FANTASY ART & ASSORTED ODDNESS by Patrick W. Stewart
ASIAN ZOMBIES
JUNK - aka Shiryour Gari or Shiryô-gari (1999)
Cast:
Kaori Shimamura... as Saki
Nobuyuki Asano... as Jun
Miwa Yanagizawa... as the HOT ZOMBIE QUEEN (one on the box cover with the piece of "meat" in her mouth)
Shû Ehara... as Akira
Tate Gouta... as Ramon
Natsuki Ozawa
Run Time: 83 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Studio: Unearthed Films
Year: 1999
Genre: Horror
Format: DVD
My review: Junk was essentially the first (as far as I know) in what was to be a wave of Japanese zombie films. The others are (in order of theatrical release) Wild Zero, Versus, Stacy, Tokyo Zombie...and I'm sure more to come. This flick was very fun to watch and I wasn't disappointed. More of a "standard" zombie film than the other Japanese installments, Junk was full of high energy and plenty of gooey, gut-munching gore. An aspect of zombie flicks that all zombie fans love.
The story: Some small-time thieves rob a jewelry store. They've made an arrangement with the local Yakuza who's offered a good price for the stolen goods. Once the robbery is complete, they agree to close their deal at an abandoned military base--you know, where nobody will bother them...tee hee. I won't spill all the little secrets so you can have your own fun with it, but...the deal, of course, goes wrong (can't trust those Yakuza!!!), a weird, super secret chemical is released, the dead rise and the flesh eating and zombification ensues. Unlikely characters become the reluctant heroes as they fight to help each other survive- yeahhhh...that old chestnut.
Other things to point out: The action is fun and fast-paced throughout with lots of gunplay. (With Yakuza involved would you expect less?) And, even though this is a low budget film, don't let that put you off. The zombie effects and make up were more than adequate I thought, and, sufficiently gooey. The type of zombies in this are the typical Romeros-- slow shamblers that can be dispatched with a shot in the head or something else to destroy the brain. BUT, then there is the "smart sombie" played by the beautiful Miya Yanagizawa. She can essentially control the other zombies, and, can talk. Oh, and she's just A LITTLE harder to kill than the other zombies btw. Oh, oh, oh...and she happens to be naked through the first quater of the film...not that THAT 'S important. (Nooooo thoughts of necrophilia here...ahem.) Moving on...
Ummmmmmmmm...that's about it. It's just a simple, fun & gross addition to the zombie film world. And, it's Japanese and I just love those people to death-- even when they rise and try to eat me I still love them. Ok...I'm done rambling. NOW GO GET THIS MOVIE!!!!!!
Kaori Shimamura... as Saki
Nobuyuki Asano... as Jun
Miwa Yanagizawa... as the HOT ZOMBIE QUEEN (one on the box cover with the piece of "meat" in her mouth)
Shû Ehara... as Akira
Tate Gouta... as Ramon
Natsuki Ozawa
Run Time: 83 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Studio: Unearthed Films
Year: 1999
Genre: Horror
Format: DVD
My review: Junk was essentially the first (as far as I know) in what was to be a wave of Japanese zombie films. The others are (in order of theatrical release) Wild Zero, Versus, Stacy, Tokyo Zombie...and I'm sure more to come. This flick was very fun to watch and I wasn't disappointed. More of a "standard" zombie film than the other Japanese installments, Junk was full of high energy and plenty of gooey, gut-munching gore. An aspect of zombie flicks that all zombie fans love.
The story: Some small-time thieves rob a jewelry store. They've made an arrangement with the local Yakuza who's offered a good price for the stolen goods. Once the robbery is complete, they agree to close their deal at an abandoned military base--you know, where nobody will bother them...tee hee. I won't spill all the little secrets so you can have your own fun with it, but...the deal, of course, goes wrong (can't trust those Yakuza!!!), a weird, super secret chemical is released, the dead rise and the flesh eating and zombification ensues. Unlikely characters become the reluctant heroes as they fight to help each other survive- yeahhhh...that old chestnut.
