Horror-A-Day: Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

My target for horror has been a bit of a moving target. Aside from my general inability to pick movies based on quality, my chosen style of horror has been jumping around on a seemingly daily basis. Two days ago I went with the low-rent B-movie to pass some time. The day before I went with an interesting synopsis. My last choice was based on a star name, and he turned out to only be in it for a scant few minutes. This time around I have chosen a known quantity, a movie I have seen before. I decided I wanted something over the top bloody. Not necessarily scary, but I wanted blood.



When it comes to over the top blood the obvious choice would by Peter Jackson's splatter classic Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead). However, it was not all that long ago that I had seen that and i did not want to revisit it quite so soon. Now, you will recall I did choose a known quantity, just one I haven't seen in awhile. The winner of the blood prize this particular day went to Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. If you have not seen this and you like veritable fountains of blood, this is one you do not want to miss.

The movie was directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura (who also helmed Tokyo Gore Police and was involved in the effects of countless other like-minded gore flicks) and Naoyuki Tomomatsu (who also directed an early entry in the Japan splatter craze, Stacy). These guys know what they are doing when it comes to low budget, highly stylized gore. I am actually a big fan of the recent splatter output from Japan, including those already mentioned along with Machine Girl, Meatball Machine, Hard Revenge Millie, and Robogeisha. Crazy stuff, I tell you.

The story centers on Jyugon (Takumi Saito). He is the most popular boy in school, all the girls want him as their boyfriend. However, it is alpha-girl Keiko (Eri Otoguro), who is also the daughter of the vice principal, who wins him as her prize. This all changes with the arrival of a transfer student named Monami (Yukie Kawamura) tricks Jyugon into eating a chocolate that she has laced with her on blood. Yeah, that's kind of gross.

It turns out that Monami is a vampire and is looking for a compatible partner, the blood was a test. Of course, this does not go over well with Keiko. A tragic accident later and Keiko winds up int he hands of her father, who also happens to be a kabuki-painted mad scientist researching reanimation in the Frankenstein tradition. He has found the key to his research in a drop of Monami's blood, and using it and a bunch of harvested organs, brings Keiko back. This leads to a fight to end all fights between Monami and Keiko, Vampire Girl versus Frankenstein Girl.

This movie crazy. The story is light, but the everything is taken so far over the top that I cannot help but love it. It is not really horror in the traditional sense, but it has monsters and gore and elements that make a horror movie. This is just a whole mess of fun. The blood spurts in geysers from severed limbs. Appendages can be detached and used as weapons. The characters have crazed looks and go about their deeds with reckless abandon. This doesn't even get to the wrist cutter girls or the super dark girls club (wow, there's a conversation starter).

Aaahh, the joy of splatter films. Blood, body parts, and cheese, they go so well together. Impossible to take seriously, impossible to put down. This is definitely not one to pass up. And if you pay attention you will catch a cameo by director Takashi Shimizu as a teacher who keeps talking about his own movie.