Samurai Zombie in Roppongi

I'll be honest -- the whole Japanese-horror-made-with-foreign-cult-audiences-in-mind trend is something I haven't had a lot of interest in or time to devote to. But yesterday I hit the top of Tokyo Midtown to catch a screening of Tak Sakaguchi's Samurai Zombie (Yoroi: Samurai Zombie, 『鎧 サムライゾンビ』). Seeing a midnight mess like that in the modern surroundings of a place like this was fun in itself.

If you need some plot and production background, Twitch has been stalking this title. The following are just some brief thoughts with potential spoilers.

The Story: Kitamura Ryûhei produces and his frequent cast member Sakaguchi directs so it's no surprise it's like a cousin to Versus (which I can't recall that well). But this time the action centers around a regular mini-van family. Forget story but have fun wondering who, if anyone, will survive the undead samurai attackers (all three of them). The period flashback at the climax explains the reason for the mayhem and why this particular kazoku is sent to hell. It's a quick and simple but effective sequence that ends with a kicker in the present day. The finale definitely bumped the film up a letter grade for me.

Music and Cinematography: When the zombies rock up the soundtrack plays a pretty cool approximation of vintage Italo-synth ala Bianchi's Burial Ground. Cinematography is decent -- video was effectively used for 28 Days Later and of course Diary of the Dead but I like my zombies on 35mm. Overuse of blue.

Makeup and SFX: Heads pop off like champagne corks, followed by geysers of CG blood. Is this what gorehounds want nowadays? I laffed when the mid-air positioning of a flying noggin and limb match cut with a flashback to the character's happier days -- cute. I thought the makeup was better than the special effects. On one hand you have very analog, rotted faces teeming with maggots juxtaposed with digital blood oozing along the ground like a game cinematic. Pass on the latter.

Cast: Devourers of Japanese pornography will most definitely be interested in how former AV queen Natsume Nana (夏目ナナ) fares in a co-starring role. I always thought she had the looks of a legit actress. She's hot pink in this and not nearly as annoying as I thought she'd be. No nudity but plenty of cleavage and thighage. Indeed, Natsume's ex-label Soft On Demand (SOD) is a co-producer on the film. They are the biggest AV factory in the industry but occasionally produce legit features, including some thing I was an extra in years ago. Rascally Yabe Kyôsuke (you know him from Crows Zero) stands out as a bubblegum-chewing, pot-smoking degenerate cop. Can't be bothered to comment on the rest, but the character of the little boy is key.

Samurai Zombie opens at Shibuya's Theater-N on Valentine's Day. Wednesday screenings are only 1,000 yen.