I've got to say, Tokyo Gore Police is one of the better films I've seen in the Japanese dystopian splatterpunk genre.
The think I love about Japanese body horror is that people don't just sprout new orafaces or lumps or whatever. They sprout almost anything. From telescope eyes, to sword limbs, to crotch guns - you never know what new thing a person is going to grow. I'm not sure what this says about Japanese cultural anxieties, but there's probably something in there.
Story-wise, this is a pretty typical "guy presented as a good guy turns out to the bad guy" thing. The details aren't really important, as the story is really just the backdrop for the fight sequences, which are, as the title promises, plenty gory.
Fans of Asian trash cinema will probably love this. Most other people will probably be grossed out or confused by it. I thought it was fun, if a bit overlong. The lead actress is lovely, and engaging onscreen. I thought that the fetish elements didn't really add much, and could have been used a lot more effectively. They did contribute to the general WTF atmosphere of the whole thing, but it really just felt like the director was a big fan of Hellraiser. (I'd love to see a horror/action flick actually treat S&M and fetish stuff realistically and not just play it for the costumes and edgy situations.
Overall, decent. Not great. Fun if you're into this sort of thing, but don't get too hung up on the plot.
The think I love about Japanese body horror is that people don't just sprout new orafaces or lumps or whatever. They sprout almost anything. From telescope eyes, to sword limbs, to crotch guns - you never know what new thing a person is going to grow. I'm not sure what this says about Japanese cultural anxieties, but there's probably something in there.
Story-wise, this is a pretty typical "guy presented as a good guy turns out to the bad guy" thing. The details aren't really important, as the story is really just the backdrop for the fight sequences, which are, as the title promises, plenty gory.
Fans of Asian trash cinema will probably love this. Most other people will probably be grossed out or confused by it. I thought it was fun, if a bit overlong. The lead actress is lovely, and engaging onscreen. I thought that the fetish elements didn't really add much, and could have been used a lot more effectively. They did contribute to the general WTF atmosphere of the whole thing, but it really just felt like the director was a big fan of Hellraiser. (I'd love to see a horror/action flick actually treat S&M and fetish stuff realistically and not just play it for the costumes and edgy situations.
Overall, decent. Not great. Fun if you're into this sort of thing, but don't get too hung up on the plot.