Meatball Machine [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This is the most satisfying flick I have had the pleasure of watching this year. If you're a fan of '80's horror, like myself, you will love the old-school special effects from Yoshihiro Nakamura (Tokyo Gore Police) in this top-notch Japanese cyberpunk gem made on a shoestring budget. Think Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo in colour meets Ryuhei Kitamura's Versus and you're halfway there. The other half is what I'd imagine the live action version of the Hyperkinetic anime Gantz to resemble; but, we'll have to wait until 2011 to see if my comparison is accurate or just my over active imagination running wild - again.

The Necroborg have come to earth to invade the human body like a parasite and use it to commence in battle with other Necroborgs. They fight to the death and then move on searching for their next opponent. The perfect host is one who has suffered extreme pain, so theoretically the good natured individual should be safe. Yôji's (Issei Takahashi) nature is so, and when he stumbles across a hard metal shell in an alleyway (the Necroborg before it metamorphosis with a host) it has no reaction to him but his curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to take the thing home - whoops!

Late one night Yôji stumbles upon the women of his innermost desires, Sachiko (Aoba Kawai), being raped by another fellow worker. He attempts to come to her aid but ends up getting a sweet kicking; Sachiko feels sorry for him and returns with him to his apartment. Sachiko's damaged psyche arouses the bio-mechanical monster from his slumber and ends up being penetrated in the face and another orifice which may be deemed too taboo to type here. Yôji is also infected after being duped by an embittered scientist seeking a food source for his hybrid daughter and the plot eventually leads to a showdown fight to the death between the two potential paramours - happy days.

The host's rage combined with the rat sized parasite can create any biochemical weapons they desire - an arm becomes a rocket launcher capable of firing bones collected from exterminated humans; other limbs transform into bombs or flame-throwers until the winner has eating the losers heart-bulb. This is all done in the best possible gory taste culminating in a splatterific blood bath. The ending to this low budget, unpredictable mass of demented energy is brilliant and by the time the final credits roll you will be begging for more Meatball!

Meatball Machine. The name alone is quite intriguing. After watching The Machine Girl I was really in the mood for another Japanese splatterfest, and this one has been floating around my "to-do" pile for quite some time now. Newcomer Jun'ichi Yamamoto is back to co-direct a remake of his 1999 short film of the same name, this time with director Yûdai Yamaguchim, of Battlefield Baseball fame. It's a great Japanese cyberpunk film that relies heavily on body disfigurement and a bizarre storyline, as well as elements of horror and post-apocalypticism. Then of course you've got your blood and gore by the bucketload. All of these things combined are the perfect combination for an excellent movie.

Our film today is really comprised of two storylines that eventually mingle together to become the movie. The first story revolves around Yoji (Issei Takahashi), a loner who works in some industrial warehouse. He is harboring a secret attraction for Sachiko (Aoba Kawai) another lonely girl who lives near his place of employment. After being beaten up by a transvestite whose advances he turned down in a porn theatre, Yoji finds what can only be described as a golden turtle shell, that secretes what can only be described as golden turtle shell semen. Curious boy that he is, he takes it home and puts it in his closet. Shortly afterwards he stumbles across a co-worker attempting to rape Sachiko. After being beaten by a man in drag, I don't know if I'd be trying to take on a full grown man, even if he was by himself. Failing miserably but still causing the man to leave, Yoji is taken to his home by Sachiko, who tends to his wounds. To his horror, the semen secreting golden turtle shell attacks Sachiko and turns her into a kind of cyborg battle machine. The other storyline involves these parasitic creatures. There appears to be two separate groups, each side taking a number of hosts who are then forced to battle each other to the death. Not the most original idea, but when combined with the first story, it gives the film a bit of heart, and you find yourself torn between wanting more action and more gore, and also rooting for Yoji to save the woman he loves.

I think it's safe to say that this is one of the best cyberpunk movies I've seen. I've probably only watched 15 or so, but this was the most fun of the bunch. Even though Issei Takahashi and Aoba Kawai were the two "leads" in this film, they really didn't play as big a part as you'd think. They did an incredible job at portraying the pain, sadness and despair you would feel in a situation like this, but their roles were considerably smaller than a typical film. Part of this is because of the time spent as the creatures. The suits they had to wear were massive, and didn't allow for much acting to take place. It must have been pretty physically demanding mind you, especially during the fight scenes. The majority of the gore was in said fight scenes, and to my delight there was almost no CGI used whatsoever. I can't tell you how much this pleases me, to see filmmakers actually creating movie magic, rather than let some geek in a chair take care of it. I've seen some gory movies in my day, but this ranks up there as one of the better ones. There's just something about it that makes it graceful; almost playful. That sounds strange for a movie with head splitting, dismemberment, and an eyeball gouging scene that is almost on par with Fulci's Zombi 2. There is enough of the red stuff in here to satisfy the cravings of even the most fiendish gorehound, myself included.

If I were to look for flaws in this one, I'd only come up with one - the bizarre way in which the fight scenes were cut into the beginning of the movie. It was interesting to see the battles mixed in with the crowded and bustling city, but I think it could have been better if they saved them for later in the picture. I think they tipped their hand a little early, and didn't focus as much on the story as they did on the extreme gore and special effects. Don't get me wrong, I loved that part of it to no end, but I also love a good story and some character development. While a bit lacking in this department, it was still a fantastic movie. In case you haven't figured it out, I loved it to bits and would recommend it to fans of splatter films, Japanese cinema, cyberpunk, or just movie lovers in general. If this had been released this year, it would have made my top 10 list for sure. 9/10. By TheFecalKid

If your a big fan of japanese movies then this one is worth having in your collection, loads of gore and blood and guts and brains all over the screen, along with a weird story and cool visual effects, its all very low budget sci-fi looking in its style but is so original and fun to watch, certainly makes a change! also look out on dvd for the brilliant "Tokyo gore police" and "machine girl" these are fantastic titles too, probably the bloodiest and most weird japanese films ever made.