The Machine Girl
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Movie Reviews of The Machine Girl
Movie Review: America's critic
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this, ok the movie is called Machine Girl, what can u expect, a crazied filled movie that was actioned out funny as heck, just a bunch of great stuff!!! this movie is worthy of renting or purchasing! this movie can't bore u out if you want to be entertained.Movie Review: violently good movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Dont look for no oscar here. Excllent movie, very violent , and bloody the way I like itMovie Review: Fan of Gore?
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie ! Over the top Gore , so funny if your into alot of violence =)Movie Review: 3 ½ ++ Stars: An Over-the-top Action film that Blends "Pink Violence" and Splatter Horror Elements
Summary: 4 Stars
MACHINE GIRL (aka. One-Armed Machine Girl) is an over-the-top, campy, ultra-violent action film by Iguchi Noboru (Sukeban Boy). The film is definitely NOT for everyone but will appeal to fans of Japanese cult films with a touch of dark comedy and unrealistic ultra-bloody violence made popular by Ichi the Killer and even Tarantino's magnificent "Kill Bill". Folks will either applaud or be repulsed by this film's execution, but it is a wickedly twisted, darkly-toned entertainment that knows exactly what it's going for. The film features well-known Japanese bikini model Minase Yashiro in her first feature role, ex-AV star Asami and the beautiful Honoka as the Yakuza boss' twisted wife. Do I have your attention yet?
Plot synopsis partly derived from the back cover:
Ami (Minase Yashiro) is a tough but otherwise average high school girl, trying to lead a normal life with her younger brother. Her whole world comes crushing down when her brother and his friend are killed by ruthless bullies led by a Yakuza Boss' son. When she goes to find those responsible, she finds herself in over her head and minus her left arm. Barely surviving, Ami escapes and finds shelter from a kindly mechanic and his wife Miki (Asami) who also happen to be the parents of her brother`s friend. They take pity on Ami's plight, helping her heal, training her and fitting her with a powerful machine gun where her left arm used to be. She then teams up with the tough mother to seek vengeance and together they unleash an unholy, non-stop, over the top kill fest against the equally creative machinery of their ruthless Ninja-Yakuza enemies.
The film is a wild blend of 70's "pink violence" and 80's super-violent splatter horror that doesn't take itself seriously. The film is full of bloody sequences and oddball weird humor that will undoubtedly garner a cult following. It was quite inventive of the filmmakers to rely on "old-school" style violence to conduct the visual blood and gore. Whether this decision was made because of budget constraints or some other factor, it made the film work; from an entertainment standpoint kind of way. The exaggerated gallons of blood complements the film's action sequences; chainsaw-fu, machine gun-fu, swordplay and brassiere-fu are the film's many unorthodox style of brutality. The film is an example of an adult-Tokusatsu (Kid's TV show)with the wild blend of action, camp, humor, sci-fi and even horror that plays like a stunt/Gore show.
The film also has some campy ideas that will make you say; "What the heck" as the film makes fun of certain anime-inspired names such as "Super Mourner Gang" and "Junior high Shuriken gang" seem attempts to somewhat tone down all the violence and brutality displayed. There are also twisted touches of oddball humor with the "sushi fingers" and "tempura arm". I've always wondered how Hellraiser's "Pinhead" got that look; Miki and Ami were very obliged to demonstrate how that sinister look can come about in a human being.
Sexy Minase Yashiro plays the lead, I'm a little undecided as to how well her first starring performance is. She has the right school girl look and she has a lot of charisma, but at times she looks a little awkward with the action sequences. Asami plays Miki and she looks a little young and definitely too cool to be the mother of a teenager. Nude model Honoka adds a lot of eye-candy as the wife of Yakuza boss Kimura. The woman is twisted in her own way, she has that no-nonsense appeal further accentuated by Honoka's sheer sexiness. She is seductively, yet creepily appealing as she displays her "Drill Brassiere" as an added campy display of villainy. Shimazu Kentaro is the Yakuza Boss who seemed to have been based on "Heihachi Yashima" from the "tekken" video game. The whirling and hurling flying razor sharp "bucket" adds more to the film's twistedly, campy appeal. Boss Kimura an intimidating villain although he isn't an originally fresh concept.
