Versus (II) (2000)

There are 666 portals that connect this world to the other side. These are concealed from all human beings. Somewhere in Japan exists the 444th portal.... The forest of resurrection.

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Ryûhei Kitamura, Yudai Yamaguchi

Stars:

Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tak Sakaguchi	...	Prisoner KSC2-303
Hideo Sakaki	...	The Man
Chieko Misaka	...	The Girl
Kenji Matsuda	...	Yakuza Leader with butterfly knife
Yuichiro Arai	...	Motorcycle-riding yakuza with revolver
Minoru Matsumoto	...	Crazy yakuza with amulet
Kazuhito Ohba	...	Yakuza with glasses
Takehiro Katayama	...	Red-haired assassin
Ayumi Yoshihara	...	Long-haired female assassin
Shôichirô Masumoto	...	One-handed cop
Toshiro Kamiaka	...	Samurai warrior
Yukihito Tanikado	...	Cop with Barrett
Hoshimi Asai	...	Short-haired female assassin
Ryosuke Watabe	...	Yakuza zombie in alligator-skin coat
Motonari Komiya	...	Other prisoner

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

forest | escaped convict | samurai | back from the dead | zombie | 

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Taglines:

A Forest to Hell comes Alive with Death.

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong pervasive violence and gore, and language

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

20 February 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Down to Hell 2

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

KSS, Suplex, WEVCO Produce Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the aftermath of a few of the zombie fights, several zombies' butts are on fire. Director Ryûhei Kitamura did this on purpose, because he just thought it was funny.

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Goofs

In the Ultimate Version, when the prisoner came back to fight with the zombies, in one scene, he smashes a guy's head to the tree trunk then the next scene, he suddenly has a gun in his mouth and one in his hand when he knocks the zombie's gun out of its hand.

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Quotes

Fighter: You'll never hit me with a bullet that slow.

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Connections

References Jackie Chan's Who Am I? (1998)

User Reviews

God bless the crazy guy in the green shirt!

Some people are insane! I mean, what were you expecting? The English Patient? I for one love a good gorefest and awesome if its done out of Hollywood. The plot had holes, I guess, I can't really think of anything that really had me come out of the movie. If you rented or bought this and thought, "Hey, that couldn't have happened, like, oh my Gawd how fake!" Why would you watch a zombie/sci-fi movie to begin with? You did read the synopses right? The acting was good, watch the original undubbed one please before you blast the flick! The characters were priceless, I loved the "Charlie's Angels"-esquire stances the yakuza guys made! Tre cool. I loved the fighting as well, every ten minutes or so someone was getting the crap beat out of them. It was also very refreshing to not see so much wire-flying, the one part I can recall that did sort of do that was shot tightly so it didn't seem so exaggerated. I'm a chick and I LOVED how Prisonor KSC2-303 kept hitting the annoying chick over the head, classic! No out of nowhere love scenes here my good people! The "villian" was also top-notch. I thought the casting was great. Tak Sakaguchi, wow, baby don't be so mean! :P I can't wait to see him in more things or in the sequel. Please don't watch this if you're cynical or hard to please. ITS A ZOMBIE/GORE/SCI-FI INDIE FILM! Yeah just don't buy it, let someone else who appreciates such fineness get a copy.

*By the by, this review is based on "The Ultimate Versus" edition.