“Versus” (2000) Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.
Starring: Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka, Kenji Matsuda, Kazuhito Ohba and Minoru Matsumoto.
(MF Title: “Zombies, firearms and fight scenes…oh my!”)
Zombie Film Rating:

Overview: Two escaped inmates meet with the local yakuza to evade the authorities. They find themselves double crossed, and after a brief fight with the yakuza, in which one gangster is killed and moments later rises as a zombie to attack his former companions, the surviving prisoner and a kidnapped girl run off into the forest.

The prisoner and the girl find themselves in a forbidding forest, fleeing both the gangsters and the undead. They soon discover there is more to this forest, and their presence there, than was originally thought and reluctantly join forces to not only survive, but to discover the truth.

The Yakuza thugs have plans of their own, taking this opportunity to eliminate their boss and take over the gang, the only question that remains is….just who, or what, is their boss?

Summary: The movie opens with the following:

“There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side, these are concealed from all human beings. But there are some who notice their existence, and some are willing to open the door and try to gain the power of darkness. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal, known as ‘The Forest of Resurrection’. It was a long time ago when the evil soul uncovered its existence.

Prisoner KSC2-303 is brought into an escape attempt by a fellow inmate, and during a transport they overpower their escorts and flee to a remote section of a nearby forest. KSC2-303′s partner has arranged to meet with associates that will transport them out of the area and away to freedom.

Right from the outset things go wrong, and instead of a timely escape a group of local gangsters arrive, telling the prisoners their transport has been delayed and that they have to wait for the boss to arrive. When the gangsters begin roughing up a girl they kidnapped on the way to the meet, KSC2-303 shoots one of the gangsters.

To everyones suprise the dead gangster gets up and attacks one of his cohorts. The yakuza zombie is killed with copious quantities of gunfire, and KSC2-303 and the girl escape into the forest with the remaining gangsters in their heels.

It seems this forest has the power to bring the dead back to life as zombies, and unfortunately the Yakuza have been using this spot to dump the bodies of their slain victims. What follows is an epic series of battles between KSC2-303 and the gangsters and the armed undead and the gangsters.

In a brief zombie killing lull we are introduced to the head gangster, who quells an abortive attempt at a coup by his ambititious henchmen by demonstrating he is a supernatural force. The boss then sends his once again loyal minions to capture the girl, who he needs to open the portal to another dimension, which naturally triggers yet more battles between KSc2-303 and the now undead, and slightly annoyed, yakuza.

The movie culminates in a showdown between good (KSC2-303) and evil (the Yakuza boss), in which good triumphs and evil is decapitated in a bloody fashion.

Of course this isn’t quite the end, we flash forward 99 years at the very end of the film, when good and evil meet once more…but I’ll leave you to see this part of the film yourself.

Critique: This is without a doubt the best zombie movie I have seen in a long time.

The film is filled with excellent fight scenes, creative shootouts and dark humour. The action is well done, and certainly more than I expected from a zombie movie. The soundtrack (while fairly generic) fits perfectly, and I found myself sucked right into the film from the beginning, and despite the almost 2 hours running time I was sad to see the film finally end.

Especially entertaining in this movie is the rich assortment of characters that are introduced and killed in turn. From the bumbling Yakuza member who spends the bulk of the movie either fleeing battles or pulling an almost limitless supply of handguns from the back of his pants, to the braggart police officer who was raised in “Yellowstone park” in Canada, and can track escaped prisoners by smell.

The DVD “directors cut” includes directors commentary as the only bonus features. I have not yet listened to it but even if the commentary was to consist of nothing more than “Hi, I’m the director…” I’d be completely content with the film.

The final word? Damn…give this one a try, I highly recommend it.