Fantastic Asia Film Festival: Helldriver

by Ernesto Zelaya Minano 15 November 2011 15:57 Filmink Festival Coverage

One of our bloggers went along to the mad splatterfest that was the Opening Night of the Fantastic Asia Film Festival.

The Fantastic Asia Film Festival in Melbourne promised to deliver the most exciting, unique and out-there films from the Asian continent. It is fitting then that they kicked off their first ever year with Helldriver, the latest from Japanese splatter maestro Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police); a zombie action film filled to the brim with dark humour and excessive gore.

The plot, as if you really need one, is straightforward: a section of Japan gets overrun by zombies and walled off following a meteor strike. The government recruits Kika, a schoolgirl with a chainsaw katana powered by the diesel engine transplanted into her chest, to hunt down the zombie leader, her own psychotic mother. The setup is minimal and Nishimura gets it out of the way quickly to concentrate on over-the-top, insane action sequences where pretty much any lunatic idea for carnage he can come up with is thrown at the screen.

As Kika slices and dices her way through the zombie hordes, the blood flows thick and fast; the sheer amount of arterial sprays which literally paint the camera red make a film like Peter Jackson’s Braindead seem like a family movie in comparison. Nishimura is not subtle in his approach, attempting to top himself in excessiveness with every passing minute; just when you think the movie cannot go any more over the top, along comes yet another body part severed in spectacular fashion.

It goes without saying that this movie cannot be taken seriously at all; there is a bit of social satire present – the appearance of protest groups arguing for civil rights for zombies is an ingenious touch – but when put up against an image of a Japanese dictator sporting a Hitler moustache, it’s pretty clear that the aim is just to have some silly fun; the movie has its tongue so far up its own cheek it’s practically engraved there.

Writing a review for Helldriver is a difficult task, since there is no middle ground; it’s a love-it-or-hate-it affair. If grotesqueries like a car made out of body parts or a zombie using spinal cords (with grinning heads still attached) as whips make you roll your eyes, then stay away. This is Nirvana for gorehounds: a slick, kinetic, in-your-face rollercoaster ride, enormously fun if you get into it.

The jury’s still out on whether Yoshihiro Nishimura is a mad genius or just flat-out insane; but he certainly is no slouch. With a background in special effects and makeup, he gives the movie a practical, old school feel, and all on a very limited budget – as he mentioned during the post-film Q&A, “the cost of filming one second of Transformers”. It is certainly impressive, and makes one wonder what the director can come up with if given more resources.

Helldriver is a prime example of what modern Japanese genre cinema is capable of: balls-out, massively fun and not afraid to take chances and be politically incorrect. By uncovering gems like this, the FAFF is certainly making a statement of intent in their first year.