with Quentin Tarantino, added a pacing score, & vulgar nuances of j- horror meets western production values, you would get something probably very similar to what is going on here in the ideally titled mini series, CROWS BLOOD.
The commercials for it on El Rey Network during Halloween really intrigued me. Then once I got the time to DVR it I was sorely disappointed that the airing was dubbed in English & commercials in between. I watched the first 2 episodes and then stopped watching because it was not presented as it should be. I knew there was 6 episodes & I would be damned if I did not see the rest.
Eventually I got all 6 episodes, no commercials, Japanese language, English subbed, & I cant be any happier. See, I had a good feeling about this show, especially since I am a fan of a lot of Japanese gangster movies & their horror movies from the far east. I have to say seeing this style of visuals & story that could easily be a movie, have been pulled off really well for a TV series. There has been a boom in horror / drama themed TV shows in the USA & this fits among them very nicely. I'm sure it would rise in popularity if the show was also released on netflix.
The cast is very likable, especially the schoolgirls who are very sexy & adorable, but are capable of such hideous, despicable things. The doctor comes off to me as a Japanese version of a grindhouse modernized copy of Doctor Death from 1973 & provides a promising solution to the human condition but only follows up with zombie-like girls striving on inner decay & black bloodied noses. This use of black blood reminds me also of a great horror film from New Zealand from the early 90s called The Ugly. It is effective & works really well in a lot of scenes.
I still have the rest of the show to watch & I thoroughly enjoy it. I hope they decide to do a second season or I can come across more shows like this in the future. My only real request is to eventually see their OST music somewhere soon. The music for the show is really dark & has a very mysterious feel to it. Job well done there!
Yasushi Akimoto has created a great show with very thoughtful ideas behind it all. Should we let people die naturally as it has been since the beginning of time, or re-animate them with scientific advances that undermine the very laws of nature? You will soon discover the answer to this beautiful madness only by watching, CROWS BLOOD.