Other things to point out: The action is fun and fast-paced throughout with lots of gunplay. (With Yakuza involved would you expect less?) And, even though this is a low budget film, don't let that put you off. The zombie effects and make up were more than adequate I thought, and, sufficiently gooey. The type of zombies in this are the typical Romeros-- slow shamblers that can be dispatched with a shot in the head or something else to destroy the brain. BUT, then there is the "smart sombie" played by the beautiful Miya Yanagizawa. She can essentially control the other zombies, and, can talk. Oh, and she's just A LITTLE harder to kill than the other zombies btw. Oh, oh, oh...and she happens to be naked through the first quater of the film...not that THAT 'S important. (Nooooo thoughts of necrophilia here...ahem.) Moving on...
Ummmmmmmmm...that's about it. It's just a simple, fun & gross addition to the zombie film world. And, it's Japanese and I just love those people to death-- even when they rise and try to eat me I still love them. Ok...I'm done rambling. NOW GO GET THIS MOVIE!!!!!!
WILD ZERO (2000)
Starring: Guitar Wolf, Drum Wolf, Bass Wolf, Masashi Endô, Kwancharu Shitichai, Makoto Inamiya, Haruka Nakajo, Shirô Namiki, Taneko, Yoshiyuki Morishita
Run time: 98 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Studio: Synapse Films
Year: 2000
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Format: DVD
Ahhhhhhhhh...the Japanese "cult classic" WILD ZERO. What can one say about this film???? I'll try to speak a few words about it-- maybe more than a few. It is possibly one of the weirdest and, yes, WILDEST films you'll ever see in the zombie world. Except for the look and behaviour of the zombies and LOTS and LOTS of head splatters, this movie is totally original. Love it or hate it...which ever camp you fall into, you'll have to admit that. Me...I fall into the love it category. I just appreciate very offbeat and over the top films. You get very used to that, especially, if you watch a lot of Japanese stuff. So, it kinda figures that when they start making zombie flicks that they'll make a few that drop into the ODD category. Here's the description from the back of the DVD box:
Japan’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Zombie Horror Classic Is Finally Coming To DVD! Ace, a rockabilly fan who really wants to be cool, is on his way to seeing his favorite group Guitar Wolf when a strange thing occurs . . . aliens invade the Earth and people start returning to life as flesh-eating zombies! Enlisting the help of the (real-life) Japanese rock/ punk band Guitar Wolf (and self-proclaimed coolest rock band in the world), Ace and the members of the band get entangled in many misadventures with crazy rock managers in very tight shorts, transsexuals, naked women shooting guns in the shower, and bloodthirsty zombies ready to tear them apart. Leather jackets, loud over-modulated music, laser guitar picks, motorcycles, muscle cars, and LOTS of fire . . . it’s all right here! Did we also happen to mention flesh-eating zombies? Think Dawn of the Dead meets Kiss meets The Phantom of the Park with the humor of Evil Dead 2 and that’s what Wild Zero is all about!
For once, a product description ACTUALLY gets it right!!! That's a pretty accurate account of the basics. It is LOUD (thanks to the music of Guitar Wolf), obnoxious, in-your-face, fast and very COOL. Oh...now that I've beaten the point into the ground that it's a WEIRD & ORIGINAL film, you might be curious...IS IT A GOOD ZOMBIE FILM????? My answer would be YES!!!! It has lots of slow-walkers with a craving for yummmmmyyyyy human parts. Also, the make up effects are about on par with the early George Romero stuff (Dawn of the Dead not Day). In other words it looks good but is nothing super special. There are plenty of zombie attacks on people and people attacks on zombies. Plenty of exploding dead heads (when shot) and explosions in general. So yeah...you'll get your satisfying zombie gore here. Oh, and, there's a beautiful and very touching love story (ahem) thrown in between all the zombie carnage as well. Just like every movie about the living dead should have (ahem). Give this one a chance if you're looking for something different. You might need to watch it more than once to understand and appreciate it. But it's worth adapting to it if you like all things Zombified.
