Gothic & Lolita Psycho Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: After her mother is murdered, a girl seeks revenge against the group of misfits responsible.

Review: This is yet another movie recently removed from Netflix's streaming service. You're killing me here, Netflix, aren't you supposed to be adding movies not taking them away?! Anyway, this is one of those over the top splatterfest films in the vein of "The Machine Girl" and "Dead Ball." I think I was seriously spoiled by "The Machine Girl," because none of these movies have ever lived up to that film's awesomeness (still hoping for a sequel by the way!); I probably shouldn't keep comparing, but it's hard not to. While this is a decent entry, into whatever you want to call this sub-genre, it spends too much time parodying "Kill Bill" rather than trying to tell its own story.

There isn't much to the story as all you need to know is a group of hooded goons attacked a family, left the father and daughter for dead, but murdered the mother. The daughter, Yuki, is played well by Rina Akiyama, but she's no Minase Yashiro to say the least. We don't gain an understanding in regards to how Yuki is magically tough, how she knows how to fight all of a sudden, nor a reason why she dresses like the "gothic, lolita psycho." The dad has been crippled since the attack, but he makes umbrella weapons for Yuki to wield like she's the fucking Penguin or something; the umbrellas are actually kind of cool and they provide some interesting kills. I don't know how Yuki knows who the attackers were either, or how to always find them, but the movie is nothing but one fight after another against the five goons. There is a mystery as to why they chose to kill the mom, but it makes little sense by the end and you will never guess it. As I said, the movie is greatly reminiscent of "Kill Bill" with one of the killers even calling herself Elle and having an eye patch. I don't mind this, but it felt like a waste considering many of the background gimmicks could have tied into the plot more meaningfully like the non-Japanese gang, "Kamikaze," or the first villain, Sakie's, gambling den. Another downside is the lackluster defeat of most of the bad guys; one minute they're going strong, then they're dead two seconds later. In fact, one of them doesn't even fight and Elle was winning then drops dead out of nowhere. Eventually you learn the leader of the hooded goons targeted the mom because she was a devil of sorts, and he's some demon hunter. I really don't know how to explain it other than that. I don't get how the other killers are connected to this, since they appear oblivious, and why would the "villain" be the one hunting demons and the "hero" be the devil? I can back a story about the bad guys, but why the role reversal? Yuki also turns into a demon/devil herself to finally kill the main villain after he kills her dad. The final fight is creative, but once Yuki turns into the demon it ends way too fast like the rest. The movie simply ends with Yuki seemingly killing more demon hunters.

Although I'm disappointed with the direction they took the film, I can appreciate what they were going for regardless. The gags and jokes are mostly funny and the film doesn't take itself seriously; they definitely revel in the lameness of some of the effects. The fight scenes are pretty good with entire stunt teams contributing to the battles. The deaths are as bloody and gory as you would hope from this kind of film with interesting application of the umbrella. I enjoyed a lot of the randomness strewn about the film like the antics going on at that gambling den, the Kamikaze gang, and the one bad guy having psychic powers. On the other hand, the plot is paper thin and mostly a parody, most of the villain's die abruptly, and there are a shitload of contrivances. As I always say, if you already enjoy this sub-genre, this will probably amuse you, but I can't recommend this for non-fans or first-timers; stick to "The Machine Girl" to get you accustomed, and if that can't do it for you I doubt you will enjoy the more average films like this.

Notable Moment: When Sakie is dismembered by the umbrella blade. It looked pretty cool and set the tone for the movie well.

Final Rating: 6/10