Reviewed by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Eihi Siina, Itsuji Itao, Camille LaBry, Shoko Nakahara,
Sayako Nakoshi | Written by Kengo Kaji, Sayako Nakoshi and Yoshihiro Nishimura
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 109 minutes | Directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura
Based on his 1995 independent short Anatomia Extinction, Yoshihiro Nishimura's (Meatball Machine: Reject of Death) Tokyo Gore Police is as violently outrageous as you could possibly imagine; a film that truly deserves its instant cult status. With buckets of blood and guts splattering left, right and centre, Nishimura's slapstick gore-fest is a must for any fan of no-strings-attached ultraviolence in cinema.
The stunning Eihi Shiina (from Takashi Miike's brilliant Audition) is a hard-as-nails, katana-wielding cop in a futuristic Tokyo dystopia, where the police force has been privatised and a new breed of genetically-enhanced super criminal roam the streets. Oh yes, and all this is on a backdrop of self-mutilation being the new craze in Japan, to the point where there are even commercials advertising fashionable blades to cut yourself with. Crazy, huh? Beneath all the bloodshed, there is a social commentary on Japanese culture, but other than that, the film is just plain old gross fun.
At (ripped out and sliced up) heart, the film is a revenge story, with Eihi's character searching for the man who killed her father, a cop himself before his head was blown off his shoulders. The gore in the film never failed to impress me with its innovation. Just when you think it cannot get any more extreme, it does, and in insane new ways, from a giant mutated penis that shoots shotgun shells, to a “pet dog” that is actually a limbless woman tied to a leash and walking around on stumps. Tokyo Gore Police is a truly unbelievable piece of Japanese shock cinema that couldn't be any more perfect for a night in with friends, complete with laughs and epic WTF moments aplenty.
EXTRAS ??? The two-disc Collector's Edition contains the Making of Tokyo Gore Police, interviews with the director and star Eihi Shiina, original Japanese trailer, TV spots, original promo reel, and a featurette on the Japanese premiere.