Interesting mix of Zombie and Gore action film, with many references to many modern fantasy and sci-fi movies and Japanese gore taste for fine bleeding fans. With some elements taken from the 'trifids', some post-apocalyptic scenes like Carpenter's Rescue from NY, some characters like Blade Runner's ones, references to I'm Legend and many more, this extra-large mesh-up film can be either disgusting and creative the most of times. Following with the well known Japanese tradition of telling the story with a bunch of flashbacks and flash-forwards, it contains lots of absurdities and null deployed characters, lots of story lines, irregular tempo and several flashes of very very intense action with astounding sound. For these actions it deserve to be watched, but for the others it's a waste of time, unless gore zombie films are your main interest.
18 Reviews
Fans of the genre will love it, others will hate it...
alucardvenom16 April 2012
I love Asian cinema. I love gore from time to time, but I am not big fan of gory flicks.... but this one is damn entertaining. Fans of the genre will surely love it (as well as gorehounds) but other more mainstream audiences will hate it and get confused most of the time.
"Helldriver" is what could be considered "new wave of Japanese grindhouse" and it has everything good grindhouse needs: little to no story, weird moments, lot of gore, violence and blood. There's not much nudity in this one, but gore and blood splatters go over the top in every possible way.
Plot is rather simple: meteor (!?) falls to Earth, turning nearly all people in Japan into some kind of zombie mutants. Kika (Yumiko Hara) is sent to chop the heck out of them and kill mutant leader. Other folks join her in her mission. Now, first part of the movie is bit awkward (in a good) way, having nice amount of social\ politics\religious satire (but gore and action scenes still happen here) and somewhere around the half of the movie, title shows up (not kidding). After that, the movie "really" begins, which is pretty much hack'n'slash after that.
What makes HELLDRIVER great is that movie doesn't take itself very seriously (I was laughing most of the time, even in bloodiest scenes), gore FX are well done, and what impresses me the most are makeup effects on some "boss" monsters. I swear, at least half of the budget must have gone on makeup and fake blood (and this movie has insane amount of blood, maybe even more then Peter Jackson's "Braindead").
Some really cool villains (and original) and great fight scenes (and hilarious at the same time!) with them. Most of the time you'll keep asking yourself "how the heck they are gonna top the last scene" in terms of (un)logic, visuals and action.
Yumiko Hara is also very pretty and looks like Japanese action heroine. Hope we'll see more of her in future. Eihi Shiina (from Tokyo Gore Police, Audition) plays main villain, and she's wonderful as usual. Her scenes are over the top most of the time, but they fit movie perfectly, since Helldriver itself is way over the top in every possible element.
Turn off your logic and remember "it's just a movie". Enjoy the mayhem that happens on screen, and you'll surely like Helldriver.
"Helldriver" is what could be considered "new wave of Japanese grindhouse" and it has everything good grindhouse needs: little to no story, weird moments, lot of gore, violence and blood. There's not much nudity in this one, but gore and blood splatters go over the top in every possible way.
Plot is rather simple: meteor (!?) falls to Earth, turning nearly all people in Japan into some kind of zombie mutants. Kika (Yumiko Hara) is sent to chop the heck out of them and kill mutant leader. Other folks join her in her mission. Now, first part of the movie is bit awkward (in a good) way, having nice amount of social\ politics\religious satire (but gore and action scenes still happen here) and somewhere around the half of the movie, title shows up (not kidding). After that, the movie "really" begins, which is pretty much hack'n'slash after that.
What makes HELLDRIVER great is that movie doesn't take itself very seriously (I was laughing most of the time, even in bloodiest scenes), gore FX are well done, and what impresses me the most are makeup effects on some "boss" monsters. I swear, at least half of the budget must have gone on makeup and fake blood (and this movie has insane amount of blood, maybe even more then Peter Jackson's "Braindead").
Some really cool villains (and original) and great fight scenes (and hilarious at the same time!) with them. Most of the time you'll keep asking yourself "how the heck they are gonna top the last scene" in terms of (un)logic, visuals and action.
Yumiko Hara is also very pretty and looks like Japanese action heroine. Hope we'll see more of her in future. Eihi Shiina (from Tokyo Gore Police, Audition) plays main villain, and she's wonderful as usual. Her scenes are over the top most of the time, but they fit movie perfectly, since Helldriver itself is way over the top in every possible element.
Turn off your logic and remember "it's just a movie". Enjoy the mayhem that happens on screen, and you'll surely like Helldriver.
Blood, gore and absurdities abundance...
paul_haakonsen26 December 2011
I was so excited when I found out about this movie on Amazon, and I ordered it immediately as it was available, so I managed to acquire a 2-disc DVD version of it. Why was I excited you might ask? Well because it is a zombie movie, a Japanese movie and it has Eihi Shiina in it; three good things put together.
