Brace Yourself. Here Comes ‘Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead.’
by Ben Bussey
Well, how’s about this for timing? No sooner do we declare January to be Japanese Exploitation month, than the first trailer and poster pop up for a new Japanese movie that sounds - how to put this - more than a little provocative. But then, it’s the new movie from Naoyuki Tomamatsu, the director behind such sedate and tasteful affairs as high school bloodbath Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl and last year’s sci-fi pinku Erotibot (reviewed here), so we have some idea what to expect. Even so, with a title like that, Tomamatsu isn’t just courting controversy, he’s dragging controversy down a back alley and pounding it relentlessly against the wall without even buying it a drink first.
Tomamatsu has brought back his Erotibot star Asami – also star of Sukeban Hunters: Yakuza Busting Girls, the film with which Marc kicked off our Japanese Exploitation Explosion – as well as Saya Kobayashi, Yui Aikawa and Arisu Ozawa. All of whom are really really unbelievably good looking, naturally. It’s lined up to premiere at Japan’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival next month before hitting Japanese DVD (for more on that hit the Sex Gore Mutants forum). Whether it’ll get international distribution is of course still unknown, but somehow I wouldn’t be surprised if it does. Notoreity equals money, without fail.
Here’s the trailer, plus a little behind the scenes video; nothing earth-shattering, but of at least passing amusement, not least for the sight of a busload of clearly bored-shitless extras who just happen to be caked in gore. No subtitles on either, but really, once you know the dead are rising from their slumber with morning wood, what else needs to be said…? Oh yeah, and a nice hi-res look at the poster below!
