Deddo sushi (2012) Online

The daughter of a sushi chef, Keiko (Rina Takeda), tries to live up to her father's demanding training in both martial arts and sushi making, but it proves too much for her and she runs away. She finds a job as a waitress at a remote resort hotel that caters to special groups, such as the president and some of his associates running a major pharmaceutical company. Unknown to them, Yamada (Kentaro Simazu), a former researcher at the company who was framed and jailed on trumped-up charges, is living in the area - and he's angry! His research had involved bringing dead things back to life, and he uses his knowledge now to create.... killer sushi! Set loose amongst the guests and workers at the hotel, only Keiko and former sushi chef Mr. Sawada (Shigeru Matsuzaki) have what it takes to fight back, with the help of little dead/alive egg sushi, Eggy, of course....

This is one of those highly entertaining, completely nonsensical and over-the-top gory and funny films that the Japanese seem to have a lock on these days; at one point a character says "this has finally reached a point where it makes no sense any longer" and the audience wonders how it managed to take that character so long to come to that conclusion! My favourite line in the film is from disgruntled researcher Yamada who, at one significant moment, states that "I have been reborn as tuna!" An immortal line in anybody's book, I think. What keeps this film from flying all the way apart is its gonzo spirit and absolute commitment to its absurdity, and there are also some excellent martial arts sequences, particularly from Keiko - Rina Takeda is a rising martial arts star, and she was still a teenager when she made this film. Some people might object to the excessive blood-letting, but it's done in such an extreme fashion that it's really just hilarious, not nauseating.

If the FantAsia International Film Festival needs a descriptive film to show what it's all about, "Dead Sushi" is perhaps that very film, and it is really only right and proper that it had its World Premiere at this festival. The film was introduced by its director and co-writer Naboru Iguchi, and Ms. Takeda was also on hand to demonstrate some of her martial arts moves live; Mr. Iguchi encouraged the packed auditorium to yell out "danger!" or "sushi!" at appropriate moments, and the FantAsia audience took him up on it with great enthusiasm. Easily my favourite film of FantAsia 2012 so far, and one that I hope gets a wide distribution because it has to be seen (and guffawed at) to be believed!

I must start out by saying that "Dead Sushi" ("Deddo Sushi") is not a movie that will appeal just to anyone. Why? Well, because this movie is very odd, unique and special, it is extreme to the point where it becomes hilarious and ridiculous. But it works out so well, because this Japanese horror/comedy really is good entertainment and a great laugh.

In this movie you will find flying sushi, man-eating sushi, sushi nunchaku, a man-tuna, rice-zombies, and other equally bizarre things. The outrageousness of it all is what makes the movie work out so well. The dialogue is equally outrageous, but funny at the same time.

The story in "Dead Sushi" is about a Keiko who flees the hard tutoring of her father in the ways of sushi making and martial arts. She runs away from home and ends up taking a job at an old inn run by a married couple. A group of visitors come to stay at the inn, but they carry a secret with them, and once unleashed, the sushi comes to life to wreck havoc on the humans. This time people becomes the food...

This particular genre of comedy/horror movies is unique to Japan, and you either love it or hate it - you either get it or you don't. As with other movies in the similar genre, "Samurai Princess", "RoboGeisha", "Tokyo Gore Police", etc. then you are in for extremities in abundance. If you enjoy this particular genre of movies, then "Dead Sushi" is definitely well worth checking out.

And with similar movies, you know what kind of acting you are getting right from the very start. It is not award-winning performances, of course, but still, good enough all-round performances and action.

Astounding is hardly a strong enough word to describe just how truly sublime DEAD SUSHI was...

This was perhaps the most tremendously fun cinematographic experience of my life! I cannot remember laughing as much while pulling my hair and jumping up and down my seat squealing every five seconds to a point where trying to restrain my reactions became impossible! I also never imagined ever feeling so incredibly hungry, sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath and literally drooling with my fists both against my chin while looking at a hundred flying zombie sushi famished for something human.

And yes. If you see me walking around, speaking softly to a small omelette sushi safely tucked on my shoulder, fear not! Omelette sushi are the most adorable creatures and they save lives. Yes. They do. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

You should know one thing: This is OTT high camp, that only has one goal: To be as crazy as it can be. If you read the outline, you know what you let yourself into. Fun and silly, nothing more and nothing less. We shouldn't talk too much about acting in this movie of course. I think for a comedy of this sorts, it's more than decent. Something you can expect to see in here.

If this is the first Japanese over the top movie you're going to watch, you're either in for a treat or you will very soon find out that this isn't your cup of tea (or sake for that matter). Of course I'm not suggesting you should get drunk for this ;o) (though that might be an idea for a sequel .. Dead Sake!)

I just had the pleasure of seeing this great Japanese comedy-horror film at the Fall 2012 HIFF film showcase tonight and I'm glad that I got tickets for it and went to see it! First off, I want to tip my hat to the director & his film crew for making a great film that will appeal to genre & foreign film fans. Also, I'd like to tip my hat off to the main actress, Rina Takeda who showed up for both screenings of this film at HIFF over the weekend. I always enjoy seeing any of the people involved with any film big or small show up at festival screenings and really show off and share their labor of love with the audience as well as interact and answer questions too.

