By Leeann Aubuchon-Swimm
“Tokyo Gore Police” is a quirky Japanese gore film directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura. This film takes place in Tokyo at some point in the distant future. Police have been privatized and their mission is to hunt down and destroy mutant serial killers known as “engineers”. When a human is killed by an engineer a key shaped gene is some how transplanted into them and then they too become a murderous, malformed psychopath (his/her wound transforming into a weapon). Ruka played by Eihi Shiina is the movie’s heroine a short skirt wearing, weapon wielding young cop from this special unit. Apparently, Ruka is a part of this squad to avenge her father’s assassination. This is the entire plot and sub-plot of the movie.
The Good: This movie is so bad that it’s good… It is one of those films that you keep telling yourself that you are going to turn off yet feel compelled to watch just for five more minutes. Despite all of the gory, perverse mayhem this movie is incredibly artistic. The cinematography is excellent, with fantastic camera work and lighting effects. The gore effects in this film are beyond cool. Forget about taking gore to a new level, Nishimura takes it to a whole new world; creating a woman engineer who’s lower half of her body are alligator jaws and a man with a giant penis cannon! Initially, I was concerned about this film being nearly two hours long but the pacing was quite good; there was a lot of awesome action choreography and you were never quite sure where this strange journey was headed.
The Bad: “Tokyo Gore Police” is just not scary. It is inaccurate to even categorize this film as a horror flick. This movie is also not for everyone, it is for a very specific audience. It is best appreciated by Japanese gore movie enthusiasts with a fascination for all things perverse, grotesque, and bizarre. If you are looking for a good storyline and character development you will surely be let down.
Overall Impression: This film is inventive and unique. However, is not for your typical horror fan. ‘Tokyo Gore Police” is sadistic and contains sexually deviant sequences that are so over-the-top and surreal it actually has a slapstick feel to it. There is no storyline but this film really doesn’t need one, it simply is what it is. If you have a very open mind and low expectations you will not be disappointed.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5 / 10