Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm gonna be covering a Japanese horror comedy from 2001. That movie is "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies".
Now before I go any further, I should probably explain something about the film's title for just a moment. See, you guys wouldn't notice this, seeing as how I do these reviews on a text format as opposed to something like a YouTube video. But the version of the movie I have on DVD, only calls it "Stacy". And apparently, it's also on the official release of the movie that was released in the U.S.. Now I have no idea as to why they didn't include it's full title on the DVD. I mean, it's not like it's hard to pronounce or the title's too long or anything. But just for the sake of it, I'm gonna go by it's original title here, seeing as how almost every website I've looked up also include's the movie's full title as well.
So anyway, let's move on from that piece of oddity and actually get into the movie itself here. And the only thing I can really tell you guys, in case you didn't pick up on it already, is that it's a horror comedy that also features zombies. And those can be kind of fun at times. I mean, I enjoy movies like "Dead & Breakfast" and "Dead Snow", both of which were also zombie comedies. And also, they both apparently have the word 'dead' in their titles. Which I honestly didn't notice until I started naming them as examples. So, that's certainly interesting.
But yeah, those are two examples of zombie comedies that I do enjoy, And something else that is also kinda, sorta interesting to note is that all 3 movies, including this one, all take place in a different region. "Dead & Breakfast" takes place in the U.S., "Dead Snow" took place in the mountains of Norway, and this movie is set in Japan. And I think this also may be the first zombie comedy I've seen that takes place in the Far East. At least, as far as I know of anyways.
So, I'm gonna see if a zombie comedy from Japan will actually be any decent. And the only way I'm gonna find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies".
5 minutes later
Wait wait wait, wait a fucking second here. So, this doctor says that these zombies, or "Stacies" as they're calling them, only die by repeat kills if you slice them up into 165 pieces. Even though earlier, we saw a police squad shoot at a zombified high school girl, and presumably taking her down. Now ignoring that bit of logic for a moment, why exactly do you need to slice them into 165 pieces? What kind of logic did this doctor come up with when he was studying this bizarre case in which high school girls are turning into zombies? I'm not quite sure yet, guys, but considering this doctor's already shady from the get go, I have a feeling he's hiding more than what he already knows. Just call it a hunch if you will.
10 minutes later
You know, guys, I find it really weird how they have the one actor who looks plainly like an American, talking about the "Bruce Campbell Right Hand 2". And what's really strange about all this is that I can faintly hear the guy talking in English, even though I'm watching the official version of this movie on DVD which *only* contains the Japanese audio with English subtitles. I don't know why I find that weird, guys, but it's kinda throwing me off slightly.
6 minutes later
So, this illegal repeat killing group is named after Drew Barrymore because she's their idol...OK. Don't see how that's suppose to be funny, unless the name Drew is purposefully shoved into the title of their name, thus naming it after Drew Barrymore. Either way, it still isn't really all that funny, but I guess it kinda sorta makes sense, if you actually want to think on this group's level of logic.
18 minutes later
OK...I've never seen someone pulling a head from someone's neck like that, which also meant pulling out their spine as well. Jeez, that's honestly kinda sickening to watch. I will say, though, the special effects in this movie are really good for low budget standards. Still...that was really nasty to see.
19 minutes later
So, guys, I really didn't want to ask this, seeing as how we're almost an hour into the movie, and there's only about a little over 20 minutes left to go here, but I gotta ask it now. When does this thing start to get funny? I mean, it's a horror comedy for god's sake, and I haven't laughed once since this movie started. Like I said, there's only a little over 20 minutes left of the movie to go here, so I'm hoping maybe that I'll get a laugh out of this before the movie is done. And if not, then we might have a serious problem here.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies". Thank fucking god, it's over. I'm gonna shut this movie off now...Jesus Christ, that was almost torturous to get through. Sorry, guys, but it's been a while since I last watched a movie that almost fried my brain. Yeah, this movie is just...well, shit, really. I still don't even know what to say about it, because that almost left me dumbfounded in the worst way possible.
My god...OK, well, let's just try to get through this review here first and see what I can actually dissect here. Well, I may as well just start off with how I usually do with a lot of these reviews. Let's start with the writing. The story here makes no sense whatsoever. And I need to make a little confession to you guys, I actually did read a little bit of the film's synopsis on the back of the DVD case and it didn't make very much sense to me. But I figured that maybe what I read there was gonna make more sense once I started watching this film...and it didn't. Nothing about it made any sense. And if that wasn't any indication enough, the last 20 minutes of the movie will make even less sense to you. I was trying to make sense of what the hell was going on, but as it just kept going with it's own in-cohesive narrative, my brain began to clock out, and it just ends up becoming boring by the time the movie's finished. Which, for a horror comedy, is a bad thing to end up doing.