Remember to ROCK 'N' ROOOOOOOOOOLL!!!!!!!!!
Run time: 98 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Studio: Synapse Films
Year: 2000
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Format: DVD
Ahhhhhhhhh...the Japanese "cult classic" WILD ZERO. What can one say about this film???? I'll try to speak a few words about it-- maybe more than a few. It is possibly one of the weirdest and, yes, WILDEST films you'll ever see in the zombie world. Except for the look and behaviour of the zombies and LOTS and LOTS of head splatters, this movie is totally original. Love it or hate it...which ever camp you fall into, you'll have to admit that. Me...I fall into the love it category. I just appreciate very offbeat and over the top films. You get very used to that, especially, if you watch a lot of Japanese stuff. So, it kinda figures that when they start making zombie flicks that they'll make a few that drop into the ODD category. Here's the description from the back of the DVD box:
Japan’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Zombie Horror Classic Is Finally Coming To DVD! Ace, a rockabilly fan who really wants to be cool, is on his way to seeing his favorite group Guitar Wolf when a strange thing occurs . . . aliens invade the Earth and people start returning to life as flesh-eating zombies! Enlisting the help of the (real-life) Japanese rock/ punk band Guitar Wolf (and self-proclaimed coolest rock band in the world), Ace and the members of the band get entangled in many misadventures with crazy rock managers in very tight shorts, transsexuals, naked women shooting guns in the shower, and bloodthirsty zombies ready to tear them apart. Leather jackets, loud over-modulated music, laser guitar picks, motorcycles, muscle cars, and LOTS of fire . . . it’s all right here! Did we also happen to mention flesh-eating zombies? Think Dawn of the Dead meets Kiss meets The Phantom of the Park with the humor of Evil Dead 2 and that’s what Wild Zero is all about!
For once, a product description ACTUALLY gets it right!!! That's a pretty accurate account of the basics. It is LOUD (thanks to the music of Guitar Wolf), obnoxious, in-your-face, fast and very COOL. Oh...now that I've beaten the point into the ground that it's a WEIRD & ORIGINAL film, you might be curious...IS IT A GOOD ZOMBIE FILM????? My answer would be YES!!!! It has lots of slow-walkers with a craving for yummmmmyyyyy human parts. Also, the make up effects are about on par with the early George Romero stuff (Dawn of the Dead not Day). In other words it looks good but is nothing super special. There are plenty of zombie attacks on people and people attacks on zombies. Plenty of exploding dead heads (when shot) and explosions in general. So yeah...you'll get your satisfying zombie gore here. Oh, and, there's a beautiful and very touching love story (ahem) thrown in between all the zombie carnage as well. Just like every movie about the living dead should have (ahem). Give this one a chance if you're looking for something different. You might need to watch it more than once to understand and appreciate it. But it's worth adapting to it if you like all things Zombified.
Remember to ROCK 'N' ROOOOOOOOOOLL!!!!!!!!!
VERSUS (2000)
Cast: Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka, Kenji Matsuda, Yuichiro Arai
Run time: 119 minutes
Language: Japanese, English
Subtitles: English
Studio: Tokyo Shock
Year: 2000
Genre: Horror/Action
Versus is a film I can sum up with one word...COOL! But of course, I'll tell you more than that since I like to babble on and on and on and on. This is one of the most energetic, over-the-top, kick-ass movies I can think of...and I've seen many. It's a blending of 3 things I'm crazy about: martial arts, Japan & ZOMBIES!!! The setting is a huge japanese forest...wait...yeahhhh...that's one of my other favorite things...films set in forests. Anywaaaaay... before I go on, here's the description from the packaging to give you the basic set up--
Deep within the mysterious Forest of Resurrection, a spectacular battle between good and evil has gone on since the dawn of time. When Prisoner KSC2-303 escapes from a maximum security facility, he enters the forest, believing it will lead him to safe haven. Instead, he finds himself a pawn in an endless struggle played out across multiple temporal planes of existence. His opponent: a mysterious man who seemingly cannot be killed. The battle to be waged: Good versus Evil in the pursuit of a beautiful woman who holds the key to eternal life. What Prisoner KSC2-303 cannot remember is whether or not he is the personification of good or the very essence of darkness.
