ThiefHott Too much of everything

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

ferbs54 It was Pittsburgh-born filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis who, by dint of a dozen or so splatterific exploitation films that he directed from 1963 - '72, earned himself the nickname "The Godfather of Gore." But, I have a feeling, Herschell, who is presently 84, might just bust an artery himself if he ever got a gander at what the Japanese are currently doing in the field of gore FX; specifically, what Yoshihiro Nishimura has accomplished in the last 12 or so years. It was the 2001 film "Suicide Club" that initially alerted me to the talents of this modern-day goremaster, but even that film could not prepare me for the pyrotechnic blood-geyser FX that were to be had in 2008's oh-so appropriately named "Tokyo Gore Police," which Nishimura also directed. However, it was 2009's over-the-top "Machine Girl" that really made me appreciate Nishimura for the technical wizard that he is. And now, happy to say, the dude has impressed me hugely for a fourth time. In 2009's "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl," Nishimura doesn't just contribute his trademark blood-fountain visuals, but also co-directs and is responsible for the film's hyperkinetic editing. A genuine triple threat, the man has almost single-handedly transformed the Japanese horror and exploitation industry into one of the most visually stylish and envelope pushing in the world.In the film in question, a love triangle of sorts is going on in Tokyo High School (the only high school in Tokyo, I suppose!). Hunky dude Jyugon (Takumi Saito) is the object of affection of both the assistant principal's daughter, a "Valley Girl" type named Keiko (Eri Otoguro), AND the new exchange student, Monami (the remarkably beautiful Yukie Kawamura). When Jyugon eats a chocolate given to him by Monami as a Valentine's Day love token, little does he realize that at its center is a drop of the girl's vampire blood! But other problems soon arise to plague the lad, other than his own developing affinity for the red stuff. Keiko soon picks a fight with her pretty rival, only to take a plunge off of the high school roof and get smashed to corned beef hash in the street below. Fortunately, unbeknownst to everyone, her assistant principal dad has a rather unusual pet hobby: While dressed in Kabuki attire in the school's basement, mad Kenji (Kanji Tsuda) and the super-hot head nurse, Midori (Sayaka Kametani), are endeavoring to bring the dead back to life! And so, using a drop of Monami's blood to aid in their efforts, Keiko IS brought back to the land of the living, to face off against the vampiress in one truly battle royale!Actually, though, this tame-sounding plot description can give you little idea of just how mind boggling an experience "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" is; sadly, my poor powers of description and unfamiliarity with the tools of 21st century filmmaking leave me almost speechless here. From the picture's very first scene, in which Monami dukes it out with three other Frankensteinian creations, amid flying skulls and omnipresent hemoglobin, the experience here is fairly jaw dropping. At least three scenes are genuine tours de force: the psychedelic sequence in which Jyugon eats that laced chocolate, replete with tinted lenses, swirling camera work, strobelike flashes, bloody skeletons and fractal images; the scene in which Kenji and Midori operate on an early victim, amidst candy-colored visuals and electrical discharges; and the culminating battle between Monami and Keiko high atop Tokyo Tower, while a simultaneous battle between the electric whip-wielding Midori and Monami's servant Igor transpires below. The instances of wacky details and demented throwaway gags are almost too numerous to count, but include the Super Dark Girls Club (a group of Japanese gals who dress up in Afro wigs and makeup in a desire to be black), a wrist-cutting championship (the spectacle of these madly slashing young women may be the film's toughest to watch), Midori gleefully using a hatchet and scythe on a young student, Monami transforming into a demon before chomping a victim in the neck (a victim who of course turns into a human blood geyser), and a flashback scene to many hundreds of years earlier, when Monami's mom (played by Eihi Shiina , star of 1999's "Audition" as well as "Tokyo Gore Police") battled a vampire hunter with a bullet-spitting helmet on his head! The film is also, incidentally, hilarious throughout, such as when we learn that the Frankenstein Keiko has been given the super-tough arms of a wrist cutter, the agile legs of a Dark Girl, and the lungs of their Chinese teacher, "iron lungs capable of breathing in atmospheres with high concentrations of car exhaust." And how bizarre it is when Kenji enthuses "At last, I can slice up Keiko's body. It's the sort of pleasure any man with a daughter dreams of!" Gorgeously shot by Shu G. Momose (whose work had previously appeared in "Tokyo Gore Police") and with an amusing/upbeat score by Kou Nakagawa (ditto) and Blood-Stained Fellow, "Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl" is a treat for both the eyes and ears; indeed, practically every single image manages to impress! Whether you see this film for its remarkable FX, amazing story line or just to marvel at how truly adorable Ms. Kawamura is in the lead, I guarantee that you will not soon forget this ride. Yoshihiro Nishimura is now a very solid 4 for 4 with me, so much so that I am ready to rent out 2009's "RoboGeisha" and 2010's "Mutant Girls Squad." Sorry, Herschell, but these films from modern-day Japan make your 1963 "Blood Feast" seem like very weak green tea indeed!

jynx242 It appears that some people don't like or don't get this genre. This movie was SO over the top and SO wildly improbable and inappropriate that I just relished every-single-second of it. It sparked a new interest in the over the top Asian gore-comedy for me. This one almost reminded me of a mash-up of Kill Bill with the Power Rangers.If you are looking for serious and gory Asian Horror, stick with Takashi Miike and the likes. This move (and others like it that I have since watched) is pure camp and fun. The lead character is just cute as a button, and her actions throughout the film are nicely juxtaposed with her looks. Sweet girl...blood swords... I'm actually planning on buying this for my collection.