As with the recent releases of gore movies from Japan, you know what you are in for with this movie as well. And true enough, "Helldriver" is in the likes of "Tokyo Gore Police", "Meatball Machine", etc. There is an excessive amount of blood and gore from the very start till end here (so now you are warned). And also there is a lot of questionable effects, but you bear over with it because of the gore and absurdity of the whole movie. This is what Japanese gore movies is all about after all.
The story told in "Helldriver" is just as weird as the rest of the movie. Kika (played by Yumiko Hara) is abused by her mother, watching her father killed before her very eyes, and she have her heart ripped out by her mother. Then things take a turn for the extreme, yeah as if this wasn't absurd enough. Something from space strikes down the mother, and half of Japan is covered by a strange cloud, turning people into ravenous zombies. Kika is recovered by the Japanese government, "improved" and put back out to deal with the zombie invasion in the north and put the Zombie Queen to rest.
"Helldriver" has questionable acting at times, but the overall acting performance was adequate for this particular type of movie. So you come to accept the odd acting and over-dramatized situations from time to time.
I found "Helldriver" to be good enough entertainment, as I knew what to expect and had braced myself beforehand. Take this for what it is, gory entertainment that is almost as far from being realistic as it can get. This is a movie after all, meant to entertain, not meant to mirror our daily lives.
If you don't like gore movies, the extreme splatter movies that Japan have spawned in the recent years, then stay well clear of "Helldriver", because it will not be in your liking. If you are a gorehound and enjoy these over-the-top Japanese splatterfests, then sink your teeth into "Helldriver", because it is as gore-drenched as many of the previous movies of the same genre.
The only thing that was a disappointment for me was that Eihi Shiina didn't have as much time on the screen as I would have liked. But that is a matter of personal preference. And also being a huge fan of the zombie genre, I did found this whole antler-thing on the heads of the zombies to be a bit weird. But I accepted it as part of the movie, and also because it did fit well enough into the absurdity of this particular movie and genre.
As with the recent releases of gore movies from Japan, you know what you are in for with this movie as well. And true enough, "Helldriver" is in the likes of "Tokyo Gore Police", "Meatball Machine", etc. There is an excessive amount of blood and gore from the very start till end here (so now you are warned). And also there is a lot of questionable effects, but you bear over with it because of the gore and absurdity of the whole movie. This is what Japanese gore movies is all about after all.
The story told in "Helldriver" is just as weird as the rest of the movie. Kika (played by Yumiko Hara) is abused by her mother, watching her father killed before her very eyes, and she have her heart ripped out by her mother. Then things take a turn for the extreme, yeah as if this wasn't absurd enough. Something from space strikes down the mother, and half of Japan is covered by a strange cloud, turning people into ravenous zombies. Kika is recovered by the Japanese government, "improved" and put back out to deal with the zombie invasion in the north and put the Zombie Queen to rest.
"Helldriver" has questionable acting at times, but the overall acting performance was adequate for this particular type of movie. So you come to accept the odd acting and over-dramatized situations from time to time.
I found "Helldriver" to be good enough entertainment, as I knew what to expect and had braced myself beforehand. Take this for what it is, gory entertainment that is almost as far from being realistic as it can get. This is a movie after all, meant to entertain, not meant to mirror our daily lives.
If you don't like gore movies, the extreme splatter movies that Japan have spawned in the recent years, then stay well clear of "Helldriver", because it will not be in your liking. If you are a gorehound and enjoy these over-the-top Japanese splatterfests, then sink your teeth into "Helldriver", because it is as gore-drenched as many of the previous movies of the same genre.
The only thing that was a disappointment for me was that Eihi Shiina didn't have as much time on the screen as I would have liked. But that is a matter of personal preference. And also being a huge fan of the zombie genre, I did found this whole antler-thing on the heads of the zombies to be a bit weird. But I accepted it as part of the movie, and also because it did fit well enough into the absurdity of this particular movie and genre.
J-spoloitation is back!
viiempyrean29 October 2011
The new entry into the "J-sploitation" genre, or what I've lovingly dubbed it "the purposefully hilarious, batshit crazy Asian B-movie" genre, this time from renowned splatter director Yoshihiro Nishimura, the genius behind "Tokyo Gore Police". We're treated to people lap dancing on spinal columns, alien starfish, a scene straight out of Power Rangers featuring zombies using their newborn (umbilical cord an all) as projectiles, an eight armed zombie that sounds like the putty patrol, a zombie seemingly made of weapons fighting an armored car, a car made of zombies, a fight sequence on top of a rocket propelled airplane made of zombies, zombies playing the accordion, zombies getting anally jousted with a chainsaw sword, the title sequence appearing after the hour mark, overall hilarious dialog and much, much more. It may not be as brilliant as its contemporaries but "Helldriver, RoboGeisha, Machine Girl", etc. all prove that nobody makes B-movies like the Asians, not even The Asylum. Also, it's still very strange seeing Eihi Shiina in this crazy villain role after seeing her in "Audition" but she's still amazing.
