DVD review (region 1 & 2)
Directed by Sakichi Satô
Starring Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa, Erika Okuda, Arata Furuta
Release date Out now

Two wannabe jujitsu champions accidentally murder their boss and bury him on Black Fuji, a mountain of waste in the middle of Tokyo. Unfortunately the mountain proceeds to start sprouting zombies…

Pitched as ‘The Japanese Shaun of the Dead’ on the back of the box, the description isn’t far wrong. This tale of two imbeciles bumbling their way through a zombie invasion is cute, funny and features some great gags: most of them revolving around the fact that two men wrestling on the floor practicing jujitsu holds looks kinda silly.

Apart from the main characters, the film is populated by perverts who like to spank their bums or look up schoolgirls’ skirts. What makes it funny, though, is that everyone reacts so damned normally to everything. Tadanobu Asano and Sho Aikawa are never anything but mildly bemused, even when they're debating whether they could have avoided running over a man whose mum’s head has just been booted off by his domineering girlfriend.

Sho Aikawa is especially great, and the source of various gags that I cannot reveal because they would ruin the plot. But suffice to say there is one particular scene at the end that had me snorting coffee out of my nose…

The film is slightly overlong, and once the halfway mark is reached and the pair’s iconic van is nicked by a man obsessed with Calpis, the film morphs into a weird ‘land of the dead’ type scenario that has surprisingly few gags and far too much screen time for the annoying love interest woman, bridged by a nice little anime short. But the climax picks up wonderfully so I’ll forgive it.

The special effects aren’t much to look at, but credit is due for making Black Fuji look so stylish. The real star of the film is the music; plinky plonk pianos and jazz saxophone solos make zombie fight scenes so much more enjoyable and I heartily recommend the soundtrack.

The DVD extras contain little beyond the usual ‘making of’ and trailers, though seeing as the writer and stars were involved in the cult classics Ichi the Killer and Gozu fans might be more keen to hear what they have to say. Oli Smith

VERDICT: 7/10
I don’t know what Calpis is, but I’d sure like to try some.