“This is one of the best movies ever made!

Upskirt karate rules!”

Ghidorah from Chainsaw Maintenance

THE MACHINE GIRL

2008/Director: Noboru Iguchi/Writer: Noboru Iguchi

Cast: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Kentaro Shimazu, Honoka, Nobuhiro Nishihara

The director of Sudakan Boy (which I have queued up to see soon) Noburu Iguchi basically delivers the gory goods in this TokyoShock science-fiction Yakuza revenge blood bath starring gravure model Minase Yashiro. Also in the mix are Japanese AV stars Asami and Honoka. Now I am far from an expert in these matters (though I have done ample research) but I am pretty sure the difference in the terms is that a gravure (a term for how photos are developed for glossy magazines) models pose provocatively but rarely nude or in explicit sexual situations. An AV (adult video) star on the other hand basically does everything you can image plus some things you never have and with the cutest, most innocent faces imaginable. Well there is no nudity in The Machine Girl so don’t get excited. What flesh we see is usually covered in blood and slimy internal organs. While the CGI effects have been criticized online here I have seen much worse and had no major problems myself. The film never looked like a video game to me. If more Japanese horror/action/school girl gore films were being done like this I would praise the genre more rather than berate it or struggle to find kinder words.

Let me be frank: if you are repulsed by gore avoid this film. The gore sequences are totally over the top (as they typically are in the new style of Japanese horror and in particular the films coming out of TokyoShock). I would say that The Machine Girl is easily about the goriest film I have reviewed so far here at the Café, though from the looks of Tokyo Gore Police it will be a second once I see that one. The story is the simplest of them all: someone seeking revenge for the murder of a loved one. In fact there are several revenge themes that begin to run concurrently and I am sure director/writer Noburu Iguchi is having a little fun here. In fact the film is essentially very fun if you can stomach it. The version I had was dubbed into English and I was very disappointed at first and almost sought out another copy but gave it a try one night. I actually felt in this case that the dubbing added to the surreal, violent campiness of the film and even made it a little more watchable. The girl doing the voice-overs for Mianse Yashiro’s Ami Hyuga character really did a good job. Instead of the often annoying helium sounding Japanese girl voice we have a pretty tough sounding gal who is out to kick ass and does just that. It has all the corny qualities of the “Why you!!!!! I gonna beat you up” dubs we are familiar with but is a notch up. Of course, I recommend the Japanese language version if you can get it.

Ami is your average hot looking Japanese school girl who is good at basketball and looks after her kid brother following the suicide of her parents whose reputation was ruined by some alleged heinous act we are never clear about. While Ami is popular her brother is a nerd and attracts the ire of some of the local bullies, some who happen to have Yakuza connections. They kill her brother and his best friend and Ami is soon after revenge. She goes by the home of one of the thugs and soon the kid’s dad and mom are trying to kill her and we learn that human flesh and searing tempura batter do not mix. Ami is beaten but not defeated and returns that night and kills the boy and mother off and uses the decapitated body of the boy to give the burnt faced Yakuza a special conditioning treatment. The death of the mother is so over the top that only the most darkened soul good see the black humor it. I myself found it a little amusing but I confess that with guilt.

Next Ami shows up alone at the home of the local head Yukuza (Ryûji Kimura) to exact further vengeance. He is married to Violet Kimura (played by AV star Honoka) who has a more than a moody disposition. Ami arrives a little too late to partake of the special sushi “finger foods” the new chef prepared . She flashed a little panty and then talks when she should be cutting the throat of her target and in no time is outnumbered and pinned to the wall by a samurai sword through her left arm. That arm is soon gone during a graphic torture sequence but Ami is able to leg-lock a creepy perv and escape. She walks down and endless country road with one arm and soon arrives at the garage/home of the parents of the boy slain along side her brother. The mother, Miki, is played by AV (read hardcore porn) actress Amasi who plays the straight role in a fashion to make Tracy Lords proud. The two gals are soon training together to get the revenge they desire while dad sits around creating cool weapons like the Gatlin Gun that will fit on Ami’s severed arm (which by the way never required hospital attention).

She gets to test it out soon enough when some Ninja and gang members show up to finish them all off. The violence is outrageous here with flesh being shot off in bucket loads and gaping holes being blasted through Ninja stomachs. The fighting sequences are better than average and the pace is fast. While “humorous” the humor never turns infantile. It is brutal and relentless. After learning of the hiding place of the Yakuza leader, through the hammer/nail torture of a bearded gang member, Ami and Miki set off for the final showdown. And what a showdown it is. The gang members are waiting as well as the surviving members of the Ninja’s family and other people Ami and Miki have killed, all now seeking there own revenge. It is none stop gore from here to the end with a drill bra scene that has inspired a spin off film Noburu is slated to direct. The films ends with the tease of a sequel and way not? This is a violent freak fest but I will take a second helping. There is some ultra low budget sequel talked about at TWITCH called Hajirai Machine Girl Sequel that is all of twenty minutes long as has some girl with a machine gun hidden in her ass. I don’t know about that one, but the trailer is all over the net now.

The women here are all super sexy but the sex part is really downplayed. And that is refreshing really. Other than one upskirt shot the film does not delve into sex or nudity to tell its story. I supply some gravure shots of lovely Minase Yashiro below for your viewing pleasure. The action starts off fast and seldom slows down except to develop the characters and explain why Ami is one armed and obsessed with revenge and killing. If you are not a fan of extreme Japanese cinema take a pass, but the rest of you dive in and have a good ride. Coming soon: Tokyo Gore Police with Eihi Shiina, that skinny, sexy psycho chick from Takashi Miike’s Audition.

WHAT DOES MINASE YASHIRO LOOK LIKE WITH TWO ARMS

AND NOT DRENCHED IN BLOOD AND BRAINS YOU ASK?

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 7:11 pm and is filed under Action and Adventure, Japanese and Asian Cinema, Pin Up Girls-Cheese Cake-Femme Fatales, Science Fiction-Fantasy, Videos . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.