I hope this is not the new style of Japanese gore flicks
trashgang23 November 2011
I liked so many extreme gory flicks coming from Japan in the eighties and nineties because they were full of gore and red stuff. But times are changing and lately flicks coming from Japan aren't my cup of tea anymore. It started with Takashi Miiki's Yattâman (Yatterman). I loved the man and every gorehound has at least seen one of his flicks. The last one I liked was from Masters Of Horror 'Imprint' which I even bought uncut on Blu Ray. But Yatterman was something weird, it contained too much of CGI and had a strange story. It failed completely for me and I hoped that this new kind of shooting was a one in a kind.
Was I wrong, I saw this due Asami being in it who I met at a convention and tried to talk with, she only understood Japanese, luckily Kurando Mitsutake (Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf) was there to translate everything. Another reason was that Eihi Shiina (Audition) was in it, she's back in business and Asami is a new star in her native land. What we have is an extremely gory flick but it made me think of Yatterman. So much CGI and weird things like zombies with horns. And the scene with the mother tearing out the heart of her child is indeed gory but it's full of CGI and exaggerated things that I disliked it.
If this is the new way of making Japanese flicks then I guess I will leave that scene. For the moment things I liked was Vampire Girls vs Frankenstein Girls or Alien vs Ninja but Helldriver wasn't my thing. I can dig weird story lines but this was over the top. But I won't give up, I would like to see Erotibot with Asami, let's hope this is old school HK III. Maybe Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director, should better staid at his make-up department (Tokyo Gore Police or Machine Girl).
Gore 5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 4/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 1/5
Was I wrong, I saw this due Asami being in it who I met at a convention and tried to talk with, she only understood Japanese, luckily Kurando Mitsutake (Samurai Avenger: The Blind Wolf) was there to translate everything. Another reason was that Eihi Shiina (Audition) was in it, she's back in business and Asami is a new star in her native land. What we have is an extremely gory flick but it made me think of Yatterman. So much CGI and weird things like zombies with horns. And the scene with the mother tearing out the heart of her child is indeed gory but it's full of CGI and exaggerated things that I disliked it.
If this is the new way of making Japanese flicks then I guess I will leave that scene. For the moment things I liked was Vampire Girls vs Frankenstein Girls or Alien vs Ninja but Helldriver wasn't my thing. I can dig weird story lines but this was over the top. But I won't give up, I would like to see Erotibot with Asami, let's hope this is old school HK III. Maybe Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director, should better staid at his make-up department (Tokyo Gore Police or Machine Girl).
Gore 5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 4/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 1/5
A bloody mess.
lewiskendell27 March 2012
"Everything is glorious!"
These kind of ultra-violent, chaotic Japanese movies are very tricky. When they work, they're awesome. An amusing, bemusing, exciting mishmash of craziness that gives new meaning to the word "ridiculous". But Helldriver, like so many of these gonzo films, just doesn't quite pull off what it's aiming for.
And that's certainly not for lack of trying. This tale of zombies and chainsaw swords throws everything at the viewer possible, and I have to commend the filmmakers for the sheer levels of WTF they came up with. Zombie women using zombie babies attached by zombie umbilical cords as weapon, truck versus zombie sword fights, and a zombie car are just a few of the insane ideas you'll see on display, here. I can't count the number of times I simply had to shake my head and smile at the fact that someone came up with all of this stuff. There's even a battle near the end that's eerily reminiscent of The Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, except with way fewer humans and WAY more blood. The inventiveness of Helldriver is the best thing it has going for it, by far.
But amidst all the blood fountains and giant flying zombies made out of smaller zombies, the director and writers forgot to add the entertainment. How a movie can be absolutely insane and so dull at the same time is a mystery, to me.
The plot is non-existent, even for this kind of flick. Our main character has a back-story with an evil mother and uncle that leads to the entire zombie infestation and her transformation into a half-mechanical warrior, but the scenes dealing with that are among the most boring in the entire movie. There are really no likable or interesting characters, either, which would have gone a long way towards making Helldriver easier to enjoy.
It might be worth checking out for the undeniable strangeness of it all, but I still have to say I was more disappointed than pleased with Helldriver.
These kind of ultra-violent, chaotic Japanese movies are very tricky. When they work, they're awesome. An amusing, bemusing, exciting mishmash of craziness that gives new meaning to the word "ridiculous". But Helldriver, like so many of these gonzo films, just doesn't quite pull off what it's aiming for.