The main characters:
Tak Sakaguchi plays Prisoner KSC2-303-- he's the good guy in this. The actor makes a wonderful hero character-- a little rebellious with a bit of attitude; makes wisecracks with a straight face and only smiles when he's being mischevious. You come to understand he hasn't made all the right choices in this life, but, is over all a guy who wants to do the right thing. Oh, and...he can kick some serious arse!! Very fun to watch. Hideo Sakaki is the uber bad guy who "seemingly cannot be killed." He plays the part very straight with only an occasional wicked, knowing smile. Totally effective and intense as a villian I thought. Other characters of note are the beautiful Chieko Misaka. She plays the "damsel in distress" role well. Her character has been thrown into the middle of the proceedings by fate...and not for the first time. And I can't forget Kenji Matsuda. He plays the sort of second-in-command of the main bad guy's gang. Now talk about over-the-top characters!!! He's both deadly and entertainingly goofy-- a total lunatic. That's just when he's alive. He's even worse after he's dead! I'll leave all the rest for you to find out.
As with most martial-artsy actioneers, don't expect an overdeveloped plot or anything. Just expect enough to get you between the cool fight sequences--of which there are plenty. In addition, the film has a strange charm to it that's both silly and yet serious at the same time. After all, we're dealing with the ultimate duel between GOOD & EVIL, so, you have to have some serious moments-- but not tooooo serious. The fights are brutal as well as the gunplay during dealings with both the dead and the living. But, they're laced with some gory sight gags and humourous lines so they never get too heavy. The performances and characters (some might say characatures) are entertaining and hold up well for this type of movie. For me, Versus had it all-- zombies, gore, action, humour, and yes, a touch of romance. They even threw in a little bit of...well...vampirism --for lack of a better word-- for good measure. An odd blend, but it works.
Run time: 119 minutes
Language: Japanese, English
Subtitles: English
Studio: Tokyo Shock
Year: 2000
Genre: Horror/Action
Versus is a film I can sum up with one word...COOL! But of course, I'll tell you more than that since I like to babble on and on and on and on. This is one of the most energetic, over-the-top, kick-ass movies I can think of...and I've seen many. It's a blending of 3 things I'm crazy about: martial arts, Japan & ZOMBIES!!! The setting is a huge japanese forest...wait...yeahhhh...that's one of my other favorite things...films set in forests. Anywaaaaay... before I go on, here's the description from the packaging to give you the basic set up--
Deep within the mysterious Forest of Resurrection, a spectacular battle between good and evil has gone on since the dawn of time. When Prisoner KSC2-303 escapes from a maximum security facility, he enters the forest, believing it will lead him to safe haven. Instead, he finds himself a pawn in an endless struggle played out across multiple temporal planes of existence. His opponent: a mysterious man who seemingly cannot be killed. The battle to be waged: Good versus Evil in the pursuit of a beautiful woman who holds the key to eternal life. What Prisoner KSC2-303 cannot remember is whether or not he is the personification of good or the very essence of darkness.
