From
Yoshihiro Nishimura, the demented director of Tokyo Gore
Police and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl,
comes another slice of high-octane lunacy. Don’t let the
somewhat sedate title fool you – Helldriver
is as demented a film as you’ll ever see and thunders away
at full throttle throughout, barely pausing for air or story development.
When I first saw this film at Mayhem,
I confess I had to leave the cinema – not because it was
a bad movie – far from it – but simply because as
a late night screening during a packed weekend of viewing and
drinking, it just felt too much to take. Watching it
again in the comfort of my home, it was much easier to absorb.
Like the other Nishimura films, Helldriver is
more heavily plot-driven that it seems, as we follow schoolgirl
Kika (Yukimo Hara) from her life with a serial killing mother
and uncle, through a mutant zombie apocalypse and into action
as a vengeance-crazed, chainsaw-weilding vigilante with an artificial
heart (after her mother snatched her real heart from her chest).
With Japan now separated into two halves by a giant wall –
the survivors living n squalor on one side, the infected on the
other – a totalitarian would-be dictator has seized control
of the country and sends a group of criminals – Kika included
– to find and kill the Zombie Queen (Eihi Shiina) –
who also happens to be Kika’s mother. There’s actually
a lot more going on, but I’ll leave the assorted plot twists
and sub-stories for you to discover yourself…
Within
the framework of this not-exactly original idea, Nishimura throws
in some amusing satirical social commentary, bizarre humour, audacious
visuals and gallons and gallons of blood, with everything cranked
up to eleven. The colour palate is dayglo, the action non-stop
– especially in the second half of the movie, where is becomes
so relentless that you feel exhausted just watching it –
and the soundtrack thundering. The whole first half is all build-up,
with the opening titles not appearing until 48 minutes into the
film, but even then, it’s faster and more frenetic than
anything else you’ll see. There’s no subtlety at all
here – everything, from the acting to the gore, is cranked
up to the max, and every few minutes, a ridiculously insane visual
idea appears. Impressed by the car made entirely of body parts?
Just wait til you see the giant monster made up of thousands of
zombies, which then grabs a couple of missiles and transforms
into a plane…
If you are a fan of cinematic excess, Helldriver
is definitely the film for you. It might not be overly-intellectual
– though the sly satire is smarter than you would give it
credit for – but there’s no denying that this is full
on, demented, ferociously insane cinema at its finest, and the
most unrelentingly fun film I’ve seen in ages.
This release contains two cuts – the theatrical and the
longer directors cut (which is the one I watched for the purposes
of this review), as well as a thoroughly entertaining ‘making-of’
documentary.
From
Yoshihiro Nishimura, the demented director of Tokyo Gore
Police and Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl,
comes another slice of high-octane lunacy. Don’t let the
somewhat sedate title fool you – Helldriver
is as demented a film as you’ll ever see and thunders away
at full throttle throughout, barely pausing for air or story development.
Within
the framework of this not-exactly original idea, Nishimura throws
in some amusing satirical social commentary, bizarre humour, audacious
visuals and gallons and gallons of blood, with everything cranked
up to eleven. The colour palate is dayglo, the action non-stop
– especially in the second half of the movie, where is becomes
so relentless that you feel exhausted just watching it –
and the soundtrack thundering. The whole first half is all build-up,
with the opening titles not appearing until 48 minutes into the
film, but even then, it’s faster and more frenetic than
anything else you’ll see. There’s no subtlety at all
here – everything, from the acting to the gore, is cranked
up to the max, and every few minutes, a ridiculously insane visual
idea appears. Impressed by the car made entirely of body parts?
Just wait til you see the giant monster made up of thousands of
zombies, which then grabs a couple of missiles and transforms
into a plane…
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