Stacy

Rating:
Summary: An interesting new twist on the Zombie horror subgenre
Review: "Stacy" is a movie that few people who watch it seem to really "get," and I can hardly hold that against them. It does hold a very interesting concept underneath its mindless gore and bizarre characters.

A strange phenomenon is causing girls age 15-17 all over the world to die and come back as flesh eating zombies. Before they die, they are overcome by something called NDH (Near Death Happiness) which causes them to run around acting giddy and lovestruck, and giggling with delight at everything they see. After they die, their friends and family members are asked to chop them up into little pieces before they are brought back to life as something called a "Stacy."

I'm not a great fan of Zombie horror. However, I can appreciate this as a new take on the whole thing. The zombie gore is fun, if you're into that sort of thing. But what made this movie so interesting to me was the whole reason why the teen girls became zombies, and that's that part that's easy to miss. Near the end, the mad doctor studying the "Stacies" says, "I finally know what brings you to life. It's love." If it sounds like I ruined the ending for you, I haven't. This seems like a big explanatory scene near the end of a horror film, except that it makes no sense whatsoever. But as you may know (and you probably do, if you looked up this title), Asian horror doesn't usually have an explanation for everything the way American horror does. And Stacy is no exception. There's much more to it than just that.

The image of a young woman in a school uniform represents an idealized image of female sexuality that doesn't exist. The disease these girls suffer from is caused by (male) society's obsession with a feminine ideal. When the girls first become infected, they act like mindless bimbos, giggling and professing their love for any man who walks toward them. This goes on for a while, until this cultural stereotype kills them, and they are reborn, transformed from nearly mindless bimbos into literally mindless zombies. As it is stated over and over again in the film, the girls have a natural desire to be loved. As if forced by evolution, the girls move toward the mindless state that will allow them to be loved. In short, this film is a metaphor for idealized images of submissive women, and how dangerous those images can be to girls.

Having said all that, this movie is incredibly goofy. I wouldn't blame you if you watched this and failed to see the depth I just described. But that's what I came away with. There are some fun zombie scenes, and the unusual premise makes for some wacky characters. By far my favorite were the three teenage girls who formed an illegal "repeat kill" agency they named after their idol, Drew Barrymore. They contact families who can't bring themselves to chop up their dead daughters, and do it themselves, for a fee. Their goal is to save enough money to pay their favorite star to "repeat kill" them after they die. The girls want to die by the hand of someone they love. When one of them giggles, someone makes a remark to her about "NDH," and she gets very defensive and belligerent. I interpret this, not so much as a fear of dying, but a defiance of what is happening to her. Despite the fact that this comes from a desire to be "loved," she does not want to become what a male dominated society wants her to be. NDH may be a certain "happiness," but she would rather live as a real person with real feelings and ideas. And since she can't, she wishes to be repeat killed, instead of living in a mindless state.

I quite liked this film, although I can't give it a very high rating, because sometimes it just gets way too silly. The "I think I'm at my prettiest" speech just makes you go, "huh?" All in all, this is much better than average cheap, gross out special effects zombie movies. If you're one of those zombie purists who hates zombie movies that don't stick to the arbitrary zombie movie rules, stay away. But if you want a low budget movie with something different, I'd recommend it, because horror movies don't get much more different than this.

Rating:
Summary: original but sometime irritating
Review: For some strange and unexplained reason all girls aged 15 to 17 die. In Japan this tragic event happens during schooltime, so when the girls come back to life as cute-looking but flesh-hungry zombies, they go around in those (to me) sexy uniforms killing and eating people. Since this is a situation most people under 15 and above 17 are not satisfied, the government has founded a special section to deal with the problem.

HOT ASIAN ZOMBIE CHICKS! I liked this movie. Although the only problem I had with this film is there is too much lovey dovey rubbish and can get irritating. But what do you expect, it's a Japanese film. The story is desent, the gore is nice, and the chicks in this movie are all hella fine. Get this if you can find it. (lots of zombies)

most entertaining part: | the gory stuff! |

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT RENT OR BUY THIS GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I rented this crap thinking it was going to be semi-good, but it's not. The filming looks like it was done with a 100 dollar camcorder. Acting, and special efx really poor. Better off renting original zombie movies such as night, day, and dawn of the dead. I rent alot of b-flick horror movies, so i know whats good or not. This movie sux with a capital "S".

Rating:
Summary: Love and zombies, Japan's social issues
Review: I think a lot of people griped about the love story in STACY that seemed incongruous but I think it was the whole point of the movie. Young girls dying and craving flesh. They starved [emotionally] and woke from the dead hungering for blood or as I believe any human contact.

