DVD Review: The Machine Girl
The Machine Girl (2008)
Studio: Tokyo Shock
DVD Release Date: June 3, 2008
Directed By: Noboru Iguchi
Cast: Asami, Honoka, Ryôsuke Kawamura, Yûya Ishikawa
Brutal As Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Review By: Marc Patterson
Bring on the amped up arterial spray. It’s time for death and mayhem as only the Japanese can provide! Ami (Asami) is a college student whose younger brother becomes involved with an up and coming Yakuza mobster, and ends up meeting a quite untimely death along with his friend. Having no other family she launches a splatterific streak of revenge that will have you squirming in your seat with utter delight.
The Machine Girl takes the best of Planet Terror, draws an obvious comparison to Army of Darkness (cover pose and all), and heaps on tons of blood and guts. Combined with martial arts fighting, yakuza, ninjas, and more nasty contraptions than you can shoot a sawed off shotgun at, The Machine Girl is hands down the two thumbs up gory film of the year. It was 90 minutes of completely over the top outrageous fun. Christ, there was even a scene of necrophilia! After that there’s damn near nothing else to say about it.
The disappointments were fairly minor when put against the content, so I’ll gloss over them very quickly: best moments were given away in the trailer, presented in full screen treatment vs. widescreen (preferred), used a blasé soundtrack, and some use of cheap CGI. There. I’ve said all the negative there is to say. If you’re like me, you’ll want to listen to this in Japanese and use the English subtitles. Be sure to check your settings as the DVD plays with English dubbing as a default.
Extras are pretty limited. There’s the standard behind the scenes featurettes, combined with a theatrical trailer (available through YouTube), and some additional trailers. Honestly, I didn’t care. Some films I look for a ton of extras. Others, I’m satisfied just to sit and watch the film. The Machine Girl belongs to the latter, and this is one film you’ll NEED to add to your collection.
This low budget masterpiece is a must buy of 2008. Hands down it’s the most action packed, blood soaked release we’ve seen this year. With Midnight Meat Machine, and Tokyo Gore Police on the horizon I can’t say it will be the gore-fest of the year, but it’s going to rock the top 5 without a doubt!
