Dead Sushi

I really didn't think this movie was gonna be any good. In fact, when I saw the trailer I wasn't very impressed. But I said what the hell & ordered it. Turns out I freaking LOVED this movie! Great humor, action & lots of blood! Truly one of a kind. If you love corky comedy horror, get it!

A mid-level entry to the Tokyo Shock genre which tries to rely on a stupidly clever premise. It's alright, I guess. But the premise doesn't carry it along as well as the writers hoped. I'd only recommend this for devout fans of Tokyo Shock.

Keiko (Rina Takeda; Ninja Girl, Karate Girl, High-Kick Girl) is training under her father (Jiji Bû; Tokyo Gore Police, Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl) to become a sushi chef, which evidently involves some ninja kind of crazy martial arts whose choreography smacks of classic kung fu theater. However, the training and the demands of her father are too much for her. So she runs away and finds work at Yumi's (Asami; Helldriver, Mutant Girl Squad, The Machine Girl) hotel, where some executives have decided to go on a corporate escape.

It takes longer than normal (for movies of this genre) for the wackiness to get started. This happens when Yamada (Kentarô Shimazu; Tokyo Gore Police, The Machine Girl, Alien vs Ninja) injects a reanimating, contagious disease-bearing serum into a flying squid to exact his revenge on the executives that had him fired. Once the infected squid comes into contact with some of the hotel's freshly served sushi, the sushi itself turns into miniature flying killers.

Now, when I think Tokyo Shock I think crazy gore and exploitative tactics. Director/writer Noboru Iguchi's (The Machine Girl, RoboGeisha, The ABC's of Death "F" is for Fart) flick includes decapitation, making out with a severed head, squid-stabbing, the sloppiest sounding kisses ever, provocative sushi eating, man-face to man-crotch, finger to butt, tongue biting, eyeballs popping out of their sockets, sloppy raw egg-exchanging kisses, face-peeling, cannibalism, a naked woman showering in blood, rice zombies (that's not meant to sound racist), piranha-like sushi swarms, fire-breathing sushi, a guy turns into an over-sized axe-wielding fish monster, tandem vomiting, petrified sushi nunchucks, zombies copping feels and a few entertaining mutilated face prosthetics.

The effects behind the killer sushi is pretty cheap, but perfectly serviceable in a movie like this. It reminds me of the flying orb effects from Phantasm (1979). Some other CGI effects are truly awful and inferior even to ScyFy Network movie-of-the-week quality.

Comedic elements include farcical lessons in sushi preparation and connoisseurship, shy singing sushi that is friendly and supportive, cute jiggling giggling evil sushi monsters, sushi monsters mating and a sushi roll battleship. Like the effects and the pace of the story, the humor of this Tokyo Shocklet a noticeably not as good as I would expect from the genre.

That's not to say that the movie isn't without its moments. Like when Chef Tsuchida (Kanji Tsuda; Helldriver, Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl) cries out: "When a sushi chef's pride is on the line the next course he serves in death!" Or when Yamada becomes infected by his own serum: "And now I have been reborn as a mighty tuna!"

I'd only recommend this for devout fans of Tokyo Shock. Tokyo Gore Police (2008), Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (2009) and Helldriver (2010) all do a much better job of delivering weirdly clever monsters/opponents and disturbingly creative gore, deaths and mutations.

Buy Dead Sushi Now

This movie is preposterous and disgustingly bloody and hilarious. I enjoyed every minute of it and went to my favorite sushi bar, Hashigo in 5 Points in Huntington Beach, the very next day, just to take revenge.

Read Best Reviews of Dead Sushi Here

4.5 stars

Almost everything about this classic B-movie cracked me up, from the acting to the wacked-out effects to the hilarious dialogue. I'll bet that if I knew Japanese culture better this would be even funnier. Imagine Monty Python on laughing gas and you'll get the feel of Dead Sushi.

Writer/director Iguchi penned a very silly satire of a script and just when you think it can't get goofier, it does. And then more so. I love surreal and absurd when it works, and it really does here, because this film NEVER takes itself seriously, except when it comes to delivering fun.

With one fine exception: the scene where our heroine (the excellent Rina Takeda) discusses how to create top-notch sushi is actually very accurate advice about making sushi properly. It's a suddenly almost serious moment, made funny by what's all around it, but you get the feeling that Iguchi really does take good sushi seriously. Watch that scene for one of the best tips you'll ever get in making real gourmet sushi.

The over-the-top effects and ideas here combine with the wisely underplayed performances to make a unique comedy unlike any I've ever seen. If you like weird and wild, get some Dead Sushi.

Want Dead Sushi Discount?

I gave it a 4 stars cuz she my favorite actress in Japan. She's not the best actress but her Karate are top notch worldwide women Champion. Her acting are improving in after 3 years with average movies. It's funny horror comedy about sushi. It's kinda slightly less quality than Kung fu hustle. There's some nice scenes, a bit funny, I watched 2+ times! Sexy scenes are very nice of the girls. Rina Takeda dressed her prettiest in those pink kimono of best style in Japan.

Save 13% Off