The main characters:
Tak Sakaguchi plays Prisoner KSC2-303-- he's the good guy in this. The actor makes a wonderful hero character-- a little rebellious with a bit of attitude; makes wisecracks with a straight face and only smiles when he's being mischevious. You come to understand he hasn't made all the right choices in this life, but, is over all a guy who wants to do the right thing. Oh, and...he can kick some serious arse!! Very fun to watch. Hideo Sakaki is the uber bad guy who "seemingly cannot be killed." He plays the part very straight with only an occasional wicked, knowing smile. Totally effective and intense as a villian I thought. Other characters of note are the beautiful Chieko Misaka. She plays the "damsel in distress" role well. Her character has been thrown into the middle of the proceedings by fate...and not for the first time. And I can't forget Kenji Matsuda. He plays the sort of second-in-command of the main bad guy's gang. Now talk about over-the-top characters!!! He's both deadly and entertainingly goofy-- a total lunatic. That's just when he's alive. He's even worse after he's dead! I'll leave all the rest for you to find out.
As with most martial-artsy actioneers, don't expect an overdeveloped plot or anything. Just expect enough to get you between the cool fight sequences--of which there are plenty. In addition, the film has a strange charm to it that's both silly and yet serious at the same time. After all, we're dealing with the ultimate duel between GOOD & EVIL, so, you have to have some serious moments-- but not tooooo serious. The fights are brutal as well as the gunplay during dealings with both the dead and the living. But, they're laced with some gory sight gags and humourous lines so they never get too heavy. The performances and characters (some might say characatures) are entertaining and hold up well for this type of movie. For me, Versus had it all-- zombies, gore, action, humour, and yes, a touch of romance. They even threw in a little bit of...well...vampirism --for lack of a better word-- for good measure. An odd blend, but it works.
STACY (2001)
Now this little Japanese zombie film will definately not appeal to everyone. Once again, like many of the other Japanese entries of the genre it is extremely offbeat and full of cultural quirks. Many are not going to appreciate that. For me it turned out to be an interesting gross-out gem though. It does, I think, have plenty of low-budgeted but sweet gore scenes to satisfy that aspect of the zombie lover's taste. But, this one goes much further than that. Some zombie fans might not go for the other elements. It's very much a strange social comedy.
The story goes...
(from the back of the box)
In the early 21st century, teenage girls between the ages of 15 & 17 begin dying all over the world. Shortly before they die, girls succumb to NDH (Near Death Happiness), a "pre-death" state of absolute bliss and joy. Once dead, a girl comes back as a flesh-eating zombie and nicknamed a "STACY."
The world is in chaos. Countries suffer from famine, war and zero population growth because of this teenage death epidemic. To keep the zombies from returning and eating innocent people, families are urged to kill their daughters before they are allowed to die by this mysterious disease (chopping them up and leaving them in garbage bags for state-sanctioned pick-up).
This is a very fun and original concept for the raising of the dead. It opens up many cool plotlines for the different sets of characters. The main characters and there situations are these--
1. A pretty soon-to-be "Stacy" (already in the NDH state) walks into the life of a lonely puppetmaker/puppeteer and asks if he will do the honor of killing her in about a week or so. Yeah...this part is the love story part. It's actually kinda cute and sad.
2. A trio of hot young (can you say jail-bait?) girls close to the age of "Stacyness" become "repeat-killer" warriors hiring themselves out to those who need them to dispose of (chop up) their daughters. They're doing it to make enough money to hire someone to "repeat-kill" them. They don't have any family or loved ones to do it for them so they need a professional.
3. A group of military men and woman (one) at a makeshift base. They all have their own personalities and reasons why they joined. They're all very weird people. No...this group does not mean kick ass action sequences either, although, there is a little excitement when some "Stacies" being held there escape.
4. The sort of mad scientist at the military base. He's the dude who's experimenting on the zombies to try and figure out what makes them die and resurrect.
5. There's a nice young soldier boy who falls for and tries to save a zombie that he loves named Momo. Very sweet in an ewwwwwwwwy sorta way.
Yeppers...a lotta weirdness up there. If you're a straightforward zombie fan, skip it. If you like the odd, it's a must see flick. I mean... how can you not want to see a movie with jail-bait schoolgirl zombies. Oh, and there's the "BUTTERFLY TWINKLE POWDER." (I'm not gonna explain that one.) There's lotsa zombie film references like fashion chainsaws in pretty colours (being sold by a girl in a bunny costume btw) called "Bruce Campbell's Right Hand." Soooooo, check it out if you're weird like me. Very satisfying.