In Japan, the librarians wear whistles in the building so they can call for help if a male patron is bothering female staff. There are seperate female trains because molestation of adult women is bad. Japan is still behind the times on equal rights for women and sexual harrassment in the workplace.
SO, when the Stacy's happen, women become these dangerous things and suddenly the men are sad and lacking and have to butcher their girlfriends and daughters to keep them coming back from the dead and eating them. Even though Japan's women have been socially butchered for centuries being second class citizens. And the phenom is mentioned as happening around the world.
In the end the men learn to love the Stacys and miraculously they stop eating people and a new race of men is formed and a peaceful world is created...and the new Bible...the play written by the puppeteer...itself a love story.

In a nutshell, love the women in your life or they'll come back and eat you.

Rating:
Summary: Gory, Gross, and... Romantic?
Review: I was suprised by this movie. I went in expecting total shlock, and I did get that, but I also got a rather nice movie. The gore is extreme, and the action almost non-stop. And there are zombies. Rather gross looking zombies. But that isn't the main draw to the movie... at least not for me. The main draw was that in all of this gore (which was enjoyable none the less) were characters. And characters who actually were likeable! These people are just that, people. And it shows that one of the greatest powers, that can even raise the dead, is love. Odd for a horror movie, but for some reason it works. And the thing is... it has a happy ending. Suprising I know. Not for everyone, but... if you are in the mood for something diffrent, something odd, than go for this.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been fun!
Review: I wish I had read befor I orderd this movie, "English Sbutitles" movie was in Japanaes with English Subtitles"!!!!

Rating:
Summary: WHAT THE HELLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I'd had read some of the reviws for Stacy's and it'd seemed like it was gonna be a good ol' zombie movie. However, when I saw this piece of crap I nearly threw up, PLEASE, don't listen to the good reviews of this movie, it's a waste of time and money, trust me!!!!!!!!!! I don't what was worse, the lead girl consent laughing ,which made me want to kill her myself, or just the other horrible acting in this movie. AVOID THIS AT ALL COSTS

Rating:
Summary: what the ?
Review: Interesting, shot-on-video low budget horror from Japan that works quite well in some places but is just plain silly in others.
If you're looking for gross out effects that are completely over the top then look no further.
Some of the imagery is quite haunting actually.

Rating:
Summary: Expect the unexpected
Review: On a purely gut level, "Stacy" sounds like a great movie. An extremely low budget film that looks like director Naoyuki Tomomatsu shot on video, the movie consists of a bunch of young Japanese schoolgirls turned into ravenous zombies running around tearing people to shreds. That one line alone ought to inspire the avid horror fan to run, not walk, to the nearest DVD dispersal point for a copy. Another selling point for the film, in my eyes, is the fact that Synapse films performed the transfer to DVD. This company is a true hero for the horror fan, releasing obscure film after obscure film from around the world for our viewing pleasure. I recently read an article concerning the DVD release of "The Deadly Spawn" that claimed Synapse spent more money on the restoration than the filmmakers did on the entire movie! And we're not talking pocket change, either. That's what I call dedication. A final reason to pick up this film, if the above two reasons don't do the trick, is the superiority of this shot on video production compared to the dreck spooned out over here by companies like Sub Rosa. It is obvious Tomomatsu has enough talent to move on to film, something I can't say for the directors of "Shatter Dead" and "Peter Rottentail."

Something sinister on a global scale is occurring in the film "Stacy." Some malady--whether biological, chemical, or psychological no one knows as of yet--is causing pre-teen girls everywhere to perish suddenly. As bad as that sounds, what happens afterwards is a real nightmare: the girls emerge from their tombs as mindless flesheating zombies willing to prey on family members, friends, and total strangers. At some point, a talking head attached the moniker "Stacy" to these hapless victims, a name that stuck and now applies to zombies in every country. The implications of such a catastrophe should be very clear: without these girls growing up to bear children, the human population will move rapidly towards extinction in the coming years. In the meantime, the authorities take all manner of precautions to stem the tide of Stacy related disasters. Governments urge parents to look for the warning signs, including bouts of giggling immediately preceding demise called NDH (Near Death Happiness), and prepare to do the unthinkable. Armed with "Bruce Campbell" chainsaws purchased through companies advertising on television along with a ready supply of government provided trash bags, mother and father must be willing to dispose of their out of control daughters before the child hurts anyone else. Just in case a few milquetoasts can't fire up the old chainsaw when the moment arrives, Romero Repeat Kill soldiers move in too clean up the mess.