And that's certainly not for lack of trying. This tale of zombies and chainsaw swords throws everything at the viewer possible, and I have to commend the filmmakers for the sheer levels of WTF they came up with. Zombie women using zombie babies attached by zombie umbilical cords as weapon, truck versus zombie sword fights, and a zombie car are just a few of the insane ideas you'll see on display, here. I can't count the number of times I simply had to shake my head and smile at the fact that someone came up with all of this stuff. There's even a battle near the end that's eerily reminiscent of The Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, except with way fewer humans and WAY more blood. The inventiveness of Helldriver is the best thing it has going for it, by far.
But amidst all the blood fountains and giant flying zombies made out of smaller zombies, the director and writers forgot to add the entertainment. How a movie can be absolutely insane and so dull at the same time is a mystery, to me.
The plot is non-existent, even for this kind of flick. Our main character has a back-story with an evil mother and uncle that leads to the entire zombie infestation and her transformation into a half-mechanical warrior, but the scenes dealing with that are among the most boring in the entire movie. There are really no likable or interesting characters, either, which would have gone a long way towards making Helldriver easier to enjoy.
It might be worth checking out for the undeniable strangeness of it all, but I still have to say I was more disappointed than pleased with Helldriver.
Comedy, Gore and Horror.
mmushrm9 April 2012
Another Yoshihiro Nishimura and Sushi Typhoon production, Helldriver has all the elements that are the mainstays of the producer and studio. You will find gore and horror mixed in with an abundance of absurdity.
I personally enjoy the absurdity of the Yoshihiro Nishimura and Sushi Typhoon movies and this was no exception. This movie is a cheaply made exploitation B movie. The producers know this and don't try to foist it off as anything other then what it is. This is what makes it watchable.
Helldriver does start off rather slow. It took me several attempts to finish this movie. In fact I would say the setup, the starting 1/3 of the movie was rather dull. Then the action starts.
Once the action gets going it really gets going zombies, exploding zombies, zombie gangsters, flying zombies, transformer zombies and the good guys fighting them.
The acting is minimalistic, probably because no one could act but then again its a zombie action movie. The girls all look good showered with blood and screaming/shouting in anger.
Im only giving this movie a 6 due to its slow start. I started watching the movie then got pulled away and it took me months to get back to this movie again. However the 2/3 made up for it. Im looking forward to more movies from these guys.
I personally enjoy the absurdity of the Yoshihiro Nishimura and Sushi Typhoon movies and this was no exception. This movie is a cheaply made exploitation B movie. The producers know this and don't try to foist it off as anything other then what it is. This is what makes it watchable.
Helldriver does start off rather slow. It took me several attempts to finish this movie. In fact I would say the setup, the starting 1/3 of the movie was rather dull. Then the action starts.
Once the action gets going it really gets going zombies, exploding zombies, zombie gangsters, flying zombies, transformer zombies and the good guys fighting them.
The acting is minimalistic, probably because no one could act but then again its a zombie action movie. The girls all look good showered with blood and screaming/shouting in anger.
Im only giving this movie a 6 due to its slow start. I started watching the movie then got pulled away and it took me months to get back to this movie again. However the 2/3 made up for it. Im looking forward to more movies from these guys.
What's the Japanese Word for "Awful"?
Uriah431 December 2015
While in a fight with her psychotic and cannibalistic mother, "Kika" (Yumiko Hara) has her heart ripped out at the exact same time a meteorite hits both her and her mother "Rikka" (Eihi Shiina). Both are essentially wrapped in a strange cocoon and frozen in time. Meanwhile the ash from the meteorite blankets a certain portion of Japan and those who breathe it are turned into zombie-like creatures about an hour later. What then transpires is a bizarre political debate on how to treat these infected people with one side arguing that they should be killed and the other side demanding that they be protected. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this particular type of film apparently appeals to a certain niche of movie-goers who really enjoy action and gore regardless of how ridiculous some of the scenes turn out to be. And there were more than a few ridiculous scenes in this movie. Naturally, this movie was never meant to be taken seriously but even so the continuous action and gore got more than a little annoying. Again, those who enjoy action and gore to the exclusion of everything else will probably love this movie. But I am not one them and I have rated it accordingly. Awful.
Sis. You're awesome.
nogodnomasters8 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A meteor strikes Japan's northern island and causes a zombie outbreak. Japan divides the nation with a great wall to keep infected people out of the general population. The only way to kill these zombies is to cut off the small antler structure that grows out of their forehead.
The film has heavy blood sprays and a mountain of inane scenes including a credit run at 48 minutes into the feature. Severed hands run around like Evil Dead II and are able to use chainsaws, the film's weapon of choice. The infected form their own society on their side of the wall. There appears to be an underlying political or social statement concern fascism and right to life lost in all the gore and silliness.
