The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 16: Junk
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.16.2006
Zombies vs. soldiers vs. criminals vs. a naked chick...place your bets.
JUNK (1999)
Directed by: Atsushi Moruga Written by: Atsushi Moruga, J.B. Baker, Youko Kuzuki, & Emiko Terao Country: Japan
I have to give it to Atsushi Moruga – naming your movie Junk is a pretty nifty self-defense mechanism against criticism (at least, I'm assuming that's what he was thinking, since there's certainly no apparent reason for the title in the movie itself). After all, what can you negatively say about a movie that proudly labels itself Junk right from the get-go?
Not that I necessarily have much bad to say about Junk, a wild and frenzied Japanese film often credited with kick-starting the country's recent wave of zombie films. But then, I don't really have all that much great to say about it, either. Apart from a few interesting ideas and sequences, Junk is a pretty by-the-numbers affair, clearly influenced by the Italian zombie films of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. And while its halfway decent job of matching those films' gore and logic-be-damned mentality means it will be enjoyed by most fans of the genre, it also feels like it's covering no new ground – we've already seen most of what Junk has to offer, no matter how effectively Moruga pulls it off.
In an abandoned Okinawa factor, the U.S. Army, working together with a team of Japanese scientists, has developed a glowing green serum (shades of Re-Animator, to be sure) known as DNX, and if you don't know what the purpose of this serum this far into the Zombie-Thon, you should be ashamed of yourself. As always, things go sour almost immediately when the serum is injected into the naked corpse (because when you're dead, who needs clothes?) of Kyoko, who promptly thanks the doctors for her newfound lease on life by murdering them. Man, besides their obvious faults, zombies sure are ungrateful.
Meanwhile, a ragtag gang of thieves has just pulled off a successful jewelry store heist, and has arranged to sell their ill-gained goods to a local Yakuza boss. Unfortunately for everyone, their planned meeting spot just happens to be the aforementioned factory. The one bright spot for the thieves is that the sudden appearance of flesh-eating zombies interrupts the Yakuza's plan to double-cross them, although it's a small consolation: before long two of the more likable thieves, the rascally Akira and the beautiful getaway driver Saki, are doing battle with both the gun-toting gangster and the bloodthirsty ghouls.
But they won't be alone in their zombie-fighting nightmare – in response to the problems at the factory the Army has contacted Dr. Takashi Nikada. Nikada is one of the originators of DNX, but has since left the project behind. Oh, and he also happens to be the former flame of the deceased Kyoko, and has no idea his late love was used as the DNX test subject. The Army convinces a hesitant Nikada that he must help cover up the chaos caused by DNX, and, despite his constant claims that he is a simple doctor and not a military man, he is soon storming into the factory in full commando mode, on a mission to set-off the buildings self-destruct setting (or, as it is known in the world of Junk, the "Auto Exploder" function). Before long Nikada, Akira, Saki, and the remaining Yakuza are together in the zombie-filled factory, and, as the film's simple tagline says: Everybody fights. Not the most explanatory tagline, I know, but once you've seen the film you'll applaud its honesty.
With a running length of only 83 minutes, nearly all of it action, Junk is certainly never boring (although the first act, with the robbery and Nikada being called in by the Army, could have stood for a little tightening), and it should keep most zombie fans adequately entertained for its duration. Still, it's unlikely anyone will be too impressed by it, as it is by no means a very original film - nearly everything here has been done before, and better. Sure, there is some undeniable delight in seeing pistol-wielding gangsters square off against the living dead, but even that is given a far cooler spin in just one thrilling sequence of Ryuhei Kitamura's brilliant zombie/samurai/sci-fi mash-up Versus than it is in the entirety of Junk.
For the most part, Junk offers exactly what you would expect, given its title: a weak story, uninspired direction, plenty of inconsistent gore effects (sometimes the film's numerous moments of carnage look quite good, at other times it looks like the wounded zombies are leaking Ragu-covered spaghetti from their pockets), paper-thin actors, corny dialogue, and some truly atrocious acting – particularly from the American actors in the Army roles – there's usually a pretty good reason the English-speaking actors you see in Asian movies have decided to ply their trade there rather than their native land, as their "talent" would barely get them a dinner-theater gig back home.
Speaking of "English-speaking," whose decision was it to have Yuji Kashimoto, as Dr. Nikada, speak the majority of his lines in garbled English rather than his native Japanese? Sure, he's speaking to American military personnel, but that doesn't stop him from occasionally slipping into Japanese, so why not keep it consistent? Whenever Kashimoto speaks English you'll find yourself wishing they had simply kept the subtitles going. To put it as politely as I can, he sounds like a shit salesman with a mouth full of samples.
Unfortunately, the bulk of Junk refuses to indulge in the sort of tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated humor that can often save a zombie film from its glaring faults. Moruga plays way too much of the movie in a serious manner, which, in turn, only serves to highlight its more-illogical moments. For instance, although the factory is mostly abandoned, with only a few scientists and soldiers on hand at the film's beginning, the number of zombies our heroes encounter continues to drastically multiply as the story goes on, with no explanation given as to where these hordes of undead are coming from. Oh well, I guess this just furthers my theory – first mentioned in my review of Bio Zombie – regarding Asian zombies and their asexually reproducing capabilities.
Thankfully, Junk finally begins to lighten up and go delightfully overboard during its final act, when we learn that Kyoko is actually some sort of Queen Zombie, complete with distinctive powers such as super strength and agility; and, for some reason, the ability to instantly turn her hair snow white. Nikada and Saki's battle against the nigh-unstoppable Kyoko is Junk's one moment that doesn't feel cribbed from other films, and is not surprisingly the most purely enjoyable sequence of the entire film. Plus, as Kyoko (who spends the first half of the film stark-naked but eventually dons a more combat appropriate leather outfit), actress Miwa is up there with Living Dead Girl's Francoise Blanchard as one of the hottest zombies you will ever encounter. Given that, and the fact that she's the most original element Junk has to offer, it's a shame she's not more of a constant presence throughout the film.
The 411: If you see only one Japanese zombie film, don't let it be Junk. There have been a number of more enjoyable, and more original, zombie films to come from Japan in recent years, although Junk does get some credit for being one of the first. Still, despite its lack of originality, Junk's ample gore and zombie-battling mayhem, not to mention the intriguing Zombie Queen, should keep most fans of the genre adequately entertained for its short duration. Keep those expectations low, and you might just have yourself a fine old time with Junk.
