Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009) Kyûketsu Shôjo tai Shôjo Furanken (original title)

Directors:

Yoshihiro Nishimura
Naoyuki Tomomatsu

Writers:

Shungiku Uchida (manga "Kyûketsu Shôjo tai Shôjo Furanken")
Naoyuki Tomomatsu (screenplay)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror

Plot:

Transfer student Monami has a secret and a past that has caught up with Mizushima. Deceiving Mizushima into eating a token gift of chocolate...

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Frankenstein | Vampire | Falling From Height | Tongue In Cheek

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Yukie Kawamura	...	Monami / Vampire Girl
Takumi Saitô	...	Jyugon Mizushima
Eri Otoguro	...	Keiko / Frankenstein Girl
Sayaka Kametani	...	Midori
Jiji Bû	...	Igor
Eihi Shiina	...	Monami's Mother
Kanji Tsuda	...	Kenji Furano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yukihide Benny	...	St. Francis Xavier
Terri Doty	...	Lolligirl A
Erina
Cay Izumi	...	Ganguro Girl with Lip Plate
Maki Mizui	...	School Wrist Cutter Captain
Honoka Nagai	...	Young Monami
Aya Nishisaki
Sayo
Takashi Shimizu	...	Chinese Professor
Namie Terada	...	Afro Rika

Directed by
Yoshihiro Nishimura
Naoyuki Tomomatsu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Naoyuki Tomomatsu		screenplay
Shungiku Uchida		manga "Kyûketsu Shôjo tai Shôjo Furanken"

Produced by
Masatsugu Asahi	....	producer
Hidehiro Ito	....	planner (as Hidehiro Itô)
Yôsuke Miyake	....	chief executive producer
Jun Nakajima	....	producer
Remi Ohtsuka	....	assistant producer (as Remi Ôtsuka)
Tsugio Oikawa	....	chief executive producer (as Tsuguo Oikawa)
Shûji Omata	....	executive producer
Ruka Tanaka	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Kou Nakagawa		(as Kô Nakagawa)

Cinematography by
Shu G. Momose

Film Editing by
Yoshihiro Nishimura

Production Design by
Nori Fukuda

Makeup Department
Taiga Ishino	....	special makeup effects artist
Yoshihiro Nishimura	....	special makeup effects supervisor
Yûta Okuyama	....	special makeup effects artist
Kazuhide Shimohata	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Masamitsu Washizu	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Takashi Matsuo	....	assistant director

Art Department
Yoshihiro Nishimura	....	character designer

Sound Department
Stephen Hoff	....	adr recordist
Kyûya Nakagawa	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Yûta Okuyama	....	moldmaker

Visual Effects by
Tsuyoshi Kazuno	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Tak Sakaguchi	....	fight choreographer (as Taku Sakaguchi)

Camera and Electrical Department
Hiroshi Ôta	....	lighting director

Other crew
Norman England	....	subtitler: English
Isao Karasawa	....	action director
Yoshiki Takahashi	....	poster designer

Production Companies

• Concept Film
• Excellent Film
• Pony Canyon

Distributors

• Excellent Film Partners (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• 4Digital Media (2010) (UK) (DVD) (as 4Digital Asia)
• CatchPlay (2010) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Concept Film (2010) (Japan) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2011) (France) (all media)
• Eleven Arts (2009) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• FUNimation Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• FUNimation Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• I-On New Media (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Pony Canyon (2010) (Japan) (DVD)
• Vivendi Entertainment (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• Vivendi Entertainment (2010) (Canada) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Nishimura Motion Picture Model Makers Group
• Studio Buckhorn (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Nishimura Motion Picture Model Makers Group  edited at
• Office Hara Co.  prop rental
• Team Zero's  stunts

Also Known As:

"Kyûketsu Shôjo tai Shôjo Furanken" - Japan (original title)
"Gaijinsploitation 3" - Asia (English title) (series title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA (2010) | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Singapore:R21 | UK:18

Company:

Concept Film

Trivia:

Monami's last name is given as "Arukado", which is the Japanese spelling of "Alucard", or Dracula spelled backwards.

Quotes:

Kenji Furano:Dicing ones daughter is true happiness!

Movie Connections:

References Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

Oh, where to begin?

Two teenage girls—pretty vampire Monami (yummy Yukie Kawamura) and spoilt brat Keiko (Eri Otoguro)—vie for the affection of schoolboy Mizushima (Takumi Saito). As the tug-of-love escalates, Keiko is accidentally killed, but resurrected by her mad-scientist father and his sexy psycho assistant, school nurse Midori. The scene is now set for a final battle between the cute bloodsucker and the reanimated, modified Keiko, with Mizushima as the prize.

Coming from the people who gave us the OTT splatter-fest Tokyo Gore Police, I fully expected Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl to be a tad demented, but I doubt anything could have adequately prepared me for the madcap concoction of zany humour, grotesque gore, outrageous satire, and downright weirdness that has just assaulted my eyeballs. The film certainly doesn't disappoint in terms of sheer insanity.

Unfortunately, although this sucker certainly delivers in terms of wild comic-book excess, it isn't without its shortcomings: the hit and miss comedy takes precedence over the action and horror; certain aspects of the film feel rather forced, as though directors Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu felt compelled to 'up the ante' in terms of bizarreness (this time, the satirical stabs at Japanese teen culture are nothing short of padding specifically designed to give the film extra cult appeal); many of the special effects are simply too cartoonish in their execution to be wholly satisfying (plus there is an over-reliance on CGI blood—UGH!); and after the gradual build up, not nearly enough time or effort is dedicated to a decent climactic showdown.

Still, the one accusation that can never be hurled at Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl is that it is boring. Take a look if you love the manic style of Tokyo Gore Police, or the relentless splat-stick of Peter Jackson's Braindead or Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, but don't expect to be blown away.

6.5 out of 10, but not quite good enough for me to round my rating up to 7.