Psycho Gothic Lolita

Her beloved mother murdered by a vicious gang of assassins, young Yuki (2007 Best Buttocks Award-winner Akiyama) transforms herself into a Gothic lolita killing machine, wielding a lethal umbrella that can blast, slice, and chop her enemies into oblivion.

I have no idea what the "Best Buttocks Award" is, but Last Chance Lance of Rue Morgue sums up the film as "the perfect combo of glam and gore that'll please perverts and gorehounds alike." That is pretty close to the truth. Not sure about the "glam" (though the fashions are a nice throwback to the best of the 1990s). The gore is there, and with a weapon that puts the Penguin to shame.

And the filming style. Maybe I just have not seen enough Japanese films, but this felt like all the best parts of "Kill Bill" rolled up into a fun little package.

This movie is not logical. This movie is not challenging your intellect. This movie does not want you to think too much about it. This movie gives you exactly what the title offers, nothing more.

I think it "borrowed" a lot from Kill Bill, for example certain fighting moves or villain character traits. (Actually, my first thought was Tarantino had seen this movie and decided to make a western, a little more serious version. Then I noticed this was the more recent production.) The story seems a little similar too. I'm not saying that there IS much of a story here. In fact, I expected the story to be nonsense, but not to be that incomplete. Still, it was fun to watch, and had me constantly ask myself whether is was entertaining because it was so creative or just because of its plain stupidity.

It is one of those movies I'm not able to judge by the standards of "good" or "bad". If you like goth style and anime-like over-the-top action sequences, you will be entertained. (I was.) Just don't expect anything else.

Fun, but not mindblowing. The only really noteworthy villain of all is Elle, very tongue-in-cheek parody of anime girls/J-Pop idol culture which will make you laugh a lot. The ending is interesting too, with an unexpected twist with potentials in regards to its development. Other than that, the gore is very restricted and the fight scenes are at 50% of capacity of what you would expect from the aforementioned directors, especially Iguchi. That said, I don't get those that made connections with Kill Bill in the reviews. Only because of the Eyepatch of Elle? Really? Complete and utter nonsense. This has nothing to do with Kill Bill in the slightest. This is your typical revenge manga/anime thing with the protagonist fighting her way through different bosses, there's not an inch of Kill Bill here. Without mentioning Kill Bill was "inspired" by Japanese revenge flicks in the first place...

Slight exaggeration there, but I thoroughly enjoyed Yuki's (Rina Akiyama) fight scenes and crazy gadgets her father builds for her (plus her boots are amazing), all in her hell-bent quest to bring down every person in the gang responsible for killing her mother.

Psycho Gothic Lolita is real light on plot (I've already covered it above, and I don't even think they explain why all these characters wanted her mother dead... though she was some sort of a demon?), but real heavy on style and entertainment value. There was a whole wave of these crazy female-led Japanese gore movies, and while there are certainly better ones out there (Noboru Iguchi is a genius), I would still recommend this one.

Only in Japan. The array of wacky characters, clever action, and oddball turns of events are a few of the things that make these movies great. The array of out-there characters she has to terminate, and the gory fights that ensue make for an entertaining evening. I think my favorite character was the psychic professor, whose sole ability is... to blow up young ladies' skirts. Which he also pulls on Lolita herself. Again, only in Japan! Another showdown is her against this whole bizarre "Kamikaze" gang, who choreograph their name(!), and she rescues this poor hapless beating victim... Only it turns out she chased off the gang to get revenge on that guy.

If your into revenge flicks, with a thoroughly badass female protagonist, and don't mind a complete lack of plot or character development, I would consider this movie a blast.

What can I tell about this flick. It's a typical Japanese flick but in the new way. This one do has a story but there isn't that much going on except a few flash backs and a lot of fighting scenes. The credits on the sleeve did mention the new attraction Asami but she's maybe for 2 minutes in this flick. On the other hand they tease you with Rina Akiyama who has won the Best Buttocks Award 2007. Guess she asks to much to show it.

I found it an average flick with the last fight having something special. Suddenly the flick moves into some kind of possessed flick with devils and monsters. Still, it's full of sputtering wounds, Japanese style. No nudity whatsoever. I have seen so many of those kind of flicks the last months with humour and gore that I can't tell which one was different from the other one. Only for the lovers of the new Japanese horror but for me, old school was much better.

Gore 3/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5