Yoroi Samurai Zombie
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is a 2008 Japanese comic horror film directed by
Tak Sakaguchi is a Japanese actor, director, stage combat, fight choreographer, stuntman and martial artist. He is best known for his role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, ''Versus (2000 film), Versus''. Since his debut, Sakaguchi has worked with Kitamura s ...
and written by
Ryuhei Kitamura is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated to Sydney, Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short film ''Down to Hell'', which receiv ...
, who had previously collaborated on ''
Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...
''. A family taken hostage and their kidnappers become prey to an undead
samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
in a haunted
cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
.


Plot

A family of four (Shigeo, Yasuko, Asami and Ryota) on a
road trip A road trip, sometimes spelled roadtrip, is a long-distance Travel, journey traveled by a car or a motorcycle. History First road trips by automobile The world's first recorded long-distance road trip by the automobile took place in German Em ...
has their idyllic
vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...
turned into a nightmare with a bizarre series of events. They stop their car after accidentally hitting a man dressed in white (Aihara) but when he stands up brandishing a gun, another man, Jirō, shoots Aihara. Jirō and his manic girlfriend Lisa then
carjack Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...
the family's car, holding the father at gun point. When one of the tires is punctured, Jirō tells the father, Shigeo, that they are in the land of the undead and that the father must go off to find help, leaving his family with the captors. When Shigeo finds a ghostly cemetery he starts digging until he finds a blade which he then uses to decapitate himself, with the resulting fountain of blood spraying an ancient tomb. Some time later an eerie samurai warrior appears from the tomb and begins to hunt the family and the captors. The fugitives think to find shelter in an abandoned building but more horrors and surprises await.


Cast


Release

The film had its world premiere at the
Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...
as part of the World Fantastic Cinema section. It was released theatrically by Xanadeux () in Japan on February 14, 2009. The film also appeared at the
New York Asian Film Festival The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is a film festival held in New York City dedicated to the display of Asian film and culture. The New York Asian Film Festival generally features contemporary premieres and classic titles from Eastern Asia ...
in June 2009. It was also released as a DVD in 2009 under the title ''Samurai Zombie'' with English and Chinese subtitles.


Reception

David Canfield of
Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...
called it a rare film that combines humor, atmosphere, and thoughtful themes. Gareth Jones of
Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...
called it "a wildly entertaining but occasionally unsteady dose of Eastern splatter." Ben Bussey of Brutal As Hell wrote, "It certainly ain't the new ''
Battle Royale Battle Royale may refer to: * Battle royale, or battle royal, a fight among many combatants ** Battle royal (professional wrestling) Fiction and literature * Battle royale genre, a narrative genre of films, manga, anime and visual novels inspire ...
'' or ''
Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...
'', but as far as contemporary Japanese horror goes, ''Samurai Zombie'' is certainly one of the stronger entries I've seen for a while." James Mudge of Beyond Hollywood described it as "a cut above" the typical Japanese splatter film.


References


External links

* * * {{Official website, http://www.cinemacafe.net/official/yoroi-zombie/ 2008 comedy horror films 2008 films 2000s Japanese films Films about hijackings Films about vacationing Films set in cemeteries Japanese action comedy films Japanese action horror films Japanese comedy horror films Japanese slasher films Japanese splatter films 2000s samurai films Zombie comedy films Films scored by Nobuhiko Morino