Stacy

I watched this film thinking I was going to see another terrific, no holds barred, Japanese gore fest. Japan seems to have no problem starring 15-17 year old children in extreme horror films. I was ready for anything.

I wasn't ready for the spectacular performance by Natsuki Kato. She slips easily through extreme emotional states . I wasn't ready for the wildly off beat humour thrown in by the Drew Ilegal Repeat Kill Group. I was also quite touched by the heavy handed lecture on how society has failed its children. I don't know, maybe I'm getting old.

The viewer should make no mistake, this is a B-movie. It's over the top in its execution, but flows nicely...well except for the 5 minute puppet show! There is a lot of blood. Sadly, much of it looks like dried paint. There were some great scenes of gore. Not all of them realistic, but effective nontheless.

And I really like the bunny outfit. What a great touch. This is a film that doesn't take itself too seriously, but has a rather serious social comment. I loved it.

For quite some time my friends had been telling me about this nifty little Japanese zombie film called "Stacy." So the other day when wandering around a video store I noticed that they had it, so I rented it. The word bizarre comes to mind when talking about this film.

The movie starts out with three little kids poking a dead sixteen year old girl (I'd wager they thought she was asleep), the girl reawakens as a Stacy (the official word for the zombies) and kills the little kids. The movie has a rather interesting take on the zombie apocalypse. Instead of affecting everyone it only affects girls between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. To combat the threat of the Stacies the Japanese government created the Romero Repeat Kill Squad (an obvious reference George A. Romero), the Repeat Kill Squad is for those who are too wimpy to kill their own daughters. Apparently to "repeat kill" a Stacy one has to chop the body up into 165 different pieces. So to try to combat the Stacy threat people are encouraged to kill their daughters, and they even sell these implements of death in stores and infomercials, they even have a pamphlet on how to repeat kill the Stacies.

This movie has a neat concept and a pretty cool storyline, but it just sort of fell apart. The movie is just very campy, and at least it doesn't try to take itself too seriously. There are some points in the movie that you'll find yourself asking "why the hell did they do that?!" Perhaps if I read the book in which it's based the movie as a whole would've made more sense, I don't know. But as it stands Stacy is a somewhat enjoyable film that is only marred by its occasional annoying scene, and a truly annoying ending.

Naoyuki Tomomatsu's "Stacy" of 2001 is a messy and confusing, but highly entertaining and amusing humorous gore flick like it will only be made in the Land Of The Rising Sun.

In the near future (beginning of the 21st century), girls between 15 and 17 suddenly fall victims to a mysterious epidemic plague. After a period of gratuitous "Near Death Happiness" ("NDH") , the cheerful girls die, only to rise from the dead as flesh eating zombie-schoolgirls, commonly referred to as Stacies. These Stacies infest the streets with their desire for flesh, until they are "repeat-killed". In order to repeat-kill a Stacy, she must be cut in 165 pieces, a task which is performed mainly by the "Romero Repeat-Kill Troops", Swat teams in trucks specialized on Stacy-disposal...

When watching "Stacy", I couldn't help but laugh my ass off almost throughout the entire film. The plot es absolute nonsense, and there is no suspense at all, but it is (besides the excessive gore) exactly the absurd story that makes this movie such a joy to watch. "Stacy" is furthermore a tribute to Zombie-Classics, as the whole movie is full of references to movies like "The Evil Dead" or George A. Romero's 'Dead' films ("Romero Repeat-Kill Troops", a popular chainsaw called "Bruce Campbell's Right Hand, etc.).

The performances range from bearable to awful, but since this is a movie with a twinkle in the eye, that has to be seen with a certain sense of humor, the terrible acting is not really bothersome. As mentioned above, the gore is extreme, which is the movie's main purpose, and which should serve as a recommendation to my fellow gore-fans. "Stacy" may be pure nonsense, the plot is unbelievably odd and confusing at times and the acting is terrible, but the movie is certainly quite amusing for a fan of splatter flicks. Recommended for a good, gory laugh.

Part millennium movie, part post modern 'Evil Dead', this bloody tale of the wonder and terror of schoolgirls aged 15 - 17 is surely uniquely Japanese, and yet is also able to trigger a more basic response.

It's literary origins give it a seriousness, that it's cartoon like visuals of young girls ripping into the flesh and innards of their victims seems at odds with and yet…..

From the first day of 2001, we are told, girls of these ages are first dropping dead and then returning as zombies that twitch and turn till they are sliced into 165 pieces and all search to be killed by their lover.

Extreme, odd and colourful!

A film named after me??! How cool is that?! I decided to go for this DVD having heard it contains 3 of my favourite things - zombies, chainsaws, and young women dressed as schoolgirls.

Typically Japanese over-the-top gore comes in dribs and drabs with more than a passing nod to greater horror flicks such as 'Day of the Dead' and 'Dawn of the Dead.' The plot is sadly lacking, and the film is pretty slowly paced, although there are some fun moments to be had, particularly with the 3-girl anti-Romero repeat kill squad. I liked them.

If you're gonna get yourself a decent Japanese zombie/gore flick, then do yourself a favour and buy 'Versus' or 'Junk' instead. THAT'S how to do it properly.

The DVD from Synapse is pretty good, with a very nice anamorphic transfer and Dolby 2.0 stereo sound with player-generated subtitles. However, I would only buy it if you're a hardcore zombie fan or collector of crazy and bloody Japanese flicks.

4/10 for some good gore scenes and a couple of chuckles.