Junk: Shiryô-gari

Junk (2000) was one of the new wave zombie films to come from Japan during the turn of the century. Like the others it was made on the cheap but highly entertaining. This film's about an experiment gone awry (can't those scientists get anything right?). The gore level is very high and it features two very unlikely heroes and some hot Japanese ladies. Why can't they make zombie films like this in the United States instead of rubbish like Resident Evil (which parts of this movie were taken from). Junk (like Score) was partially shot in English. I love this movie and I know you will to.

Highly recommended

George A. Romero would be pleased.

Did I mention there were two hot Japanese ladies in the picture?

In an abandoned factory on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the U.S. army secretly developed a serum called "DNX" that is able to bring the dead back to life. Something went wrong and all scientists were killed. Now meet Saki and her gang. They just robbed a jeweller and are on their way to meet some Yakuza for a big deal. Guessed their meeting point? It doesn't take long time and an army of bloodthirsty zombies is after them. Soon everybody is running and fighting for his life...

20 years after the heydays of ultra-gory Italian zombie movies, the Japanese start to produce somehow very similar movies like this one. Heavily influenced by such films as George A. Romero's zombie trilogy, Italian and Spanish shockers from the late 70's and early 80's and the 1992 Japanese film "Living Dead in Tokyo Bay", this is a fun splatter film, and as such it delivers what fans would expect. The gory special effects are done very well most of the time - if you can't stand dismemberment, heads blown into pieces and gut-munching zombies, stay far away! On the other side, splatter movie fans will have plenty of fun with this movie.

"Junk" is as it's own name suggests, well junk really. A low budget Japanese zombie film that can neither impress with great visual effects nor strong acting or plot. But what does do and does well in my opinion, is to recreate the feeling and entertainment value of eighties Italian zombie flicks. In other words "Junk" is trashy fun.

After successfully pulling of a jewelry heist the group of four robbers head of towards an abandoned warehouse where the supposed buyer would be. Unknowingly to both parties, that same place was the dumping ground for a failed American military experiment on bringing the dead back to life. Needless to say what happens when our heroes arrive. It's a simple well known plot that doesn't demand any form of thinking. You just sit-down with a beer-pack and some popcorn in hand and enjoy the on screen carnage. The unpretentious design is what holds "Junk's" charm and of course the violence does also help in that matter.

The acting again in the spirit of Italian horror leaves something to be desired. The Japanese actors did relatively well for this sort of film. Which basically means they didn't get on my nerves with absurd performances or just monotonic line reading. American actors on the other hand were awful, unbearable. Director Atsushi Muroga should have written their characters off plot and sticked with only Japanese actors. The reason for the bad performance does not fully fall on the actors's hands. In this case it's easy to see that the language barrier and Muroga's inability to properly direct the English speaking cast due to his own apparent lack of knowledge in that language are the true problems.

The action is fairly good. Practically most of the movie's running time is filled with shootouts, zombie attacks or both combined. Muroga keeps a fast pace and with a short running time "Junk" doesn't get boring. As any other zombie movie so is this one packed with gore. Necks bitten, legs and arms cut off, people being eaten, heads smashed it's got the needed ingredients to deliver a fun experience.

Atsushi Muroga' "Junk" makes for a delightful yet forgettable zombie film. Mainstream audience should definitely pass the chance on seeing it. But highly recommendable to fans of the trashy low-budget horror genre.

I like zombie movies, and I like Japanese movies, but this one was just too amateurish. The acting went from bad to worse, at times getting so bad you couldn't concentrate on the movie - you had to stop and marvel at a line delivered particularly badly, wondering why it wasn't edited out and if that actor was possibly a funding source for the movie. To be fair, the Japanese actors, in general, did a much better job than their American counterparts.

For a better example of the Japanese zombie movie, see Bio Zombie. That at least has a decent level of humor. Junk had little to no humor, indicating that they took the movie a little too seriously. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish watching, but it was so bad I knew I'd never watch it again.

Although severely outclassed by later films like "Wild Zero" and "Versus," "Junk" is still a worthwhile foray into the zombie genre, which seems to be getting a transfusion of much needed new blood over in Japan. The characters in this film are either selfish and unlikeable or simply cliche, which is the real drawback to the film. It prevents any sort of tension or emotional involvement. At the same time, there is a half-naked super zombie woman kicking people's heads off and breaking out some serious undead kungfu, so who can really complain? Decent gore, some good action, and a high energy level elevate the movie above the mundane script and characters, resulting in an above average time waster that delights in the end. If you're expecting the cuteness of "Wild Zero" or "Dead Alive," or the apocalyptic impact of "Dawn of the Dead," you're better off watching those movies. If you're looking for no-nonsense, gory, idiotic zombie fun with some gun toting Yakzua thrown in, this movie is aces.