DVD has deleted scenes mixed in with other advertising extras.
Guide: No sex or swearing. Brief nudity. F-word in previews that no one watches.
The film has heavy blood sprays and a mountain of inane scenes including a credit run at 48 minutes into the feature. Severed hands run around like Evil Dead II and are able to use chainsaws, the film's weapon of choice. The infected form their own society on their side of the wall. There appears to be an underlying political or social statement concern fascism and right to life lost in all the gore and silliness.
DVD has deleted scenes mixed in with other advertising extras.
Guide: No sex or swearing. Brief nudity. F-word in previews that no one watches.
I awesomely ridiculous movie that I enjoyed greatly!
ernstdale200012 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Maybe it's just me and my odd liking of corny horror movies but I liked HellDriver a lot. I haven't really seen any other films by Yoshihiro Nishimura so I didn't really have a bias on this film compared to the others. To me, this movie was just a lot of crazy, bloody fun with random chainsaws and exploding heads.
I found the designs for everything were fantastic, from Chainsaw Katana to the car made out of mutilated body parts. I liked how the zombies were different than the usual moaning, shuffling, beasts and actually had some character to them. The characters were also very well made in my opinion, and their attire and weaponry even more so.
The only thing I did not like about HellDriver were the small parts that took place in the "Zombie Bar" scenes. The blood spewing nipples and the random zombie with multiple penises were a bit much, and I really don't see why those things were necessary. I did like the other "boss" zombies that appeared in those scenes though: the battles with Katana-filled zombie, the baby lasso zombie, and the zombie made from multiple arms were so corny that they were awesome.
If you're not the fan of hack-and-slash, than this isn't a movie for you and if you don't have an odd sense of humor, than it isn't for you either. The point of the movie was just to be ridiculous and silly, so why look at it any other way than that. Overall, HellDriver was a ridiculous over-the-top horror comedy that I guess you have to have certain tastes to enjoy.
I found the designs for everything were fantastic, from Chainsaw Katana to the car made out of mutilated body parts. I liked how the zombies were different than the usual moaning, shuffling, beasts and actually had some character to them. The characters were also very well made in my opinion, and their attire and weaponry even more so.
The only thing I did not like about HellDriver were the small parts that took place in the "Zombie Bar" scenes. The blood spewing nipples and the random zombie with multiple penises were a bit much, and I really don't see why those things were necessary. I did like the other "boss" zombies that appeared in those scenes though: the battles with Katana-filled zombie, the baby lasso zombie, and the zombie made from multiple arms were so corny that they were awesome.
If you're not the fan of hack-and-slash, than this isn't a movie for you and if you don't have an odd sense of humor, than it isn't for you either. The point of the movie was just to be ridiculous and silly, so why look at it any other way than that. Overall, HellDriver was a ridiculous over-the-top horror comedy that I guess you have to have certain tastes to enjoy.
Underwhelmed
benjamindbennett15 October 2011
Okay, when you go to see a so-bad-it's-good horror/zombie movie, there are a few expectations that need to be met and I could never get past the fact that the act of watching zombies getting killed wasn't amusing. Seriously. The movie used thousands of liters of blood and all too often watching it spray was not remotely funny. The movie delivers on a lot of fronts, but at the end of the day there was too much gore and weird sh*t going on and not enough hilarity and cheering on the hero on screen.
When I saw the movie, it was the headliner for a horror movie film festival and by all means all of the circumstances for movie success were there, but it was just one of those ineffable things where the movie just didn't live up to the expectations.
tl;dr Had potential, but not as entertaining/lighthearted as it should have been
When I saw the movie, it was the headliner for a horror movie film festival and by all means all of the circumstances for movie success were there, but it was just one of those ineffable things where the movie just didn't live up to the expectations.
tl;dr Had potential, but not as entertaining/lighthearted as it should have been
Completely Bonkers!
drahulrajjsd10 May 2023
I just finished watching Yoshihiro Nishimura's Helldriver for the first time and my God it is insanely epic...
Completely bonkers with buckets of blood and loads of gore with funny comedic elements... As I am a big fan of the filmmaker's 2008 film called Tokyo Gore Police, this one is definitely up there with it and it doesn't dissapoint...
Eihi Shiina returns in Nishimura's flick but this time as Rikka, a cruel wicked psychopathic mother who turns into a flesh eating queen of zombies; giving us an amazing performance...
Yumiko Hara plays Kika, the slayer of zombies, slasher of evil and she is by far one of the baddest women in action and horror...
If you're a fan of Machete, Kill Bill, or Planet Terror, you're gonna love this because it feels like all those films I mentioned is mashed up into one steroid of a movie...
