Lust of the Dead

Director - Naoyuki Tomomatsu (Zombie Self-Defense Force, Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies)
Starring - Rina Aikawa (CSI: Crime Scene Talks), Yui Aikawa (Missing 55, Lust of the Dead 2), and Asami (The Machine Girl, Helldriver)
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     When you compare my love for Japanese splatter you will notice that I'm fairly new to the sub-genre.  I've loved horror for as long as I could remember but I never really ventured out to Asian horror until about 5 or 6 years ago.  However, that is a thing of the past.  I fucking love these movies for the most part and I'm always on the hunt for new ones.  A year or so ago I was hunting down the Japanese horror flick Zombie Ass when I found Lust of the Dead 1 through 3 on DVD on amazon for around $50.  I almost bought them but a friend told me to hold off because he heard that these three films, also known as Rape Zombies, was getting a blu release.  I held off and I'm glad I did.  For almost a third of the price I was able to get the first three Lust of the Dead (there is five total films now) on blu from Media Blasters.  Sadly, these films were not as fun as I would have thought.

     The film follows a group of females who are trying to survive after the world is overrun by toxic males who want nothing more than to rape women.  Many females group together to survive but soon the toxic men start to outnumber the women.  Soon a nuclear bomb goes off and many of these men perish but those that survive are now severely burned and rotting with an insatiable appetite for women...in more than one way.

     I knew this film was going to be trashy and offensive but I was expecting to find off the wall story like Helldriver, The Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police, and so on.  Sadly, this film was nothing like that and just felt like a no budget mess with sexy women scattered throughout.  The acting in this one is extremely awkward and out of place.  I've seen several Japanese splatter horror flicks in the last few years and this is definitely the bottom of the barrel in regards to acting.  The cast is extremely awkward to watch and in many of the scenes they make no attempt at getting into character.  The only enjoyable moments with the cast is the softcore lesbians scenes.  This seems to be the only time that the cast is dedicated to their scene.  The story for this one is funny in a way and definitely can be offensive to some.  With that being said, the execution of this one is all wrong.  The use of green screens and poor editing makes this story extremely difficult to follow.  I wanted to love this one but after about 20 minutes I was ready to cut it off.  The story and the way it was approached was somewhat painful to watch.  Finally, the film has a blend of visual and practical effects.  The visual effects are hit and miss.  Some of them were great but others were extremely dated and poorly used.  The same cannot be said about the practical effects.  Almost all of the practical effects were great and one of the few redeeming qualities of the film.  The make-up effects could use some improvements but the practical effects were great.  Overall, Lust of the Dead is a severely missed opportunity.  The offensiveness of the film is lost in the lack of story.  This is one I cannot recommend.  Skip it.