The story goes...
(from the back of the box)
In the early 21st century, teenage girls between the ages of 15 & 17 begin dying all over the world. Shortly before they die, girls succumb to NDH (Near Death Happiness), a "pre-death" state of absolute bliss and joy. Once dead, a girl comes back as a flesh-eating zombie and nicknamed a "STACY."
The world is in chaos. Countries suffer from famine, war and zero population growth because of this teenage death epidemic. To keep the zombies from returning and eating innocent people, families are urged to kill their daughters before they are allowed to die by this mysterious disease (chopping them up and leaving them in garbage bags for state-sanctioned pick-up).
This is a very fun and original concept for the raising of the dead. It opens up many cool plotlines for the different sets of characters. The main characters and there situations are these--
1. A pretty soon-to-be "Stacy" (already in the NDH state) walks into the life of a lonely puppetmaker/puppeteer and asks if he will do the honor of killing her in about a week or so. Yeah...this part is the love story part. It's actually kinda cute and sad.
2. A trio of hot young (can you say jail-bait?) girls close to the age of "Stacyness" become "repeat-killer" warriors hiring themselves out to those who need them to dispose of (chop up) their daughters. They're doing it to make enough money to hire someone to "repeat-kill" them. They don't have any family or loved ones to do it for them so they need a professional.
3. A group of military men and woman (one) at a makeshift base. They all have their own personalities and reasons why they joined. They're all very weird people. No...this group does not mean kick ass action sequences either, although, there is a little excitement when some "Stacies" being held there escape.
4. The sort of mad scientist at the military base. He's the dude who's experimenting on the zombies to try and figure out what makes them die and resurrect.
5. There's a nice young soldier boy who falls for and tries to save a zombie that he loves named Momo. Very sweet in an ewwwwwwwwy sorta way.
Yeppers...a lotta weirdness up there. If you're a straightforward zombie fan, skip it. If you like the odd, it's a must see flick. I mean... how can you not want to see a movie with jail-bait schoolgirl zombies. Oh, and there's the "BUTTERFLY TWINKLE POWDER." (I'm not gonna explain that one.) There's lotsa zombie film references like fashion chainsaws in pretty colours (being sold by a girl in a bunny costume btw) called "Bruce Campbell's Right Hand." Soooooo, check it out if you're weird like me. Very satisfying.
SARS WARS: BANGKOK ZOMBIE CRISIS - aka Khun krabii hiiroh (2004)
I think...I repeat...I think that this is the ONLY Thai zombie film in existence or at least the first. (Both of those statements may be wrong.) This thing is completely insane and idiotic. I mean that in a very good way. They totally knew what they were making when they made it and it works well. Steeped in sillyness, this movie takes it's inspiration from lots of different zombie & zombeish flicks. Some of it even plays like a more comical version of Dario Argento's Demons 2. Contagion get's into person who lives in a highrise apartment building; person goes around spreading it; more get infected; killings ensue; main characters try to survive and not get infected...yadda, yadda. Them there are some zombie flick staples. But yeah...there is much more to it than that.
From the box:
The next SARS outbreak will be drastically worse due to a mutation in the virus that turns infected people into flesh craving zombies! With the world in the deadly grip of a global epidemic Thailand is proud to proclaim that they are the only virus free nation in Asia. However the virus manages to infiltrate Thailand's quarantine and spread quickly through an apartment building. As the number of infected continues to rise its up to a sword wielding hero to venture into the building and battle the undead.This movie has it all! Hot schoolgirls wielding axes? Check! Zombie babies? Check! Giant zombie snake? Check! Zombie ravers? You betcha! A zombie comedy in the in the tradition of Shaun of the Dead starring Supakorn Kitsuwan (Tears of the Black Tiger) and Suthep Po-ngam (Killer Tattoo).
