Written and Directed by Seiji Chiba
Concept-in-the-title Japanese films are nothing new, but guys like Seiji Chiba and Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura have taken the old Toho tricks and applied them to new low budget concepts, like super heroes, mutants, aliens, monsters, and gore. And it all works very well.
Known and accepted by Americans as campy fun, I guess the foreign nature to the films as a whole is what gets middle of the road movie viewers to actually watch them, and stick with them, despite awful effects, nonsensical storylines, and utterly ridiculous concepts.
Troma movies are beloved by a very few, that know exactly what they're getting into. Sushi Typhoon (the label releasing the bulk of these types of films) are well aware their target audience is largely American, especially since these super low budget gems continue to do better money than a lot of their American counterparts.
To really explore the plot is ridiculous, a crazy looking rubber suited but still very weird band of aliens lands in the forest and comes face to face with a ninja war. So of course, they then go to war with each other. Practical effects, such as suits, appendages, and physical gore always looks great, over the top and intentionally cheesy, but great. The digital effects however, you'd think they'd try to stay away from those as much as possible. Often the backgrounds are so cheap, and the green screen blending so bad, that you just wish they had used miniatures, but that's one Toho concept they seemingly won't touch.
I suppose the extremely cheap CGI is the main thing that looks out of place, and that's a compliment to the cinematographer, f/x team, prop and set designers, and director. Somehow, the symphony of madness always works, the pace is quick, and there is a high body count, which is what keeps people coming back for more.
Not an especially great film, even within the genre, but it's extremely high concept nature will surely draw some audiences, and audiences drawn by such a blatant title can't be too bummed with the quality or entertainment factor.
8.0/10 (B-)
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