This film is definitely one of the cheesiest action horror movies with splatterfest written all over it... It features a great cast, trust me if you're looking for some underrated cult gore masterpiece, this is it... It will satisfy any gorehound on the planet...
Completely bonkers with buckets of blood and loads of gore with funny comedic elements... As I am a big fan of the filmmaker's 2008 film called Tokyo Gore Police, this one is definitely up there with it and it doesn't dissapoint...
Eihi Shiina returns in Nishimura's flick but this time as Rikka, a cruel wicked psychopathic mother who turns into a flesh eating queen of zombies; giving us an amazing performance...
Yumiko Hara plays Kika, the slayer of zombies, slasher of evil and she is by far one of the baddest women in action and horror...
If you're a fan of Machete, Kill Bill, or Planet Terror, you're gonna love this because it feels like all those films I mentioned is mashed up into one steroid of a movie...
This film is definitely one of the cheesiest action horror movies with splatterfest written all over it... It features a great cast, trust me if you're looking for some underrated cult gore masterpiece, this is it... It will satisfy any gorehound on the planet...
An Experiment in Absurdity
carmelolia5 January 2023
I would be lying if I said that there is no fun to be had from watching this, but the whole thing feels like an experiment in absurdity rather than anything else and that is a shame as there is some real creativity here and there.
What I mean by creativity is that there are planes and cars made out of zombies, a zombie mother with a zombie baby still attached to her foetus which she uses as a weapon and, last but not least, the most insane zombie king and queen ever. But then the protagonist is an Alice rip-off (from the 'Resident Evil' film franchise).
In short, this film is a mixed bag in which the film-makers attempted to create the most absurd film ever. And I think they succeeded but at the expense of any real substance.
What I mean by creativity is that there are planes and cars made out of zombies, a zombie mother with a zombie baby still attached to her foetus which she uses as a weapon and, last but not least, the most insane zombie king and queen ever. But then the protagonist is an Alice rip-off (from the 'Resident Evil' film franchise).
In short, this film is a mixed bag in which the film-makers attempted to create the most absurd film ever. And I think they succeeded but at the expense of any real substance.
The civil rights of zombies discussed during a national blood bath.
suite9225 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
An object from outer space strikes Hokkaido. This kicks up a cloud of ash which makes people fall to the ground, only to rise again in an hour as zombies.
A large wall was erected across Honshu north of Tokyo to keep the zombies out. Refugees flood Tokyo.
There's a banner: Protect the infected. Support human rights.
Unfortunately, the infected eat the uninfected, but the government does not care.
The zombies have an odd shaped horn; the only way to put a zombie down permanently in this film is to cut off this horn. Horns have psycho-active effects, so drug dealers collect them. The horns are volatile and explosive as well. This is all explained in a newscast/paid advertising TV session.
There is social dissension about the issue: the pro-zombie rights advocates versus the Japan is for the living advocates.
From the political to the gore fest: zombies with chain saws, heroes with bizarre weapons, strange eyes, spewing gore, sudden costume changes. That's in the first 30 minutes.
Kika meets Taku and No-name, the last of the members of the Kamikaze Orphanage. Taku and No-name hunt for zombie horns, and the money is getting bad.
Amazingly, there is formal public debate about whether or not to exterminate the zombies before they exterminate the living. The zombies eventually settle the debate by eating the prime minister.
The opening credits start at 49 minutes into the film. Clever.
After the credits, death row inmates are given a chance at having their sentences dropped. They are to find the woman who is the source of the zombie infestation and kill/destroy/whatever her.
Kika is the daughter of the zombie queen, so Kika might be able to help locate her. They meet a skilled hunter in zombie country who helps them evade the flying heads.
There's an effort to rescue No-name's sister Maya, who's been captured and sold at the zombie bar. Lots of fighting, lots of blood, but this is not the ultimate battleground.
How might this turn out? Will any of our heroes survive? Will they get the zombie queen? Will the help promised by the Tokyo regime actually arrive?
------Scores------
Cinematography: 2/10 Ugly, badly done. Poor colour, shaky camera, and so on.
Sound: 4/10 Out of sync, voice to speech. Bizarre choices for incidental music. Subtitles for the jaunty, pleasant singing would have been nice. Even more ridiculous choices of Western classical music.
Acting: 0/10 I did not recognise any acting in this one. There were many people in the film who were on camera for under 30 seconds, and had few if any lines.
