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JUNK (Arts Magic, 2002) Rating: Tag-line: 'Dead Evil Hunting'. Which doesn't strictly make sense, but gives you the general idea. Oh, and the more traditional 'The Dead Will Devour The Living'. Death Toll: We counted 32. That includes the extra deaths of people who are killed by a zombie, become a zombie and are killed again! Cutting Remarks: Oh, we do love a good zombie movie. And director Atsushi Muroga's 'Junk' is a great one. It's no high art, but it's very well put together and delivers the goods that you expect. In terms of style, it's 'Reservoir Dogs' meets 'Zombie Flesh Eaters', as a gang of jewellery thieves head for an apparently disused factory to get their money from some shady Yakuza types.          Remarkably, they've not only chosen a factory where various re-animated corpses are running out of control, but a factory which isn't guarded by the US military responsible for inventing the dead-bothering drug DNX. Still, let's overlook such minor plot points and have some fun. 'Junk' doesn't so much wear its influences on its sleeve as smear them all over your face. The serum used to revive corpses is bright green ('Re-Animator') and there are a couple of direct re-enactments of scenes from 'Zombie Flesh Eaters' and 'The Evil Dead'. All of which is tremendous fun. If you're subtitle-phobic - 'Junk' is mainly in Japanese, with some English - you needn't worry too much, as the action definitely speaks louder than words here.          'Junk''s main innovation here is a sexy female super-zombie who jumps around the place, generally being indestructible. Oh, and a zombie who eats a piece of himself for no discernible reason. We like it, we like it, and furthermore, we like it. Most Memorable Demise: One of the robbers, who gets yanked back onto a spike which emerges from his throat. Lucio Fulci, you say? Look Out For: The Japanese fellow playing Dr Nikada, who is a reasonable actor when speaking his native tongue. When he's required to speak English, however, both Japanese and English captions appear on-screen! Killer Quote: "I'm still having trouble believing that DNX can bring the dead back to life. But I guess it really does" - those US military people, eh? They change their minds every five seconds. DVD Details: No featurettes, but plenty of on-screen promotional material, trailers and filmographies. The movie itself is presented in anamorphic widescreen, and uncut. Release Date: Out now. [Check it out at Amazon UK] [Check it out at Amazon US] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present