Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl is the blood-soaked adaptation of a popular manga. Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver) helms this masterpiece of Japanese new-wave ultra-violent splatter, a genre most notable for its juxtaposition of cute actresses and extreme violence. In typical Nishimura fashion, the insanity meter is cranked up to 11. Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl stars gravure idol (and full-time goddess) Yukie Kawamura and Eri Otoguro (Onechanbara: the Movie) in the respective title roles as they battle for the affection of their classmate Jugon (Takumi Saito). It also features a great cameo by the queen of Japanese horror, Eihi Shiina (Audition, Tokyo Gore Police).

When Monami (Kawamura), our Vampire Girl, transfers to a new high school in Tokyo, she soon attracts the ire of the resident lolligirl clique, and their bratty leader Keiko (Otoguro), by giving Jyugon a blood-filled chocolate for Valentine's Day. It isn't long before the school nurse becomes aware that something isn't quite right with a sample of Monami's blood and passes it along to Keiko's father, who also happens to be the vice-principal and a (very!) mad scientist, the self-proclaimed successor to Dr. Frankenstein. Upon confronting Monami, Keiko ends up dead and (you guessed it) is rebuilt by her father as Frankenstein Girl and an epic battle ensues that is truly mind-blowing in both its violence and its creativity.

Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl boasts the traditional gore effects for which Nishimura is best known: gallons of blood-spray, uncomfortable wrist-cutting scenes, and disturbingly distorted human bodies. It also contains a lot of fairly well-executed CGI that doesn't really detract from overall immersion in the film.Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl never takes itself too seriously and it's in this frame of mind that the film is best enjoyed. It incorporates comedic elements, including the catchy J-Pop soundtrack, and a healthy dose of social satire which anyone familiar with Japanese pop-culture is sure to enjoy. There are several memorable scenes, my personal favorite being when Monami dances in a rain of blood as it sprays from the neck of a recent victim, a scene which, in my mind, captures the essence of what this genre is all about.

In fairness, Nishimura's films, and pink violence in general, is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. If you are a fan of other films in the genre, such as Machine Girl, Meatball Machine, and Tokyo Gore Police, you will love this film. If you are a gorehound with a penchant for old-school special effects and horror-comedies like Re-Animator, Dead Alive and Evil Dead 2, you will love this film. If, however, you happen to be a close-minded film elitist who insists on little things like continuity, realism, and unquestionable plot structures, you will probably spontaneously combust within the first five minutes (probably around the time that Monami rips the skin from the face of a Gothic-lolita zombie with her teeth, exposing an animated skull).

When it's all said and done, Nishimura provides us with a fresh and exciting take on these two iconic, but worn-out and often predictable, monster stereotypes. The true beauty of films like Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl lies in their unpredictability and refusal to be constrained within the existent boundaries of film logic, physics, or even political correctness. Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl epitomizes what this genre is all about and, while not quite as good as Tokyo Gore Police (but, then again, what is?), it is definitely one hell of a awesome movie.

Two teenage girls—pretty vampire Monami (yummy Yukie Kawamura) and spoilt brat Keiko (Eri Otoguro)—vie for the affection of schoolboy Mizushima (Takumi Saito). As the tug-of-love escalates, Keiko is accidentally killed, but resurrected by her mad-scientist father and his sexy psycho assistant, school nurse Midori. The scene is now set for a final battle between the cute bloodsucker and the reanimated, modified Keiko, with Mizushima as the prize.

Coming from the people who gave us the OTT splatter-fest Tokyo Gore Police, I fully expected Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl to be a tad demented, but I doubt anything could have adequately prepared me for the madcap concoction of zany humour, grotesque gore, outrageous satire, and downright weirdness that has just assaulted my eyeballs. The film certainly doesn't disappoint in terms of sheer insanity.

Unfortunately, although this sucker certainly delivers in terms of wild comic-book excess, it isn't without its shortcomings: the hit and miss comedy takes precedence over the action and horror; certain aspects of the film feel rather forced, as though directors Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu felt compelled to 'up the ante' in terms of bizarreness (this time, the satirical stabs at Japanese teen culture are nothing short of padding specifically designed to give the film extra cult appeal); many of the special effects are simply too cartoonish in their execution to be wholly satisfying (plus there is an over-reliance on CGI blood—UGH!); and after the gradual build up, not nearly enough time or effort is dedicated to a decent climactic showdown.