None of the above takes center stage in "Stacy," however. We do get to see a few of the messier scenes involving Romero troops and a rampaging Stacy, and we do see a few of the advertisements on television for the Campbell chainsaws (you can wear them on one hand!), but other issues move to the forefront. Specifically, the movie follows the relationship between a puppet designer and a soon to be Stacy. Director Tomomatsu spends a huge amount of time following this budding relationship between an older man and a younger girl. They go out for walks in a garden, engage in long, meaningful talks, and the puppeteer even stages a show for his new girlfriend. It's disconcerting in the extreme for American horror film fans to watch what is essentially a romance movie taking place in the middle of gory carnage. It's all apparently related to the overarching theme Tomomatsu is trying to get across to his audience, about the social position of young girls in Japan in relation to male domination and expectations. Or something along those lines. Whatever it is, "Stacy" sure is a strange, schizophrenic film. Imagine "The Professional" fused with a George Romero gutmuncher.

The horror fan in me wants to reject the social messages of this film--messages I had to read about in the liner notes because I haven't a clue as to how Japanese society works--and focus instead on the extreme gore. And there is a lot of gluey stuff going on, especially during the final scenes when a doctor working on the causes of the Stacy phenomenon loses control of his test subjects. For such a low budget production the gore effects look quite remarkable. Regrettably, the bloody effects work will only take you so far. The rest of the trip consists of the romance angle and cornball antics so inane that will take your breath away. What was up with the girls that formed the underground Romero type group? That they offer to help squeamish parents kill their Stacies is all fine and dandy, since a law requires parents to dispatch their own troublesome female offspring leaves the faint of heart in a quandary, but to name their group after Drew Barrymore? What's next, the Christina Aguilera Attack Squad? The Britney Spears Revolutionary Army? Egad! Too, that constant NDH giggling is likely to work your last nerve to a frazzle long before the movie grinds to a halt.

I can't find it in myself to take "Stacy" out behind the woodshed because of its problems, however. The movie is such an inventive twist on an old horror idea that I generally enjoyed it despite the often impenetrable plot. As for the DVD itself, the picture quality looks fantastic for a shot on video project. Synapse throws in a trailer as an extra, but nothing else. I heard Tomomatsu is in Japan making another zombie film as I write, so perhaps we can expect another weird take on the zombie theme in the future. Give "Stacy" a watch if you like a movie that mystifies as much as it churns the stomach.










Rating:
Summary: That crazy J-Horror!!
Review: On the surface, Stacy is low-budget schlock, a film that is decidedly amateurish in many aspects. Shot on digital video on a very tight budget it has nevertheless many charms, it's a film where you can tell that the filmmakers had lots of talent and lots of really cool ideas. But oh, that budget...If you can get past the cheapness of it all, devouted fans of Asian horror will love this apocalyptic zombie tale that pays homage to past classic films of the undead.

In the beginning of the 21st century girls aged 15-17 began to die and spring back to life as zombies. People coined the term "Stacy" for them. Stacies are obviously very dangerous and must be killed but one has to abide by the "Stacies law" which says that only boyfriends and family members can kill a Stacy. If Stacies go astray and can't be killed by the ones they love then the job belongs to the Romero Repeat Kill troup, who use chainsaws called the "Bruce Campbell right hand #2" to kill the stacies. To properly kill a Stacy, it must be decapitated into 165 pieces.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the explanations behind the Stacy phenomenon. The film goes into substantial length to describe the cause and aftereffects through a narrator, various news reports and scientific explanations from a doctor who studies the Stacies. I must say I prefer this approach (as used in the classic vamp novel "I am legend") compared to Zombie films that just throw you into a decayed world without bothering to explain how it got to be that way in the first place. As for the gore, people who choose to view the film simply for this reason will certainly not be disappointed, we're talking no-holds barred mondo splatter here. Again, the budget kind of hinders the quality of the gore in the first place but nevertheless there's something very disturbing about watching cute little Japanese girls in school outfits getting hacked to 165 bloody pieces with a chainsaw.

Stacy is quirky, funny and very bizarre. It contains a number of inventive concepts that a highly seasoned zombie film watcher as myself had never seen before. But when all is said and done, in the end "Stacy" is not about zombies, or gore, or even horror. It's a story about love. I know that might be hard to believe but the centerpiece of the story is about a guy and his girlfriend who is about to turn into a Stacy and the emotional pain that this realization does to both of them. The story is filled with heartfelt human tragedy and philosophies about love that are genuinely touching, although not everyone is going to understand this; Stacy is the epitomy of quirky, offbeat Japanese humour that novice viewers of Asian films might have troubling appreciating but I loved it.