upon release by his sworn brother Ryu (Yasukaze Motomiya), who reveals that their gang was dissolved by a mysterious man named Gizmo and everyone has gone their separate ways. Ryu proposes they run a ramen shop together, Ryu Hanten. But trouble follows when former rivals Jin (Hitoshi Ozawa) and Kazu (Kazuyoshi Ozawa), whose gang was also disbanded by Gizmo, open a competing shop nearby called Ramen OZAWA. As a fierce ramen rivalry erupts, Gizmo’s sinister influence closes in once again.

Tokyo Dragon Chef

2020

Tokyo Dragon Chef poster
8.5

After serving prison time as a scapegoat in a yakuza conflict, Tatsu (Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki) is met upon release by his sworn brother Ryu (Yasukaze Motomiya), who reveals that their gang was dissolved by a mysterious man named Gizmo and everyone has gone their separate ways. Ryu proposes they run a ramen shop together, Ryu Hanten. But trouble follows when former rivals Jin (Hitoshi Ozawa) and Kazu (Kazuyoshi Ozawa), whose gang was also disbanded by Gizmo, open a competing shop nearby called Ramen OZAWA. As a fierce ramen rivalry erupts, Gizmo’s sinister influence closes in once again.

Tokyo Dragon Chef

2020

63 Minutes Later poster
3.4

A spin-off feature from Tokyo Gore Police centering on three characters from the movie who are each given a short story explaining how they became an “engineer”.

63 Minutes Later

2009

63 Minutes Later poster
3.4

A spin-off feature from Tokyo Gore Police centering on three characters from the movie who are each given a short story explaining how they became an “engineer”.

63 Minutes Later

2009