BiFan 2015 Review: DEADMAN INFERNO Pits Iconic Aikawa Sho Against The Undead

Director and comedian Hiroshi Shinagawa has focused his film career on mining the drama, and subsequent comedy found in the relationships between partners and prospective teammates. Debut feature Drop followed a juvenile delinquent group, Manzai Gang features similarly unruly youths as they attempt entry into the world of comedy and last year's One Third, the first film to truly steer away from the director's own life experiences, saw a team of criminals unravel under the weight of suspicion and distrust. The director's latest, Deadman Inferno features the largest cast of characters to date, coupled with an increased scale as an entire island falls victim to a zombie plague.

The outbreak occurs when drug-dealing yakuza Yoshida (Shinagawa regular Miyagawa Daisuke), on the lam from his bosses in Tokyo, concocts his own original narcotic and sells it to the inhabitants of the little fishing town of Zenini island. Some combination of a new strain of flu and the newly synthesized substance causes the yakuza to turn into a rampaging zombie and pretty soon the whole town follows suit. Into this mix are thrown bumbling locals including police officer Shirakawa (Kubozuka Yosuke), sleazy doctor Shigeru (Kazama Shunsuke) and reggae-obsessed fisherman Sakuta (Hannya). Meanwhile, on the mainland Hiroya (Aikaiwa Sho, best known for his role in Miike's Dead or Alive series) is a former yakuza boss barred from his old life after his whole gang was taken out by a hit from a violent rival Osaka group. The once-proud boss has found himself forced to spend the past ten years living the quiet life of a truck driver. When devoted gang member Takashi (Shingo Tsurumi) is released from jail the pair set-out with fellow member Shinya (Red Rice) and Takashi's ex-wife Sakura (Suzuki Sawa) in order to collect the jailbird's daughter who has runaway to the island with a friend. The Osaka group who shot up Hiroya's gang all those years ago are also in the area tracking down drug-peddling Yoshida. Tammachi (Kimura Yuichi) leads the group with perverted henchmen Joe and Uchida in tow.

While Aikawa gets top billing he cuts a downtrodden figure for much of the movie only coming into his own towards the end when a last stab at revenge falls into his lap. This leaves much of the drama to newly released con Takashi and his quest to find his estranged daughter, with the comedy left to entertaining side characters. Henchman Joe gives an enjoyably deranged performance as a hulking, sex-obsessed nutcase with a penchant for panty-collecting, while local doctor Shigeru, who may be an annoying pervert that looks far too young to have possible earned his medical license, is at least cineliterate, expounding on zombie-lore and educating on the difference between walkers and runners.

While not without its moments Deadman Inferno (also known by its equally appropriate Japanese title, 'Z Island') fails to deviate enough from the well-trodden path of the zombie-comedy to really impress. The sheer number of characters means that many of them fail to connect or get lost in the shuffle, a problem when the bodies start falling to little reaction. Tired stereotypes like high-kicking schoolgirls and generic zombie violence abound while the talented cast of mostly comedians do their best with what's on offer. The film's not without its moments, Shinagawa's Manzai (comedy double-act) roots are on show in the rapid-fire back-and-forth banter between characters, but it's the moments of physical comedy that get the most laughs; even if the jokes, punching a zombie granny in the face for example, have all been seen before.

Director Shinagawa Hiroshi proved he could handle a sizable ensemble cast with One Third and he does the same in his follow-up, even if the bulky cast of chattering comedians dilutes what's a pretty straightforward plot. While the zombies vs. yakuza premise just isn't the novel idea the film sells itself as, Deadman Inferno is a solidly entertaining diversion from a talented director and an entertaining cast that contains enough broad humor to make for a fun outing whilst it's unlikely to set the world on fire.