mmushrm This movie grew on me as it progressed. A lot of the characters and their sub stories seems manic and disjointed. The wrist cutters, the ganguro girls (sorta like whiggers) etc. I have to admit I nearly gave up on the movie part way through.The way the director ties the sub characters together actually works though...basically Frankenstein girl - body parts. The action is badly done as usual with fountains and fountains of blood. The comedic elements so-so.The acting was actually OK, Vampire girl (Yukie Kawamura) does seem alittle old to be playing a high school girl but she has a certain cuteness and charm in her scenes. She also looks good splattered with blood.This movie isn't as dark and gruesome as some of the gore movies out there. It also isn't as fun as some of the "comedic" gore movies as well. I give this movie a marginal pass 'cos I found Yukie Kawamura to be cute and it was a slightly different slant to the usual gore plots.

dyl_gon Japanese culture is as bizarre as it gets, among the various oddities that have sprung from it are game shows which consist of male contestants being whacked in the genitals and animated pornography, termed "hentai", whose various sub genres involving bestiality and lactation have become widely popular amongst the population. Hell, they even sell toilet paper with short horror stories printed on it for god knows what reason. This utterly insane culture extends into their film as well and one doesn't have to look any further than Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl for an example of how depraved, grotesque and downright "weird" their movies can get. There are very few American-produced films that can match the sheer lunacy occurring within this "versus" circus freak show. Continuing in the tradition of previous hyper-violent, excessively-sexual Japanese horrors centered on attractive school-girls (popular films like The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police), Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl throws a whole bunch of other peculiarities into the mix, including blackface, a kabuki mad scientist who air guitars using his victims spinal cords, an oversexed nurse with eyeballs sewn onto her nipples, a wrist-cutting competition, and copious amounts of blood equal in proportion to the accumulation of ten regular horror movies. If it isn't one of the strangest films of all time, it certainly is of this year.Throwing up an assortment of depravity and blood-drenched insanity into a film always makes for good fun, but never makes up for a lack of plot, lazy writing or poorly-executed film-making, a few key problems that permeate through many of these gory, low-budget efforts. These are all issues readily apparent in The Machine Girl, a prior similar undertaking which, for all its excessive gore and dismemberment, was at its core really nothing much different than most substandard Hollywood fare. Here, directors Yoshihiro Nishimura (who tread similar ground with Tokyo Gore Police) and Naoyuki Tomomatsu have crafted both an emotionally-charged teen love story and a hilarious satire of popular trends, the film elevated by the over-the-top absurdities rather than reliant on them. High-school heart throb Mizushima finds himself in the center of a vicious tug-of-war between two lovers: Keiko, his high-maintenance girlfriend whose spineless vice-principal daddy bows to her every demand, and Monami, a new student in the school who falls for Mizushima's kind personality...and who also happens to be a vampire. Of course, when the two girls get into a feud, Keiko is no match for the supernatural Monami and is killed. However, Keiko's father moonlights as a mad scientist and he reanimates Keiko, upgrading her with a variety of different physical attributes swiped from corpses. Now, the Vampire Girl and the Frankenstein Girl find themselves facing off in a battle to the death for Mizushima's affection.There are a plethora of outlandish gags to please any hardened gore-fan. Among the best are the Vampire Girl tearing a hole in a girls face and unraveling her skin like the wrappings on a mummy, a reanimated foot-hand creature, blood drops with a life of their own and the Frankenstein Girl tearing off an arm, screwing it onto her head and using it as a helicopter propeller to zip around through the sky. This is the love-child of a three-way between Looney Tunes, an early Peter Jackson film and a Troma movie. Nary two minutes go by where someone's head isn't being crushed in or where some appendage isn't being attached to some other ludicrous concoction. It is amazingly fun, completely original and absolutely never dull. Even those who don't enjoy the film, possibly too much for their tastes, will likely be enthralled by the madcap display enfolding in front of them.However, it's when the film steps back from the lunacy that it's at its best. The characters at their best, particularly Monami and Mizushima, are surprisingly fleshed out, likable and quite funny; at their worst, over-the-top caricatures that are usually funny and always interesting. There are a lot of laughs mined from the absurd notion of falling in love with a vampire, as well as the battle being waged for Mizushima, the tone always light and self-deprecating; one comical part has Mizushima proclaiming, as he narrates the battle, something along the lines of "Has anyone ever asked my feelings about this", which sums up the ridiculousness of the obvious lapses of logic that allow the fight, and pretty much the entire film, to occur. Perhaps the funniest scenes involve those lampooning current teenage trends. The "emo's" are part of an after-school wrist cutting club. The trend of imitating black culture is taken to absurd limits with a trio of girls not only in black face, but with afros, over-sized lips and the refusal to drink any coffee but black. Not only isn't there a boring minute, but there isn't one that's not either laugh-out-loud hilarious or just plain crazy.The only shortcomings are the occasional limitations of the low-budget paired with the wide scope of the films imaginative dismemberment. Some of the effects, although most often not, are poorly executed. As well, the arterial spray of blood throughout the film is less than satisfying due to the reliance on CGI effects, which look both incredibly cheap and silly (in a bad way). The entire film also carries a somewhat cheap vibe to it, which leads me to believe it was either digital video or inefficiency behind the camera. Regardless, these are small prices to pay for the amount of imaginative fun and hilarious splatter that Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl delivers, making it one of the better exercises in this type of frenetic insanity that so often falls on the wayside.Dylan, allhorrorfilms.com