Screenplay: 0/10 The time line is dicey, the characters are not developed in a coherent way, the visuals are poor, and the effect of the thing from outer space on Kika never made sense to me. The flashbacks are not well organised. Incredibly stupid armour, incredibly stupid mustache, ridiculous amount and presentation of blood splatter, flying heads as ammunition, heads flying with no physical reason for their movement, a stolen heart used as a voodoo instrument, and some of the stupidest fights I have ever seen. These were all part of the nonsense of the screenplay. Enough continuity errors to torpedo a hundred films that had any reasonable governance.
A large wall was erected across Honshu north of Tokyo to keep the zombies out. Refugees flood Tokyo.
There's a banner: Protect the infected. Support human rights.
Unfortunately, the infected eat the uninfected, but the government does not care.
The zombies have an odd shaped horn; the only way to put a zombie down permanently in this film is to cut off this horn. Horns have psycho-active effects, so drug dealers collect them. The horns are volatile and explosive as well. This is all explained in a newscast/paid advertising TV session.
There is social dissension about the issue: the pro-zombie rights advocates versus the Japan is for the living advocates.
From the political to the gore fest: zombies with chain saws, heroes with bizarre weapons, strange eyes, spewing gore, sudden costume changes. That's in the first 30 minutes.
Kika meets Taku and No-name, the last of the members of the Kamikaze Orphanage. Taku and No-name hunt for zombie horns, and the money is getting bad.
Amazingly, there is formal public debate about whether or not to exterminate the zombies before they exterminate the living. The zombies eventually settle the debate by eating the prime minister.
The opening credits start at 49 minutes into the film. Clever.
After the credits, death row inmates are given a chance at having their sentences dropped. They are to find the woman who is the source of the zombie infestation and kill/destroy/whatever her.
Kika is the daughter of the zombie queen, so Kika might be able to help locate her. They meet a skilled hunter in zombie country who helps them evade the flying heads.
There's an effort to rescue No-name's sister Maya, who's been captured and sold at the zombie bar. Lots of fighting, lots of blood, but this is not the ultimate battleground.
How might this turn out? Will any of our heroes survive? Will they get the zombie queen? Will the help promised by the Tokyo regime actually arrive?
------Scores------
Cinematography: 2/10 Ugly, badly done. Poor colour, shaky camera, and so on.
Sound: 4/10 Out of sync, voice to speech. Bizarre choices for incidental music. Subtitles for the jaunty, pleasant singing would have been nice. Even more ridiculous choices of Western classical music.
Acting: 0/10 I did not recognise any acting in this one. There were many people in the film who were on camera for under 30 seconds, and had few if any lines.
Screenplay: 0/10 The time line is dicey, the characters are not developed in a coherent way, the visuals are poor, and the effect of the thing from outer space on Kika never made sense to me. The flashbacks are not well organised. Incredibly stupid armour, incredibly stupid mustache, ridiculous amount and presentation of blood splatter, flying heads as ammunition, heads flying with no physical reason for their movement, a stolen heart used as a voodoo instrument, and some of the stupidest fights I have ever seen. These were all part of the nonsense of the screenplay. Enough continuity errors to torpedo a hundred films that had any reasonable governance.
Kika -- part machine, part woman-- all zombie slayer!
davidlmarks24 January 2013
Kika -- part machine, part woman-- all zombie slayer!
We've seen zombie slayers with Samurai swords, we've seen zombie slayers with chainsaws! But we've never seen a cyborg zombie slayer with a Samurai chainsaw-sword and pole dancing skills!
In this version of dystopia, the "infected" are people afflicted by a virus that causes antlers to sprout from their brain (much like the real-life Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus which invades ants' brains, to eventually erupt from their heads to release spores that will infect other ants).
These antlers cause the afflicted to resemble Japanese melons. The origin of this affliction is extraterrestrial as well as familial-- Mother Dearest is a psycho-bitch from hell (with Kika's heart, literally) and Kika's uncle has a Swastika burned into his forehead (ala Charles Manson).
And kids being kids, can't leave well enough alone, are grinding up the zombie antlers to experience a new form of high.
To keep the infected at bay, a great wall has been erected to separate them from the population. But other nefarious forces are at work, and the wall is breached.
Now on Death Row, Kika and cohorts are presented with a choice: face what will ultimately be an unfair trial, or volunteer to take out the "Zombie Queen"-- Mother Dearest.
What ensues is sheer mayhem, as our group battles its way through the zombie horde. But not just any zombie horde! We see:
Zombie women hurtling zombie babies attached to them with umbilical cords (like Medieval flails)!
Be warned, the gore is very graphic at times. But if you've read this far, I'm sure you aren't taking anything here as a warning. Dismemberment and fire-hose gushers from every body part and orifice are spaced out about every minute or two.
"Hell Driver" has a tremendous amount of style and fountains of blood, guts and brains... lots of corny prosthetics and absolutely zero logic. It is silly to the extreme-- but that is the point. A screwed up cartoon for adults (that are stoned). Full marks for creativity here!
