Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

When Kyle is visiting, as he is now, we have a tradition of watching a late movie, typically a bad film of the humorously entertaining variety. Tonight, he, Scott, and I braved the late hours to screen this Japanese gore-fest.

All I can say is, "Wow!"

It's not a good movie, of course, nor were we expecting it to be. It is, however, one of the most over-the-top Japanese flicks I've seen in quite some time--and considering how many I've watched, that's saying something.

At its core is a love triangle that initially appears to be the struggle of two teenage girls for a boy's heart but that ultimately, of course, ends up being a battle between the title characters for control of the boy. The conflict is particularly silly because neither girl seems to really care about him; he's just a trophy over which they're fighting.

Of course, in a movie like Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, speaking of characters and motivations is an inherently silly exercise. Such normal narrative factors are far and away the least relevant parts of the story.

Far more interesting to the director, and to us, are the battles between the various forms of Franken-teens and the vampire girl; the rantings and experiments of the demented vice principal, who's also the father of the Frankengirl-to-be; the janitor who is also the vampire girl's Igor slave; and the amazing mech visuals, most of which appear during a battle on the Japanese Eiffel Tower.

If you can stand astounding amounts of blood-spurting, skin-tearing gore, and if you're a fan of Japanese extreme cinema, don't miss this one. If your stomach is at all weak, however, give it a very wide pass.