The horror genre is probably the most diverse genre there is. It is the metal of movies, which probably explains where there always seems to be a tie between them. Anyway, horror movies can be approached in any number of fashions, angles, styles, and budgets and it is possible to be successful at any of those levels. One of my favorites over the past bunch of years has been the splatter horror, and not just any splatter horror, Japanese splatter horror. That is, indeed, a lot of splatter horror. Have I told you I enjoy splatter horror?
The past handful of years has seen Japan churn out some wildly creative, insane, crazy, bloody splatter pictures. This would include the likes of The Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police, Meatball Machine, and Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. Now we can add another one to the list, another one from writer/director Yoshihiro Nishimura, Helldriver.
This is one crazy movie with more severed limbs and blood fountains than you can shake a garden hose at. If you have never experienced a film like this before, and you like movies that take excess to the next level, you are in for a great. Now this may not be the best example of the genre and it may run a touch too long but it is never the less a fun movie that is worth spending some bloody time with.
The story is set in Japan where a mysterious ash has fallen and turned people into flesh eating zombies. To help control the spread a wall is built separating northern and southern Japan. The zombies were kept to the north. Now, with the separation in place they need to find a way to eliminate the menace.
The film does have a bit of a satirical political aura as they talk about the rights of he zombies as still living people versus being an undead menace. I understand there is probably more to this than the surface, but me being me prefers the surface. I am all for the bloody over the top action and crazy situations and don't particularly care about political undertones.
Helldriver opens with a bit of an odd scene. A man in what looks like a ninja suit climbs up the separating wall, proceeds to take body parts out of a bag and use them to lure the zombies out of hiding. He then uses a rope with a big metal hook to decapitate each one, pulling the head up to his perch. He would cut off the odd horn appendage that each zombie grows and toss the head away. We later learn that the horn can be used for illegal drug manufacturing. Anyway, there is this one zombie whose skull and spinal column has popped right through his head and has created a poll-like effect. This zombie scares the ninja suit guy from his perch onto the waiting zombies. This is where it gets weird.
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