WTF Japan?!?: Stacy

Okay, I'll be up-front with you: this is a weird, f-ing movie!  Seriously, I could not manage to get through it the first time I watched it.  As a challenge to myself, I put it on the review schedule and planned to re-watch it.  The second attempt, well, didn't help much.  I saw it through to the end- don't get me wrong- but it was still weird as hell.  The movie has almost no real plot, choosing to just throw about five different sub-plots together that sort of collide in the end.  The tone is very odd, going from comedy to drama to horror and back to comedy again.  It is extremely disorienting and is one of the movies that really deserves my 'WTF' label.  I'll get into the plot in the review, but know this.  The movie's title gives you no idea what to expect.  This is...

Our story begins with a group of kids lying near a comatose girl and talking.  The mother comes by and thanks the girl for 'playing with her kids.'  Are you going to thank the swing set for playing with them next?!?  The girl returns the compliment by transforming into a zombie and killing them...off-screen.  The movie throws a lot of strange narration at us, pretending that it makes sense.  Here's what you need to know: teenage girls are transforming into zombies when they hit the 15-17 age mark.  Why?  Nobody is quite sure.  On top of that, the movie introduces two other things to us...

When the girls near the time of transformation, they become manic and happy.  Why?  Again- no explanation.  Secondly, this mysterious B.T.P. stuff is seen emanating off of them when they get ready to attack.  At least, it does when the movie decides what qualifies as an attack.  The movie introduces us to our main heroine, a young woman who knows that her transformation into a Stacy will soon occur.  By the way, the zombie girls are called Stacy, but your guess as to why is as good as mine.  To that end, she finds a nice toy-maker and asks him to 'second-kill' her when she transforms.  His response is, understandably, confusion, but he eventually goes along with it.  Sure, why not?

Before I get into the plot more, I want to discuss two silly in-jokes of the film.  First, they establish that a unique police force is there to stop the Stacies: The Romero Kill Crew.  Yeah, we all get it, movie.  Secondly, an infomercial is shown for a hand-mounted chainsaw called Bluce Campbell's Right Hand.  Yeah, they spell it wrong to avoid a lawsuit or something.  Naturally, this becomes a key plot point.

As I said, the movie is pretty much just all sub-plots.  Here's a rundown of them for you...
* A group of female killers (all dressed in Japanese cliche outfits) hunt down the Stacies.
* One of the Kill Crew begins to have doubts.
* A group of scientists are trying to figure out the mystery of the Stacies.
* Our hero is trying to make peace with the whole situation involving the girl.

All of this comes to a head as the Crew member finds a girl that he likes has become a Stacy.  He tries to keep her, but gets shot by his Commander.  In turn, he shoots the ladies...who shoot him too.  By the way, random cameo by CG bullets for no reason.  After all of that crap, a horde of Stacies kill the scientist and our heroine dies.  Our hero takes her to a field where he uses Bluce Campbell's Right Hand (see, I told you!) to second-kill her.  The End.

This movie is seriously, f-ing weird.  I don't know what to say about it.  I mean, the story does not know what it wants to be or how it wants to act.  Case in point: we get a scene where the Romero Kill Crew take down a zombie and cut her into little pieces (only that works, apparently).  Right around this time, our heroine shows up whilst under the effects of N.D.H.  The men feel remorse for their actions and start crying up a storm.  Our heroine walks around them, giggles and thanks them for doing their jobs.  WHAT?!?  The main plot is ridiculous enough, but the sub-plots are even worse.  The girl killers call up a lady and tell them to that they need to kill their daughter before she has even turned.  The scientist manages to explain the B.T.P. idea with a straight-face and taunts a dismembered zombie.  Do all scientists in zombie films have to be assholes?  Is that a rule?  You know what, I challenge anyone to make it through this movie with their sanity intact.  I look forward to reviews from anyone who has the guts...or lack of brains.

Next up, Blockbuster Trash brings you the sequel to a remake of a 50-year old horror film.  Is it a bad sign when it takes 8 years to follow-up to a film?  Stay tuned...