Speaking of which, let's talk about the film's attempt at humor. I could see that this film was trying to be something of a homage to B movie zombie flicks, especially stuff like George A. Romero's films. In fact, the police squad I mentioned way early on in the film that was shooting up one of the high school zombie girls are actually known as the Romeros. Which is sort of a neat reference, but the problem here is that none of the humor is really all that funny. The only thing that got me to close to actually smiling a little bit is when they bring up Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2. Which, OK, it's a cute little reference to "Evil Dead", but it's not really enough. References don't really make your comedies funny. Which is a problem that most people have with Friedberg and Seltzer's movies, since their films mostly just relied on references to pop culture and shit. However, if there's any real praise I can give here is that, unlike and Friedberg and Seltzer, they don't tell you what they're referencing. You have to figure out for yourself that the Bruce Campbell reference is from "Evil Dead". So, it's at least something.
I will also say that, while the story here doesn't make any sense, I will say that at least it's not your typical zombie apocalypse movie. You know, the ones where a group of survivors must band together in a post apocalyptic world where zombies rule and the human population is near extinction. It's nothing like that, though they do make mention of the latter in which high school girls between the ages of 15 and 17 end up dying and are resurrected as zombies, or "Stacies" as what they're really called here. And it somehow ended up where the birthrates in Japan have gone down drastically because girls around that age are always ended up killed by their loved ones. And there's also something about butterfly powder that's connected to these Stacies, though it's very vague and doesn't really make much sense. But then again, like I said, the story here doesn't really make much sense to begin with once you actually try to think about it yourself.
Characters...what fucking characters? There is nobody in this movie that has even a shred of depth, personality, or likability. If I had to pick the worst character here, it would probably have to go to Eiko. And that's mainly because Eiko is easily the most annoying character in this entire movie. Every time she laughs or rings that fucking wind chime she always carries around with her, I wanted her to die because she is that annoying. And a bit of a spoiler here, by the end of the movie, she ends up dying and ends up becoming a Stacy, which causes Shibukawa, the only male character who develops something of a relationship with her, to kill her and kill her again because of the whole "repeat killing" thing. Yeah, that shit also made no sense either, but that's another thing I could go on a half hour rant about if I cared enough to make sense of it.
So, to summarize this up to you guys, the writing in this movie is mostly shit. What was suppose to be a horror comedy ends up becoming nonsensical and stupid by the time it reaches the last 20 minutes of the movie. And even before that, there's nothing about it that will guarantee to make you laugh. The acting here is all right, though. I can sense that a lot of these actors were trying to ham up their lines in a goofy sort of way, and it kinda sorta works, And it seems like the actors here were at least trying to have fun with their roles. So despite my criticisms I have about the writing, the acting here is at least somewhat competent.
Special effects here are actually really good. This film was obviously made on a low budget, but the filmmakers actually went out of their way to make the effects stand out, and they did so tremendously. All of the blood and gore effects here are really good, especially the bit I mentioned earlier when the doctor was pulling one of the zombie girl's head and the spine just comes out right with it. That bit was awesome. The makeup effects are also really good, too. Seriously, if there is any reason you want to check this movie out, watch it for the amazing special effects. They are seriously that good. The prop involving Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2 is also cool-looking as well. Even though I still haven't seen any of the "Evil Dead" movies, I am aware of the chainsaw that Ash uses, so I would love to have a prop version of that myself and this movie kinda sorta makes me want to get one.
But anyway, special effects are really good for this movie. Camerawork here is pretty good. It sorta gives me the impression that it was shot on video rather than using a professional film camera, although I say that mostly for the beginning where it looks like older footage compared to the camera technology we have today. Though then again, this movie did come out in 2001, so perhaps it makes sense why it looks the way it does here. Lighting here is lit fine. The sound-mixing is also mixed fine. And the music here is also pretty decent, too. Though it's not exactly great either, so make of it what you will. The music here is just fine for what it is.
So ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Stacy: Attack Of The Schoolgirl Zombies"? Not really, no. The only way I could maybe recommend it is if you shut your brain off entirely and just view it as a mindless popcorn flick. That, or perhaps if you're somebody who's a fan of seeing blood and guts on screen, then sure, I would probably say go watch it that way. But if you're somebody who wanted to see a good horror comedy, then no. This movie is not that. The humor isn't really funny, and the last 20 minutes will more than likely fry your brain if you attempt to think about it. So yeah, this movie sucks hard. And you want to know something else? Originally beforehand, I discovered this movie at my local mini mall and they were selling a copy of this thing for $30. Yes, seriously, that is how much they were charging it. Now I didn't buy it then, because it was just too much for even me. But then later, I eventually discovered this movie again at one of my local video stores and they were selling it for $8, which is the copy that I bought. And I'm thankful that I bought it then, because had I been stupid enough to get this thing for $30, I probably would've been even angrier than what I was already for this review. But for $8, it's not that much of a rip off. Still though, I don't think it was entirely worth it in the end.
So now, I'm gonna go and watch a better horror comedy, and I think I'm gonna go and watch my copy of "Dead Snow" again. It's not a great movie, but it's still funnier than this movie tried to be. And on that note, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
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