My descriptive contribution:
The basic story involves a hot, yummy schoolgirl (in her 20s) being kidnapped for ransom. The father asks for help from an old warrior friend. Because of a bad leg he doesn't feel he can help. Instead, after some extreme convincing (involving tickling) he offers the use of his best martial arts student to do the job. Of course, the daughter is being held in the building where the outbreak is just beginning. So that's why our hero ends up in the middle of the zombie war zone. His mentor also eventually gets drawn into the action when he comes to join him. Before he locates him, he gets to hook up with a sexy scientist chick who happens to be seeking the cure to the virus. Always plenty of time for that during a zombie plague. Right?
There's a bit of a romance, condoms filled with pee, hot scientists, transsexulaism...so much wonderfullness. There's also a "sex sequence" involving an act called "Crouching Tiger Eats Noodles" that everyone on the planet should see and possibly learn. Seriously though, for those concerned with content, the movie is suggestive but not graphic. Anyone who knows about the Thai film censors knows that they'll only allow but so much sleazyness in their films. They even heavily poke fun at this censorship in the movie. Come to think of it, there's not much they don't poke fun at here.
I'm very glad to have gotten this one as a Christmas present in 2008. It's one I've watched repeatedly and love it every time. I would sugggest you buy it for EVERYBODY. Even slip it into your children's stockings. Tee hee. It's a great one!!!! And no...I'm NOT being sarcastic. Now go get the DVD, have some "noodles" next to you, and, get ready to learn the wisdom of the Thai.
From the box:
The next SARS outbreak will be drastically worse due to a mutation in the virus that turns infected people into flesh craving zombies! With the world in the deadly grip of a global epidemic Thailand is proud to proclaim that they are the only virus free nation in Asia. However the virus manages to infiltrate Thailand's quarantine and spread quickly through an apartment building. As the number of infected continues to rise its up to a sword wielding hero to venture into the building and battle the undead.This movie has it all! Hot schoolgirls wielding axes? Check! Zombie babies? Check! Giant zombie snake? Check! Zombie ravers? You betcha! A zombie comedy in the in the tradition of Shaun of the Dead starring Supakorn Kitsuwan (Tears of the Black Tiger) and Suthep Po-ngam (Killer Tattoo).
My descriptive contribution:
The basic story involves a hot, yummy schoolgirl (in her 20s) being kidnapped for ransom. The father asks for help from an old warrior friend. Because of a bad leg he doesn't feel he can help. Instead, after some extreme convincing (involving tickling) he offers the use of his best martial arts student to do the job. Of course, the daughter is being held in the building where the outbreak is just beginning. So that's why our hero ends up in the middle of the zombie war zone. His mentor also eventually gets drawn into the action when he comes to join him. Before he locates him, he gets to hook up with a sexy scientist chick who happens to be seeking the cure to the virus. Always plenty of time for that during a zombie plague. Right?
There's a bit of a romance, condoms filled with pee, hot scientists, transsexulaism...so much wonderfullness. There's also a "sex sequence" involving an act called "Crouching Tiger Eats Noodles" that everyone on the planet should see and possibly learn. Seriously though, for those concerned with content, the movie is suggestive but not graphic. Anyone who knows about the Thai film censors knows that they'll only allow but so much sleazyness in their films. They even heavily poke fun at this censorship in the movie. Come to think of it, there's not much they don't poke fun at here.
I'm very glad to have gotten this one as a Christmas present in 2008. It's one I've watched repeatedly and love it every time. I would sugggest you buy it for EVERYBODY. Even slip it into your children's stockings. Tee hee. It's a great one!!!! And no...I'm NOT being sarcastic. Now go get the DVD, have some "noodles" next to you, and, get ready to learn the wisdom of the Thai.
Tokyo Zombie (review coming eventually)
Onechanbara (review coming eventually)