Still, the one accusation that can never be hurled at Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl is that it is boring. Take a look if you love the manic style of Tokyo Gore Police, or the relentless splat-stick of Peter Jackson's Braindead or Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, but don't expect to be blown away.

6.5 out of 10, but not quite good enough for me to round my rating up to 7.

"Frankenstein Girl vs. Vampire Girl" was scheduled at the Belgian International Festival of Fantastic Films on a Saturday night at 2 o'clock in the morning, in other words when the horror crowd is at its most numerous and wildly enthusiastic to see bloodshed, dementia and extreme sickness. And what an excellent choice it was! The people went berserk along with the absurd and totally eccentric characters in this 200% bonkers movie from the creators of "Tokyo Gore Police" and "The One-Armed Machine Girl". The emphasis more than obviously lies on the splatter orgies and nefarious sense of humor, but there's actually also a decent storyline hidden underneath all the mayhem, with interesting lead characters and the craziest bunch of sub plots you've ever witnessed. Monami, the beautiful new girl in school, falls in love with the shy school stud Jyugon and immediately makes him hers by offering a Valentine's Day chocolate with her own blood as filling. For you see, Monami is a vampire girl and pretty much demands Jyugon to happily live with her for all eternity. Jyugon is already the boyfriend of schoolgirl gang leader Keiko, but she obviously cannot compete with the vampire powers of Monami. That is to say, until Keiko dies and her deranged principal father transforms her body into Frankenstein girl; composed of bits and parts of other students. The best and most entertaining things about "Frankenstein Girl vs. Vampire Girl" are the extended introduction of the supportive characters. We have a gang of Japanese girls that desperately want to be black ghetto girls, the girls preparing for the annual wrist-cutting tournament, the creepily hunchbacked janitor and a nymphomaniac school nurse. The first half of the film is non-stop outrageous, but naturally the tempo and level of viewer's engagement drops down a little after that simply because you're adapting to the weirdness. The climatic battle – fought out on top of the school's very own imitated Eiffel Tower – is sublimely over the top again. The gore and splatter effects are extreme and brutal, but simultaneously very campy and light-headed. It's not exactly the type of movie that is out to shock or offend people, merely just to entertain them in the most tasteless, pulpy and brainless fashion.

And then some. This movie is definitely not something for the faint hearted. It also is not politically correct and some might call it on some racism issues (especially how Africans are depicted in this movie). But that wouldn't be what this movie is about. It makes fun of everything it gets it's hands on (even suicide gets a "stab", no pun intended).

And this will define, how much you dis/like the movie. Can you handle all that craziness or do you want your movies more straight forward? If you are one of the latter kind, you shouldn't really watch this movie or at least not expect too much from it. Some crazy ideas and almost entirely over the top, this is made for fans of Machine Girl and other recent Japanese Horror fare/thrillers (or those who are on the verge of becoming one)

There's some good, some bad, and a lot of ugly to be found in Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. The ugliness is the point. It's trashy and obscenely gory and all made in very bad taste. Well, the bad taste kind of leads to the bad, actually. I think it went a little far in being provocative with some side characters, and some of its humor would be the kind some might excuse teenagers making (then again, maybe not), but it's just kind of sad to see a film made by adults go there. The tiniest amount of slack can be cut for the bad taste being the point, but still, there are barriers here some won't overcome. I half thought about not going on with it, even though the opening scene was incredible.

The final act kind of justifies the heinous stuff. It doesn't justify that stuff well, but there's something approaching a point to it all. And the final act is fun in a similar way to the opening scene. It delivers on showing a fight between Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (over a boy they both love, at that); that can't be denied. Seeing the assistants of the monsters get their own fight was fun, too. It would be funny to travel back in time and screen this in the 1930s or '40s, to a crowd of people expecting a Universal Monsters versus movie, just to see how people would react (and count how many people would pass out).

Probably don't watch this, if you're most people. It's almost kind of good in so far as delivering what it promises in the title, and for having some genuinely insane stuff. The gory violence is wild, and some of the monster designs are quite impressive. I think some of this film is awful, but some of it's quite funny and entertaining. Enter at your own risk.