‘Tokyo is on fire’
Meatball Machine Kodoku – original title: Kodoku: Mîtobôru mashin – is a 2017 Japanese science fiction comedy horror film directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Helldriver; Tokyo Gore Police; Zombie TV) from a screenplay co-written by Sakichi Satô (A Chain of Cursed Murders; Tokyo Zombie; Ichi the Killer). The film is a belated sequel to Meatball Machine (2005). It stars Tomori Abe, Kensuke Ashihara and Satoshi Eishima.
A lonely man’s life is thrown into chaos when alien parasites turn a city’s average citizens into kill-crazy cyborg creatures…
The film is being shown the Horror Channel FrightFest in London on 28 August, 2017.
Reviews:
“It’s meant to be a midnight movie gore extravaganza with excessive grunting in place of dialogue, boobs (some of which function as bullet-firing weapons) instead of storytelling structure, and buckets of blood occupying the entire second and third acts. As far as these goals go, Kodoku kicks all three square in the groin as hard as it can.” Ian Sedensky, Culture Crypt
“While these crazy Japanese films are a blast in short spurts, they start to become a little tiring when they venture past the 80-minute mark, and it’s even worse when there are noticeable scenes that could have been trimmed or deleted altogether. Overall, though, there’s still a lot of fun to be had here.” Blair Hoyle, Cinema Slasher
“Cinematographer Keizo Suzuki has given Kodoku Meatball Machine a neon sheen that recalls some of Nicolas Refn’s recent work and there’s an eerie nightclub scene that evokes the palette and vibe of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Some groovy stop-motion animation comes on like Ray Harryhausen on DMT and a load of intentionally cheesy special effects give the movie a deranged hallucinatory brilliance. The second half of the film is a relentless mindf*ck.” Marc Campbell, Dangerous Minds
“Right, at least four tons of fake blood. You can’t say you don’t know what you’re getting into with KMM. It should safely vault Nishimura past Noboru Iguchi to become the uncontested king of Japanese gore. Yet, the fact that he maintains a semblance of a human element amid all the berserk chaos is rather impressive.” Joe Bendel, J.B. Spins
“It is leaps and bounds ahead of the film that preceded it in the series […] The use of practical effects is great and very effective, with the costumes of infected people looking very detailed and realistic. The gore effects, while absurdly excessive, are gorgeous and decadent. This is just a well-crafted, completely bonkers, yet easily lovable gorefest.” Bron Anderson, Why So Blu?
Main cast:
Tomori Abe, Kensuke Ashihara, Satoshi Eishima, Gôki, Yôta Kawase, Riri Kôda, Rima Matsuda, Masanori Mimoto, Maki Mizui, Seminosuke Murasugi, Takashi Nishina, Takumi Saitô, Ririne Sasano, Eihi Shiina (Helldriver; Tokyo Gore Police; Audition), Kentarô Shimazu
