Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s Stacy, based on Kenji Otsuki’s novel as adapted by Chisato Oogawara, is a tongue-in-cheek apocalyptic tale posing as social criticism. However, amid all of the genre referencing and subplots, Tomomatsu’s narrative loses focus as its unbalanced special effects serve as metaphor for the would-be entertaining undead satire.
Sometime in the early part of the 21st century, a plague erupts which causes girls between the ages of fifteen to seventeen to suddenly die before returning as zombies, otherwise known as “Stacies.” The government has taken measures to ensure social stability in the ten-plus years of the plight, such as creating a task force–referred to as the Romero Repeat Kill Troops (RRKT)–which is dispatched upon the report of the recently deceased, as well as the Stacy Law, which states that only the RRKT, a boyfriend, or the family of the newly dead retain the right to reexterminate. However, illegal factions have arisen due to the government agency’s lethargy, most notably the Drew Illegal Repeat Kill Troop, which offers their prompt, efficient services for a price. Even Big Money has pounced upon the opportunity to turn a profit from the undead phenomenon as one company offers the “Bruce Campbell’s Right Hand 2” (misspelled “Blues Campbell”), a mini chainsaw for quick and easy disposal of a Stacy.
Aside from the social criticism previously outlined, the Drew Kill Troop’s motive for its illegal activity stems from its members’ desire to raise enough money to garner a teen idol’s attention in order to have him kill them at the appointed time. All of this sounds that it would undoubtedly add up to a successful, witty film, right? Yet, however fleshed out the zombie scenario may be with the dictums of who may or may not kill a Stacy, the manner and methods in which a reexecution may be conducted (a Stacy must be dissected into a least 165 pieces to ensure death), and how various factions of society respond to the situation, Tomomatsu loses himself amid three subplots–one which involves a puppeteer named Shibukawa (Toshinori Omi) and a girl hoping to befriend him prior to her inevitable demise, Eiko (Natsuki Kato); another involving a mad, Nobel Prize-winning scientist named Inugami Sukekiyo (Yasutaka Tsutsui), who is attempting to cure the plague; and a RRKT division’s battle with the undead–as he expends more energy explicating each and every metaphor and allusion (the latter of which is perhaps a bit too reliant upon George Romero’s Day of the Dead) than he does attempting to soundly present and narrate his tale. Granted, the members of the Drew Kill Troop would indubitably make Quentin Tarantino proud as a counter to America’s most recent incarnation of Charlie’s Angels, but little becomes of any of this promising premise as a consequence of the work’s overly abundant, uncontrolled giddiness.
For example, the inclusion of Near Death Happiness, a symptom exhibited by a soon-to-be Stacy, functions only for the purpose of black humor as it fails to aide the whole. Indeed, Stacy does attempt to be a bitter, ironic look at society–and succeeds at some turns such as a television advertisement for the RRKT, which ensures that you will be readily trained to “Kill your own daughter”–but its implementation–much like the film’s trite, upbeat conclusion–seems to ultimately deceive and delude itself as it subsequently betrays the film’s tone. In short, Tomomatsu is unable to juxtapose subtle humor and sardonic criticism effectively, the result of which is not unlike a mistimed joke.
Interestingly, Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s Stacy comes a year after Fukasaku’s Battle Royale, another film which hosts a preoccupation with Japan killing off its youth. Yet, unlike the latter’s film, Tomomatsu’s work fails to justify itself. Much like its unbalanced special effects, its campiness at times seems appropriate while at others, grossly misplaced. Don’t get me wrong, the film is fun in lieu of being a bit disorganized, but Tomomatsu’s sin is that he fails to make his work congeal into a satisfactory, cohesive whole. However, when all’s said and done, Stacy can be given credit for one thing: Tomomatsu finally got the drone of a zombie horde correct whereas decades of undead filmmakers before were never able to succinctly, convincingly convey.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
