Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island

Directed by: Tae-gyun Kim

Starring: Hideo Ishiguro, Dai Watanabe

Synopsis:

A mysterious, beautiful woman called Rei approaches young Akira and tells him that his brother Atsushi, who has been missing for two years, is alive and well, but trapped on the island of Higanjima, which has been over-run by vampires. Akira and his gang of friends head out to the island to rescue him, but find they are already under the watchful and cruel eye of the head vampire, Masa.

Review:

If Higanjima had shed about 20 minutes of it’s running time, it would almost make a perfect fantasy movie. Almost.The first half of the film is excellent, kicking off with a bloody prologue, introducing the audience to the perils of the island. It’s a great mix of euro-vampire style and Japanese blood-letting. The film swiftly changes tone, but is no less compelling. In an efficiently filmed and scripted sequence, we are introduced to Akira and his friends, who try to assist him as he evades a gang of bullies.

It turns out that Rei has been instructed by Masa to bring Akira to the island, to act as leverage against Atushi. However, Rei is playing both sides, and secretly hopes that Akira can meet up with Atsushi.

Up til now, the tone of the film has been of a juvenile fantasy adventure, with little threat of real danger to the gang of teens. However as soon as they reach the island, this changes. The happy-go-lucky group face torture and death, and have their loyalties to each other pushed to breaking point. All the little gimmicks the gang had come up with fail to work, exposing them to be the delusional kids they are. It’s akin to buying into Kick-Ass’s credentials as a superhero, right up to the point he’s stabbed in the gut and you think, oh yeah – you’re just a kid...The action is well-shot and choreographed throughout the film, with standout moments being the opening scene and the big finale.

Unfortunately the big finale also contains one of the worst-rendered CGI creatures you’re likely to see in this day and age. The Golem creature is just a mess, and even worse, won’t die quick enough. It almost stalls the film but luckily there is a massive wire-fu fight between Akira, Atsushi and the white haired head vamp Masa.

For the most part, the script is pretty good, although it drops in a whole army of rebels towards the end with zero exposition. There is some nice interplay between Rei and the lead vamps, and there is a great back-story explaining how the vamps took over the island – something which links Atsushi to the head vamp and explains why he’d never tried to leave. Other than the rubbish Golem creature, the only real problem with the film is that it is too long and the mid-section needs trimming of about 20 minutes.

Verdict:

A strange mix of kids’ fantasy movie and grand guignol blood-letting, Higanjima is one of the best-shot fantasy movies to come out of Japan in a long time.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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