 | Starring: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Kentaro Shimazu, Honoka, Nobuhiro Nishihara Directed by: Noboru Iguchi
Written by: Noboru Iguchi
Genre: Action Horror
Year: 2008
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Runtime: 96 min
Media: DVD
Imdb:
Rating: 9
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Ami is a typical college girl. She's bright, friendly, popular and athletic, with nothing to set her apart from other girls her age other than the fact that she is an orphan, left to care for her younger brother after her father committed suicide after being falsely accused of murder. But while there is tragedy in their past, the siblings' future looks good, except for one thing. Ami's brother has racked up a considerable debt to another boy at school, and that boy just happens to be the heir to a clan of vicious ninja-yakuza. Ami's brother can't pay, violence breaks out and in the course of trying to avenge her brother, Ami is captured by the clan. They torture her and hack her arm right off. Ami escapes, barely alive, and is taken in by the owners of a machine shop who build her a customized, bullet-spewing arm. From that point, the quest for revenge is on in earnest. Written by Todd Brown for Fantasia Film Festival
This film is absolutely everything I expected it to be and then a little more. Ninjas, robotic appendages, tempura batter, LITERAL blood baths tub and all, giant shurikens, yakuza with wacky jackets, and the list goes on. This is the type of film where all the blood effects are hooked up to a fire hose and unleashed for minutes at a time.
Spoiler here:
One of the most surprising twists in this film is when Ami and Miki have killed a ninja squad who call themselves "The Junior High Shuriken Gang". The parents of the ninjas join the yakuza side swearing revenge on Ami and Miki. It's interesting to see the cyclical nature of revenge is such a silly exploitation film.
This is going to be a short review because it's an incredibly simple movie. The only negative comment about the film is at times the gore effects are almost to simple or badly applied. Other than that it's a pure grindhouse inspired romp. Lastly, there is absolutely no nudity in this film which is very strange for a movie featuring mostly Japanese "AV" girls. Basically this is pretty much a perfect film for Mike.
