Zombie Command

A mysterious, worldwide phenomenon is afoot that is causing teenage girls to inexplicably drop dead and, almost instantly, reanimate as zombies with a hunger for human flesh. These zombies are known as ‘Stacies’.

Sinister looking Dr. Inugami Sukekiyo (Yasutaka Tsutsui), who first discovered the phenomenon, is working to find out not only what causes the country’s nubiles to become the undead but is also trying to find a solution. In response to the disaster, the Japanese government hastily created the “Romero Repeat Kill Squad” to handle the Stacies and dissect them into exactly 165 separate pieces (the only way to truly kill a Stacy). By law, only loved ones and Re-Kill troops are allowed to kill a Stacy.

Lonesome puppet creator Shibukawa (Toshinori Omi) meets Eiko (Natsuki Kato) on his way to his workshop. Eiko, who is in a seemingly constant state of NDH (Near Death Happiness) talks Shibu into being the man to Re-Kill her when the curse gets a hold of her. Soon a romance blossoms between the two and they spend what’s left of Eiko’s time on Earth (as a human at least) together.

Meanwhile Dr. Sukekiyo has found that the BTP (Butterfly Twinkle Powder) that covers the zombies bodies after reanimation is someone behind it all.

As is often the case with Japanese zombie movies (in my experience at least), ‘Stacy’ is quite mad. The plot is cigarette-paper thin but the film is essential an 80 minute blood-soaked piece of brainless fun. The acting is poor, the cinematography is amateurish (one scene feels like it’s filmed in someone’s living room) and the effects – although gruesome and plentiful – leave a little to be desired. There is plenty wrong with this movie, yet somehow it is strangely entertaining.

The film is crammed to the hilt with references to its zombie movie predecessors; such as the lightweight chainsaw dubbed “Bruce Campbell’s Right Hand 2”, the aforementioned “Romero Re-Kill Squad” and a couple of very obvious and blatant references to the “…of the Dead” movies.

If you are prepared to check your brain at the door and are happiest when watching (a lot of) blood, guts and spines adorn the screen then I think you’ll get a real kick out of ‘Stacy’. Having a few hundred Japanese schoolgirls running around for the duration of the film doesn’t hurt either!

6 out of 10 Zombie Fingers