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Machine Girl
Directed by: Noboru Iguchi Starring: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Kentaro Shimazu Synopsis: Ami is a highschool student who vows revenge on the son of a yakuza boss, who bullied her younger brother and his friend to death. After a ferocious initial encounter where she learns the hard way that the boy takes after his parents, she retreats to heal her wounds, transforming into the Machine Girl. But revenge can be a vicious circle... Review: There have been a lot of low-budget horror movies in this vein coming out of Japan – straight-to-video efforts which try to hook the viewer with gore fx more outrageous than they are realistic. Although Machine Girl has plenty of those moments (oh boy does it), it is definitely one of the more superior movies of its type and for once, the movie lives up to the cool looking image on the dvd cover.
Machine Girl isn’t just 78 minutes of mindless violence, however. The opening reflects an ongoing affliction in just about any school in any country – vicious bullying which is as much psychological as it is physical. And worse, the people closest to the victim find out too late about their problem. Not only that but the parents of the bullies are living in a state of denial, almost blaming the victim for being a target. Naturally this just adds more people to Ami’s hitlist... 
There are a whole host of bad guys to be taken care of. As I mentioned earlier, some of the parents are in a state of denial over their kid's wrong-doings. This is no better handled than when Ami visits one of their houses to tell them what their son had been part of. One of the more colouful groups that turn up are the Shuriken Highschool gang, a trio of red ninjas who cause a lot of mayhem.
There are a number of film references throughout the movie too – the head bully’s family is descended from Hanzo Itami , the central character of a series of movies depicting a samurai policeman who interrogates his female captors in a “special” manner. The long violent sprays of blood from chopped off limbs and decapitated heads hark back to the classic Lone wolf and Cub series. There is a huge amount of death and destruction on display but most of it is portrayed in a very cartoony manner which gives the Machine Girl a live-action anime feel. The special fx are pretty well done and despite the wholescale slaughtering on show the movie never loses it’s light touch.
Verdict: A totally deranged revenge flick fused with anime sensibilities. This is almost on a par with my favourite action gore movie, Story of Ricky . And like that movie, this is one of those that’s fun to show your unsuspecting friends after a bunch of beers and just watch their expressions. If the concept of a girl with a machinegun for an arm doesn’t quite tip this in your favour, I have only two words for you: Bra Drill. It’s as awesome as it sounds. 7 Out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
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