We've seen zombie slayers with Samurai swords, we've seen zombie slayers with chainsaws! But we've never seen a cyborg zombie slayer with a Samurai chainsaw-sword and pole dancing skills!
In this version of dystopia, the "infected" are people afflicted by a virus that causes antlers to sprout from their brain (much like the real-life Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus which invades ants' brains, to eventually erupt from their heads to release spores that will infect other ants).
These antlers cause the afflicted to resemble Japanese melons. The origin of this affliction is extraterrestrial as well as familial-- Mother Dearest is a psycho-bitch from hell (with Kika's heart, literally) and Kika's uncle has a Swastika burned into his forehead (ala Charles Manson).
And kids being kids, can't leave well enough alone, are grinding up the zombie antlers to experience a new form of high.
To keep the infected at bay, a great wall has been erected to separate them from the population. But other nefarious forces are at work, and the wall is breached.
Now on Death Row, Kika and cohorts are presented with a choice: face what will ultimately be an unfair trial, or volunteer to take out the "Zombie Queen"-- Mother Dearest.
What ensues is sheer mayhem, as our group battles its way through the zombie horde. But not just any zombie horde! We see:
Zombie women hurtling zombie babies attached to them with umbilical cords (like Medieval flails)!
- The Zombie Bar - A Female zombie boxer - Zombie people-wranglers - Zombies doing Michael Jackson's Thriller - Samurai Pin-cushion zombie (looking more like a grotesque porcupine than, say, Hellraiser's Pinhead) who duals (wait for it) with a truck! - A flailing mutant zombie thing with small baby arms (holding a knife and fork) growing out of it's face (words alone can not adequately describe this creature) that ultimately (d)evolves into a "General Grievous" (Star Wars)-like fighting machine - A Zombie car made out of zombie parts
Be warned, the gore is very graphic at times. But if you've read this far, I'm sure you aren't taking anything here as a warning. Dismemberment and fire-hose gushers from every body part and orifice are spaced out about every minute or two.
"Hell Driver" has a tremendous amount of style and fountains of blood, guts and brains... lots of corny prosthetics and absolutely zero logic. It is silly to the extreme-- but that is the point. A screwed up cartoon for adults (that are stoned). Full marks for creativity here!
The most metal movie I've seen since Mandy and Deathgasm
TooKakkoiiforYou_32115 April 2021
At some point I was expecting a Death/Thrash band Like Gotsu Totsu Kotsu, Possessed or Nervosa to come out of the scenery and play some songs to accompany the "plot". Oh, and there's also a parody of cannibal movies, political commentary of some kind, lots and lots of references to WH40K and Blade Runner, a metal goddess you wish you could worship properly from head to toe killing Heavy Metal (the magazine) style villains with one reminding of an evil version of Rob Halford, reminescences of Silent Hill and Left4dead, vehicles made of bodies of the dead that transform into...nope, I won't spoilt it, you must see it for yourself. TL;DR edition: typical b-movie crazyness from this director. Pedal to the Metal until the end of time.
Action Packed Z Flick
noah-6573216 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Helldriver is a Japanese Exploitation flick with Zombies. At the end of an intense battle a woman releases a toxic black dust over Japan which, you guessed it turns people into flesh eating zombies. The outbreak divides Japan into a walled city and a zombie infested wasteland. The woman who released the dust becomes the Zombie Queen and now it's up to the woman's daughter and her ragtag group of survivors to take her out. The zombies all have a small horn growing out the front of their heads, which must be removed in order to kill them, the horns are also collected and sold on the black market as an extremely potent drug. Overall, Helldriver was a decent zombie movie but it would have been a lot better if the special effects weren't so poorly done, for a film with so much blood and gore, they really could have had some better effects. While the gore effects were downright horrible the zombies themselves were actually pretty well done. Although it didn't make a lot of sense the story remains entertaining throughout, delivering almost non-stop action from start to finish. Helldriver also has a lot of unique aspects about it including; zombies with chainsaws, a giant made entirely of zombies, a chainsaw samurai sword and opening credits delayed until 48 minutes into the film. See Helldriver if you like zombie movies and extreme martial arts action, just don't expect anything other than mindless entertainment.
You HAVE To Be In To This Otherwise Avoid
damianphelps31 July 2021
I thought this movie was pretty funny and delightfully over the top. But as I said its not going to be for everyone.
This style of Japanese movie craft is totally outrageous and if fun because of that.
This movie is one of the better in the genre and seems to have beating itself as its own goal minute by minute.
The visuals...classic!!
This style of Japanese movie craft is totally outrageous and if fun because of that.
This movie is one of the better in the genre and seems to have beating itself as its own goal minute by minute.
The visuals...classic!!
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