In the past few years, Japan's genre film-making scene has undergone a startling transformation, quickly changing its focus from the darkly supernatural (RINGU) and the stomach-churningly narcissistic (GUINEA PIG) to more lighthearted subject matter, with equally - if not, more - violent images. The result is a mishmash that seems to have culminated in VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL.
Naoyuki (STACY) Tomomatsu and Yoshihiro Nishimura, the man responsible for 2008's high-octane action/splatterfest TOKYO GORE POLICE, return to their signature pressurized blood sprays with VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL - a markedly different but equally entertaining romp that provides nitro-fueled action, over-the-top humor, and piles of gore that look like they belong in an early Peter Jackson flick.
The plot is goofy, yet endearing, as sweet young vampire Monami falls for Mizushima, "the only acceptable boy in school." Unfortunately, Mizushima is already dating Keiko, the borderline psychopathic daughter of the school's wimpy vice principal. When the two girls duke it out over Mizushima's affections, Keiko is left dead - but that's when we discover that her father also fancies himself an amateur Frankenstein, and has been carving up kids for months in an attempt to discover the secret to eternal life.
Now, orgasmic with delight to have his own daughter on the slab, the Vice-Principal uses a new-found secret to reanimate Keiko - combining the strongest body parts of the school's staff and students.
All this leads to the titular battle, which explodes from the depths of the high school gymnasium to the top of Tokyo Tower. Combining a plethora of practical and CG effects, the organ-bursting final twenty minutes of this gem feel less like TOKYO GORE POLICE and more like the work of Tex Avery... Of course, its Tex Avery covered in blood, snorting six lines of coke, and slicing at your eyes with box cutters.
VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL wallows in this absurdity throughout, with tons of tasteless humor and a score comprised almost entirely of 60s go-go music. Ganguro girls (a subculture of Japanese schoolgirls who mimic African American culture) are ruthlessly ridiculed - turning them into Sambo-styled caricatures who pledge allegiance to Obama and refuse to drink coffee unless its completely black. There's also a clique of wrist-cutters and a chain-smoking Chinese professor played by JU-ON/GRUDGE director Takashi Shimizu, who manages to shamelessly sneak in a few nods to his own popular film series.
The pacing is slick, and at a comfortable 85 minutes, VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL doesn't pad its running time with any unnecessary side plots. While one wishes that the battle between bloodthirsty Monami and mecha-Keiko would have taken up more of the film, there is a rather sizable amount of buildup necessary to get us to the showdown.
When it comes down to it, directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu have created a picture that has no preconceptions about what it is or what it's supposed to deliver. Between the explosive arterial sprays and the hunchbacked school janitor named Igor, there's a film with real heart - made by filmmakers who grew up worshiping the movies they are now a part of.
It won't be long before VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL takes its place in the splatstick hall of fame, sitting in good company with BAD TASTE, FRANKENHOOKER, and many of this gorehound's other not-so-guilty pleasures. If you have the opportunity to catch this hilarious little film, make sure you don't skip out.
FREDDY VS JASON? ALIEN VS PREDATOR? GODZILLA VS KING KONG? ...Frankly, they've got nuthin' on these girls.
Naoyuki (STACY) Tomomatsu and Yoshihiro Nishimura, the man responsible for 2008's high-octane action/splatterfest TOKYO GORE POLICE, return to their signature pressurized blood sprays with VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL - a markedly different but equally entertaining romp that provides nitro-fueled action, over-the-top humor, and piles of gore that look like they belong in an early Peter Jackson flick.
The plot is goofy, yet endearing, as sweet young vampire Monami falls for Mizushima, "the only acceptable boy in school." Unfortunately, Mizushima is already dating Keiko, the borderline psychopathic daughter of the school's wimpy vice principal. When the two girls duke it out over Mizushima's affections, Keiko is left dead - but that's when we discover that her father also fancies himself an amateur Frankenstein, and has been carving up kids for months in an attempt to discover the secret to eternal life.
Now, orgasmic with delight to have his own daughter on the slab, the Vice-Principal uses a new-found secret to reanimate Keiko - combining the strongest body parts of the school's staff and students.
All this leads to the titular battle, which explodes from the depths of the high school gymnasium to the top of Tokyo Tower. Combining a plethora of practical and CG effects, the organ-bursting final twenty minutes of this gem feel less like TOKYO GORE POLICE and more like the work of Tex Avery... Of course, its Tex Avery covered in blood, snorting six lines of coke, and slicing at your eyes with box cutters.
VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL wallows in this absurdity throughout, with tons of tasteless humor and a score comprised almost entirely of 60s go-go music. Ganguro girls (a subculture of Japanese schoolgirls who mimic African American culture) are ruthlessly ridiculed - turning them into Sambo-styled caricatures who pledge allegiance to Obama and refuse to drink coffee unless its completely black. There's also a clique of wrist-cutters and a chain-smoking Chinese professor played by JU-ON/GRUDGE director Takashi Shimizu, who manages to shamelessly sneak in a few nods to his own popular film series.
The pacing is slick, and at a comfortable 85 minutes, VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL doesn't pad its running time with any unnecessary side plots. While one wishes that the battle between bloodthirsty Monami and mecha-Keiko would have taken up more of the film, there is a rather sizable amount of buildup necessary to get us to the showdown.
When it comes down to it, directors Nishimura and Tomomatsu have created a picture that has no preconceptions about what it is or what it's supposed to deliver. Between the explosive arterial sprays and the hunchbacked school janitor named Igor, there's a film with real heart - made by filmmakers who grew up worshiping the movies they are now a part of.
It won't be long before VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL takes its place in the splatstick hall of fame, sitting in good company with BAD TASTE, FRANKENHOOKER, and many of this gorehound's other not-so-guilty pleasures. If you have the opportunity to catch this hilarious little film, make sure you don't skip out.
FREDDY VS JASON? ALIEN VS PREDATOR? GODZILLA VS KING KONG? ...Frankly, they've got nuthin' on these girls.