Versus (2000)

 Versus (2000)

RELEASED October 23, 2000 RUNTIME 119 mins DIRECTOR Ryûhei Kitamura WRITERS Ryûhei Kitamura (screenplay), Yudai Yamaguchi (screenplay)

STARS Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka

COUNTRY United States LANGUAGE Japanese 

STUDIOS KSS, napalm FiLMS, Suplex Inc., WEVCO Produce Company 

GENRES Action, Horror, Fantasy, Thriller

Streaming on: archive.org

The plot: Witness a battle no one has ever seen

Set in the present where a group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman, and an escaped convict have met, unwittingly, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead, with the assistance of the evil Sprit that has also come back, come back from ages past, to claim his prize. The final standoff between Light and Dark has never been so cunning, so brutal and so deadly. This is where old Japanese Samurai mysticism meets the new world of the gangster and the gun. Gruesome, bloody, and positively bold.

Random observations

• Usually, I write notes as the movie is playing, but in this case, I had to broadcast from my laptop to my roommate's firestick so I didn't have Blogger open, but at least this way I didn't miss anything
• I first saw this film at The Clinton Street Theater shortly after it was released in 2003 as a double feature with Battlefield Baseball. There is nothing that can compare to that experience, and even though I'm loving the yakuza/zombie fights, I really miss being in a packed theater as people scream and cheer.
• The final battle is still as amazing as I remember but I think some fat could be trimmed to get the total runtime to a cool 90 minutes instead of the 120 minutes which makes it drag at times.

If you go into this film expecting a low-budget quirky Japanese movie with tons of fake fights, more blood than is medically feasible, and a non-existent plot, you'll probably have a good time.

tl;dr: This is a solid ALRIGHT. with an emphatic period! which I guess is just an exclamation mark.

0.6/1 Directing

0.7/1 Cinematography

0.6/1 Visual design

0.4/1 Editing

0.6/1 Plot 

0.7/1 Dialogue

0.5/1 Acting

0.4/1 Soundtrack/Score/Sound

0.7/1 Originality

0.6/1 Rewatchability

Total: 5.8/10 Binge Bones

The verdict: It's not the best of the genre, nor is it the worst. But this little low-budget gem packs a mean punch.

P.S. -- Did you come here from the Madness? Here's a secret mission! If you are the first Maniac to go to the Madness page and post "Binge Bones is Badass!", link my blog, and tag me (Ravyn Jazper-Hawke) and The Head Hauntress (Elizabeth Katherine Gray), you will win a special digital copy of a vs. film. Which one is it? I WILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU WIN. Mwahahaha! Happy haunting! <3