I have to admit – I am not particularly a fan of outlandish Japanese films.  Machine Girl, RoboGeisha… I just don’t find them entertaining for anything outside of a quick Youtube clip.  Yet, I cannot deny that their cultish popularity.  As the audience began amassing inside the theatre for the Toronto After Dark Festival screening of Noboru Igushi’s Dead Sushi, the excitement was more palpable than for any other film in the very successful Festival in 2012.  Groups of all ages huddled in cliques discussing the wonderful array of colors and absurdity that was about to be presented on screen.  And of that, they were well quenched quite satisfyingly. 

Directed by Noboru Iguchi (the aforementioned Machine Girl and RoboGeisha), Dead Sushi is a not so serious action/horror/comedy about Keikio (Rina Takeda) who runs away from home and takes up residence in a quaint inn renowned for its sushi plates. 

There a couple of laughs, chuckles and head scratching moments that lead us to a former employee from a Pharmaceutical company who has a serum that turns sushi into human flesh hungry monsters.  What happens after the serum is given to the sushi dishes is something that needs to be seen to be un-believed.  Sushi zombies (or is it zombie sushi?), flying squid and even thousands of baby sushi that come courtesy of two pieces of sushi engaging in some kind of sexual act are all part of the fun.

The audience at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival knew exactly what they were about to revel in and they did so with an unwavering glee.  They clapped, cheered and laughed and seemed to be having more fun Frank the Tank at a Kegger.  We, well, we were mildly entertained more by the audience reaction than anything else.  If the same film was given to us as a screener for home, we are not sure we would have gotten past the first few chapters of the DVD let alone laugh along with the prevailing crowd from credit roll to credit roll. 

It would be hard for us to recommend this film to anyone that is not already a fan of Noboru Igushi’s work.  It a packed house, you will surely laugh along with the crowd, but would this be a movie you would pull off the DVD shelf on a rainy day.  Maybe.  Just not us.