Toshiharu Ikeda
From Yamagata Prefecture, Japan • 1951 - 2010
Toshiharu Ikeda (池田敏春, Ikeda Toshiharu) (23 February 1951 – 26 December 2010) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his films Mermaid Legend (1984) and Evil Dead Trap (1988). Ikeda became involved in filmmaking while still a university student, working as an assistant director for a small independent production company. He joined Nikkatsu in 1974, contributing to multiple Roman Porno movies. He debuted as a director in 1980 with the movie Sukeban Mafia, and later in the same year with Sex Hunter, which the studio criticized for being too rough and vulgar. His latest movie for Nikkatsu was the 1981 Angel Guts: Red Porno. He left the company after the shooting, feeling a lack of support. In 1982 Ikeda joined forces with other directors to found the Director's Company. His first film there was Mermaid Legend (1984), a cult movie that deals with revenge and anti-nuclear sentiment, for which he won Best Director at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival. In 1988 followed Evil Dead Trap, credited with being Japan's first modern horror. During the 90's Ikeda worked less in theatrical films, doing mostly V-Cinema action and erotic films. His latest film was Aki Fukaki (2008), a serious drama and a departure from his usual genre films. Ikeda drowned in 2010 in the sea near Shima in the Mie Prefecture. Speculations arose of the death being a suicide, him having struggled with suicidal thoughts since youth. (Via Wikipedia)