With Ami's Sailor Moon-inspired outfit, sentai/tokusatsu heroism, references to ninja and Yakuza elements, the film is definitely aimed at anime fan boys and those very initiated with Japanese cinema. The film's enjoyment requires a very large suspension of disbelief for its entirety. Take two cups of "Shoot `Em Up", three tablespoons of "Darkman" and even "Planet Terror" to two gallons of "Ichi The Killer" and stir vigorously, then you will have an accurate idea just how this film plays out. The film doesn't take itself seriously and if "Machine Girl" is any indication of the filmmakers take on twisted entertainment, then I'm sold to see "Tokyo Gore Police".
Recommended for fans of J-cinema and Pink violence [3 ½ ++ Stars]
Movie Review: WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
Summary: 4 Stars
For the most part I've tried to write here about mainstream DVDs being released. On occasion I've chosen to let you know about other films making their way to direct DVD release. Today let's look at something else. Movies that never see release in the US (or at best limited release) that find their way to DVD. The subject in question is THE MACHINE GIRL.
For anyone unfamiliar with the latest trend in Japanese films, it's not the horror films being remade non-stop. Instead, it's a gore drenched action adventure films that are over the top in their depictions and filled with blood soaked humor. When someone gets cut, they don't bleed, they gush fountains of blood literally.
THE MACHINE GIRL starts out with action from the get go. When a group of young punks attack an innocent pair of school kids, a lone girl dressed in school uniform dress comes to their aid. This is no ordinary girl though. This is Ami and she is on a mission to seek revenge against this very gang for destroying her family.
The battle kicks off in high flying ninja-martial arts style, fist to fist. But all changes when Ami reveals that she's missing an arm. A quick pop into her school backpack, and she's now sporting a gattling gun where the lost appendage would normally be. And she knows how to use said gun as she begins cutting her way through bad guys, splitting one right down the middle.
The story moves to flashback where we learn how it all began. Ami and her brother live on their own, their parents having been killed. Her brother is picked on by the local teen gang led by the son of a Yakuza (think Japanese Mafia) boss. When her brother and his best friend are killed by the gang,
Ami tries to get the help of a local law enforcement official who turns out to be the father of one of the gang members. The mother attacks Ami, forcing her hand and arm down into a boiling pot of tempura being cooked, resulting in a terribly burnt arm covered in the batter. Barely escaping, Ami sets out to get revenge the old fashioned way.
Too bad because the Yakuza boss captures her in his house and rather than atone for his son's actions, applauds them and tortures Ami, finally cutting off her arm in a garden hose type squirting sequence that is so far over the top you find yourself thinking "Where do they come up with this stuff?"
Ami escapes and with the help of the mother of her brother's best friend, a mechanic, is outfitted with the afore mentioned gattling type machine gun for an arm. When the Yakuza turns up to catch her once more, Ami opens fire and takes out the highly trained ninja's who attack, leaving them a bloody pulp.
Subsequent revenge attacks on the rest of the gang, leads to their parents forming themselves into a combat outfit supplied by the Yakuza boss to take on Ami and the mechanic mom. The final blood gorged battle between them makes for one of the goriest sequences ever filmed.
So is the film entertaining? Yeah, it is. As I said, it's so far over the top as to be cartoonish in the gore and blood flow. The ultra violent world of Japanese anime goes further than this film, so it's little more than one of those cartoons come to life.
If you laugh at absurd extremism then this film should have you falling on the floor laughing. If you have a more subdued taste or find gore not to your liking then by all means pass this one by. And if you're just kind of curious to see what other cultures do when they make movies in their native tongue, then give this one a try. Afterwards you might even be ready to take on OLDBOY, another over the top violent flick that's become a cult fave among DVD owners.
It's not for everyone, but this film does offer something new, something fresh, something different. If that sounds interesting to you, give this one a look.