Movie Review: Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

WARNING: POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE IMAGES As part of the summer HKIFF, I indulged in this highly guilty pleasure last weekend.For a long time, I avoided Japanese cinema in general and these 'video nasties' in particular. At some point, however, I began to change.

It was probably picking up some Japanese DVDs at very cheap prices.

The other thing that may have contributed to my thaw was the realization that such outlandish films are absolutely not that popular in Japan, and enjoyed only a brief (arterial) spurt of popularity a few years ago. This stuff is as marginal in Japan as it is everywhere else, maybe even more so. It's not even made for Japan.

This film was a co-production between Japanese and American companies, and its target demographic is the American cult audience. Machine Girland Tokyo Gore Police were produced by the same company (for the same audience).

These films pander to their audiences' tastes and needs, which in this case are pretty women, blood, violence, more blood, and more violence.

These films make Category III slasher films look like Disney films.

In the process, however, they also by necessity and/or default create portrayals of Japanese people and Japanfor an audience whose real-life experiences of either, let alone both, are likely little to none. 

A big part of my interest in watching these films is the critical perspective, of seeing how the audience may inadvertently see Japan and its people. The obvious consequence of that is an 'understanding' of what Japanese people like, watch, and are like.The other part of my attraction to these films is their capacity to wash away the line that marks the outside boundary of what is acceptable in movies.

They wash it away with 1,000 gallons of blood and a mop made from the severed head of a long-haired person with a broomstick shoved into the hole where your spine goes.

These films are so uber-violent that you quickly become inured to the most outrageous, appalling and disturbing images and ideas.This happens in the first five minutes.It also helps that these films are made pretty inexpensively, so that the FX are not really realistic enough to be truly horrifying.So, after that narcolepsy-inducing introduction, let's get to the heart of this thing...Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl tells the story of a transfer student, Monami, who is a vampire. She falls in love with a boy who also happens to be the desired mate of another girl, Keiko.

Simple stuff: girls fight over boy.

Sort of.

Monami is a loner, but Keiko leads a small group of girls whose school uniforms have been altered to look like maid outfits. Keiko's father is the vice-principal of the school, which means Keiko runs the school. Which is good, because her father spends most of his time dressed in a kabuki outfit, carving up students in a quest for the secret of life. He is assisted by the school nurse, a shameless nymphomaniac.

The plot develops from there.

I have to say I really enjoyed this film for reasons other than the obvious.

One of the biggest reasons is the cinematography. While this film was shot on video and mixed in mono, it nevertheless has a  minimum level of decency in terms of the overall look and execution that exceed a lot of films with higher budgets.The best synthesis of these two aspects, irony and cinematography, occur in a scene where Monami 'eats Japanese' in a park late at night. In a wonderfully framed shot, a man stumbles around holding his torn-open throat, which spouts geysers of blood in the air. More blood is misted in from the top right and top left corner, creating a blood shower of unrealistic yet dramatic proportions. Monami dances slowly around with a beatific smile on her face as she is slowly reddened with blood. What makes this scene so great is the background music; a Japanese lounge singer crooning, in English, "I faaaaallll in loooooove...". It is at once absurd, horrible, and beautiful.I really enjoyed the film's sense of excess, occasionally crass nature and a refusal to take anything including itself seriously.This director knows what he has, and he's not going to try and pass it off as anything but a bit of tawdry entertainment. But within that frame, there is also a very strong sub-textual presence about Japanese high schools.

Tokyo Gore Police gave me the same feeling; I know it was saying something about Japan, but I don't have enough knowledge to know what it is.

When I came out of the film, I told The Golden Rock that this film was too dumb to be intelligent but too smart to be stupid. I like films that don't take themselves too seriously. Or films that obviously don't concede that they are not for everyone. At least that's being honest and fair.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I find Tarantino bothersome and tedious as well as being a very lucky (not good) filmmaker. But people are often surprised to know that I really like Robert Rodriguez. Here's the reason why, and it illustrates the point I am making: Rodriguez will tell you that if you don't like his films, it's his fault. Tarantino says it's yours.

I doubt that Yoshihiro Nishimura or Naoyuki Tomomatsu (directors) would blame you for not liking their film.

There are reasons not to like it, too. The female lead can't really act her way out of a paper bag. Monami is aloof, standoffish, and seemingly a bystander in scenes that revolvearound her. It works for the character, but it happens because the actress can't act any more life or depth into Monami. Still, it works.

What also makes it work is the fact that Yukie Kawamura is pretty enough to distract the vast majority of the films intended audience (read: white guys like me):Have her bathed and... wait. I'll do it myself.I have to say that she was not played for a hottie in the film, unlike the nurse, whose name (and photo) I could not discover.

Which is just as well, since I need to leave the house this week...Monami the Vampire Girl wears a school uniform through the film. So you never realize that Yukie Kawamura could be the poster girl for Racks:I wonder if she could act her way out of that bikini...Another thing that many people may dislike is the film's parody of a particular Japanese subculture. Ganguroare Japanese kids who venerate, even worship (their perception of) Black culture. They try to make their skin darker, they perm their hair into afros, they wear certain clothes, etc.

The film parodies them, and if you understand the reference being made, it is a hilarious and highly incisive satire. Unfortunately, it can and will be all too easily misread.Especially when you consider that this film's intended audience is not Japanese but American.This'll go over well in Detroit. Or Chicago. Or LA. Or New York. Or... If you say it's no big deal, then neither is Breakfast at Tiffany's:As I said, I understand the reference and the intent, but I'm not the average American movie viewer.

On a somewhat more localized note, the film also parodies self-mutilation; there is a Wrist Cutting Rally at one point in the film.I don't think it's a funny subject, but obviously the filmmakers do. It's treated no more or less outlandishly than virtually every other subject, so in the context of the film it seems rather at home. It also plays a small part in the overall plot.

All in all, I really enjoyedVampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, and much more than I expected to. I will buy the DVD, and may even show it to my class. It's nowhere near as gory as Tokyo Gore Police. It's also nowhere near as bleak or alienating.

I end my review on this positive notebecause the end of the film is probably my favorite part. The last few lines of dialogue and the final freeze-frame tickled me. It gave me that all-too-rare flash of "This is why I go to movies."

With this film, I was thoroughly entertained, prodded to think a bit, laughed out loud, got to stare at a pretty girl, and was occasionally surprised, both positively and negatively.

What more can you ask for?Acknowledgment:

I don't know anything at all about Japanese culture or film. My ability to sound like I know something is directly and totally due to the kindness and wisdom of Kevin "Golden Rock" Ma. He helped me understand and pointed me in the right directions.  I'm glad and grateful he did.