VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL
Stars: Eihi Shiina, Yukie Kawamura, Eri Otoguro, Takumi Saito, Jiji Bu | Written by Naoyuki Tomomatsu | Directed by Naoyuki Tomomatsu & Yoshihiro Nishimura
High school student Mizushima receives Valentines Day chocolates from the new student, Monami. Little did he know that the chocolates contained traces of Monami’s vampire blood. He gets infected from eating them and Monami confesses that she wants to live with him forever as vampires. Meanwhile, Mizushima decides that he wants to fully become a vampire with Monami’s help. Keiko, Mizushima’s girl friend, sees the two on the school rooftop kissing and in a state of hysteria, attempts to throw Monami off the roof but falls off herself instead. Keiko dies but her father, Kenji Furano, the mad scientist, resurrects her as Franken girl. Thus begins a deadly combat between Franken Keiko and Vampire Monami in the name of love…
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is yet another wild and crazy film from what is now the home of the wild and crazy – Japan. Following in the footsteps of flicks such as Tokyo Gore Police and The Machine Girl, the film features everything we’ve come to expect from these types of movies – buckets of blood, limbs flying everywhere, un-PC humour (which this has by the bucketload), schoolgirls wielding huge samurai swords, oh and did I mention the buckets of blood?
The plot is typically flimsy, and the acting shallow, but that’s not why anyone watches these types of movies – no, it’s for the blood and guts! But like others if it ilk, the gore in Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is so over the top that the film nevers grosses its viewers out – it’s actually more like watching an adult cartoon, think of a live-action Tom & Jerry cartoon and you’d be somewhere close. The film itself is a barrage of ideas and imagery that seem to fly by in a frenetic pace that reminded me of early Sam Raimi – the gore is similar too, just the wrong side of low-budget to be truly effective and there’s flourishes of the same craziness that Raimi displayed in Evil Dead 2 (I’m thinking the Bruce Campbell going insane scene in that film), but that’s not to say the film is in any way as good as Raimi’s…
Whilst the film is an over the top comedy-horror, it’s also a note-perfect satire of Japanese society – Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl takes pot shots at schoolgirls obsession via a particularly grisly inter-school wrist cutting competition(!) and at what is the most contentious of Japanese asian teen cultures, ganguro girls… If you don’t know, ganguro girls are those into black american culture and who tan and wear makeup to appear as if they are black themselves. Directors Naoyuki Tomomatsu & Yoshihiro Nishimura are obviously poking fun at the culture, but there is still a chance that many watching the film may be offended.
The best way to judge if you’ll enjoy Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is to watch the trailer embedded below. If you think it looks stupid then the film isn’t for you, but, if after watching the trailer you think it looks funny or cool then Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is most definitely for you!
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is released in the UK on March 15th, courtesy of 4Digital Media (Asia).
