Guest Strip! Japanese Gore Films

Do you feel bogged down by constant film unoriginality?  You need only look to Japan for the flip side of the coin, disheartened film patron, for the land of the rising sun is also the home of the butt-sword death duel!

            Your gracious Mainstreamin' jefe has asked me to write a piece about a grouping of Japanese b-horror splatter/action/comedies.  And yes, I am pointing out the irony of writing about such an obscure sub-sub-sub genre on a site called Mainstreamin'.

            These movies are all made (in varying degrees) by director and make-up artist Noboru Iguchi.  The titles I will be discussing are the ones that I have seen: The Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police, Robogeisha, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, and Mutant Girl Squad.  Given the similarities between these flicks, and to accommodate my memory and writing space, I will be talking about this entire body of work as a singular film entity.  

            Already in this article there have been some subtle clues as to how much blood you will see spilled/spewed/jettisoned in these movies.  Words and phrases like “splatter” and “Gore Police,” but most importantly “director and make-up artist.”  Every aspect of Iguchi's films lead us to the inevitable and always inventive gore gag, making these cut and dry exploitation films.  The audience's desire to see hyperbolic cartoon violence is exploited, as is Iguchi's own talent in bringing it to the screen (often straight at.) 

            I'd like to re-emphasize 'hyperbolic cartoon violence.'  Though there are icky moments, certainly, the effects are so over-the-top they could not possibly be taken seriously.  You will get a sharp elbow to the rib to let you know right off that these are intended as comedies.  Iguchi doesn't want you left wondering whether you're supposed to be laughing.  You are.  Crocodile vaginas are funny.

            The shock humor is of course important to note, but let us not overlook how genuinely phenomenal the effects are.  Although the motion effects (dismembered blood jets propelling bodies, etc.) are done digitally, most monsters and disfigurements are done practically, right in front of the camera as nature intended.  The flesh tends to have this great Cronenberg-meets-Power Rangers look to it and moves really well.  Also of significance is how capable a director Iguchi is.  Although the framing is clearly meant to show off the effects more than anything else, his wonderful sense of action timing really draws everything to a head.

            It's only fair to share in some of the negatives while we're at it.  Above all else pacing can be a mood killer, especially in the earlier works (Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police come to mind).  You can see a sense of wanting to ground the world and characters through serious events, but it's not where the skill of the production lies.  That isn't to say the characters are flat, but they do a much better job at developing them through action, which you probably could've guessed.

            Also, in films that like to push buttons, sometimes they push buttons.  The joy of watching a low budget movie at times comes from knowing that they can really do whatever the hell they want, not constrained by a studio system or trying to please anyone but themselves.  So when you have an extracurricular club of Japanese school girls in black face (classic, stereotypical black face), one of which gets murdered so her athletic runner legs can be used on a Frankenstein's monster...buttons...and the pushing.

            And now, a butt-sword death duel.  I do recommend checking out the trailers for any of the movies I listed earlier for a better all-around taste of everything I talked about.  A lot of you will probably be sated just by watching those, but all of the movies listed (except for Tokyo Gore Police) are available on Netflix Instant Streaming for any adventurous cinefile looking to dive into a messed up world that, at the very least, makes a sweet party movie.

            If you are interested in what is coming next from Noboru Iguchi, Dead Sushi is playing at Fantastic Fest very soon and I believe will be on video and VOD very soon after that.  Also, I'm pleased to see Iguchi is one of 26 directors involved in an anthology horror film called The ABC's of Death produced by Tim League of the Alamo Drafthouse, each presenting a short piece inspired by their assigned letter.

            Thanks to Pappy for letting me write something up for the site, and if it didn't suck I might return to let him take a damn rest once in a while.  Oh, and I'm Juese from X-Strike.