Reipu zonbi: Lust of the dead 2

I'm not quite sure what director Naoyuki Tomomatsu is trying to say with his Rape Zombie films, if, indeed, he is trying to say anything at all. Are the films a condemnation of Japan's rape culture or a celebration of it? Are women responsible for such a culture, as one male character suggests, or is this outlandish opinion a satirical swipe at misogyny? Who knows?

What I am sure of is that Lust of the Dead 2 delivers enough sex and violence to please those who simply love Japan's more outrageous cinematic efforts. This second helping of deviant weirdness continues on directly from the first film, which ended with the nuclear devastation of Tokyo and the birth of a glowing baby to lesbian couple Momoko and Nozomi (Alice Ozawa). Married couple Shinji and Maki (Ren Miyamura) are forced to leave the safety of their home after an attack from a zombie, and wander the apocalyptic city landscape, where they are hunted by platoons of Otaku (virginal Anime fans who are unaffected by the zombie virus). Fortunately, the couple find sanctuary with an armed group of women who are keen to run tests on Shinji to discover why he is not a zombie. Meanwhile, a sexy American robot sent to aid the survivors does battle with the Otaku.

This chaotic plot serves up quite a lot of cheapjack but very messy gore and a fair amount of female nudity, as per the first film, with lots of Asian cuties being abused by the zombies and a completely gratuitous lesbian tryst. There's also a steamy scene in which Nozomi satisfies herself while looking at pictures of Momoko, her hand going to work on her boobs and under her gusset. The gore is, once again, a mixture of real effects and shoddy CGI, but it's wonderfully over-the-top: an early decapitation and emasculation of a zombie is suitably blood-drenched, while a man cut in half by the robot's laser results in lots of slippery internal organs hitting the floor. Also rather memorable: a really manky looking zombie with a huge sperm cannon, and another that talks to the female survivors, explaining why it rapes (in a manner not too dissimilar to the chatty half-zombie from The Return of the Living Dead). On the downside, the visual effects are even worse than the first film, with the ruined city backdrops looking particularly awful.

While the first one is not a enjoyable or smart, in any way whatsoever, this second "movie" in the franchise is just plain dumb. It fails in every level. Not a single aspect of this is salvageable. They even have a scene where the actors walk in place pretending to stroll down the street on a green screen. This is laughable, and not in a "so bad its good" way Furthermore, how is this not called just porn?

You would have to be a zombie to enjoy this rubbish. Poor plot, amateur actors & special effects that look like they fell out of a corn flake box. I usually enjoy films that are against the grain, but this has to be in a poor league of it's own. I should have known this would be as bad as it's title. You really would be better watching a blank screen.

It is a film that improves a little to the first of the saga. I'm not saying it's a big deal but at least there is a development in some characters and on the other hand we see that there is a certain aim in the sequences that are definitely the attraction of the film. Even so, it is still mediocre at all levels ... As much as it represents the murky fantasies of the average Japanese, it is still lacking in quality for trained stomachs like those of this server. Only for fans.

Right, well I had watched the 2012 movie "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead" years ago, and I vaguely recall it as being a really, really bad movie. So as I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2013 sequel "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead 2", it was with quite some reluctancy. However, I opted to give it a chance on the account of it being better than the first movie.

However, I have to admit that I wasn't harboring any expectations really to writers Yûko Momochi and Naoyuki Tomomatsu to deliver something outstanding. I mean, just look at the title alone, and the fact that the movie is starring Asami.

And as it turned out then "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead 2" was every bit as bad as the first movie, and then some. But hey, if you enjoyed the first movie then you'll also enjoy this sequel. I didn't enjoy the first movie, nor did I enjoy this 2013 sequel.

The special effects in "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead 2" are exactly that; special. And not in a good way. The special effects here are very low budget and amateurish. But then again, of course there is an audience out there for a movie such as this; perhaps a mostly Japanese audience I suppose, since this franchise has spawned five movies.

And with "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead 2" being as bad as the first movie, I am not even going to bother with the rest of the movie. This is definitely in a league of its own.

My rating of director Naoyuki Tomomatsu's 2013 "Reipu Zonbi: Lust of the Dead 2" lands on a very generous two out of ten stars, mostly for the effort they put into making this movie.