If you don't know the director, Noboru Iguchi, go and look up some of his previous work such as 2008's Machine Girl and also check out his entry in the horror film anthology The ABCs of Death which is circulating around the film festival circuit. Not one to make your typical comedy OR horror film that the Japanese can be known for, Dead Sushi is no different from his previous work. What is really enjoyable about this particular film is how campy it is but also how it really seems like everyone involved had a good time making the film which is always a plus!

The basic plot of the movie is that Rina Takeda plays Keiko, a girl who is the daughter of a sushi chef in Japan. Keiko's father attempts to pass on the fine culinary art of sushi making to her but is disappointed that she has great difficulty in mastering the skill which eventually causes her to leave home and find another job elsewhere as well as her true calling. Short while later, we see that Keiko is working at a hotel-inn that is renowned as a popular getaway spot as well as supposedly for its sushi. Unfortunately, Keiko is pretty burnt out from working at such a soul sucking place where serving the customer is a high priority but she also gets picked on by her fellow workers(2 other hostesses). Just as the other 2 hostesses have finished playing a little prank on her by giving her the 2 trays of food they are each carrying, a big corporate client comes in with his entourage of businessmen looking for a nice inn to stay at and be served. Poor hapless Keiko, wanting to be as best a servant as possible, quickly but sloppily cleans herself off and comes out to join the other hostesses in greeting the visiting client(s) but winds up embarrassing the owners of the inn & herself by showing up rather disheveled with remnants of food hanging from her hair and yukata. Because of this embarrassment, the owner of the inn & his wife take her aside and chastise her for making a mockery of their business and tell her that she needs to take her job more seriously which causes Keiko great frustration. Shortly after this dressing down by the owners, she is approached by the groundskeeper Sawada who tells her not to give up and to keep trying her best.

Up until this point, the film is fairly straightforward and normal which isn't what you would expect from a Noboru Iguchi film but I promise you that things slowly but surely pick up from this point forward. The next scene features a young Japanese couple that have just landed in the area and have walked 20 minutes and found the hotel inn. The couple get into a brief little argument and start making out a little bit before they are interrupted by what seems to be a homeless man that is nearby and watching them make out while eating sushi. The young man that was making out with his girlfriend at this point decides to pick a fight with the homeless man and this basically results in death by squid(you have to watch to see the hilarity of this play out). It is from this exact point that the movie starts to move into the realm of the bizarre with the various seafood & sushi coming to life and attacking the hapless businessmen and the owners of the inn which all culminates in a ridiculous fight featuring:

-a battleship size sushi

-a million little baby sushi that are the result of 2 pieces of sushi mating

-a huge walking "Maguro(tuna) Man"fish

-sushi-zombies

If this all sounds wildly crazy, that's because it is! But if you've seen Noboru's previous work such as Machine Girl, you'll know that this is par for the course. Now you're probably wondering why I'm rating such a movie that is as ridiculous as this so well... Yes, this movie goes into the realm of the bizarre with "monster" sushi and other weird things including a talking egg sushi but it's all done very cleverly. As I mentioned earlier, you can clearly see that the actors are having fun with this film and enjoying themselves acting out ridiculous scenarios. The special effects are also really cheesy and obviously very low budget but again, that's not what you're here to see. In contrast to Machine Girl however, this film is a little more down to earth which is a little odd to say in the same sentence with "monster sushi", but trust me on this. By and large, what we have is a relatively mundane & normal situation taken to its extreme opposite but it never feels like the filmmakers and actors are going overboard and asking the audience to take things very seriously.

If you want to spend a fun night or would like to turn your mind off for a few hours and get a little cultural education about sushi and Japanese culture, this is a great film to do it with.

I must warn you that "Dead Sushi" is very weird and very cheesy. In many ways, it reminded me of another film I reviewed recently— Big Tits Dragon. Both films are about zombies, both are very stupid, both are from Japan and neither takes itself very seriously. While I would NOT put this movie on my must-see list, it is a diverting little time-passer….if you like this sort of thing. So let me tell you about it and then you can decide if it's the movie for you.

The film begins with a master sushi chef teaching his daughter to become a great sushi chef. However, this is NOT like the recent artsy film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"! The father's methods for teaching her are insane and look for like Mr. Miyagi's training in "The Karate Kid"! She is very talented and has been devoted to her father, though even with her skills, he considers her second-rate because she wasn't born a boy! Disgusted, Keiko runs away from home and gets a job at an inn run by idiots.

The inn where Keiko works is full of all sorts of strange characters, though the strangest are a group of corporate-types who arrive and rudely demand sushi. The resident chef thinks these folks are idiots and prepares 3rd-rate sushi for them. Keiko realizes this and cannot help but speak up. But the chef WAS right—they are idiots and her comments result in a martial arts fight that you would expect to see in a Sonny Chiba film—not a sushi movie! Ultimately, this fight is interrupted when a bizarre hobo arrives and announces he's come for vengeance. It seemed that he was fired by the company and framed for a crime he didn't commit, so he's going to use his secret serum to exact his revenge. After injecting a dead squid with it, the creature becomes alive and has an overwhelming desire to kill AND infect all the sushi at the inn. Soon, hundreds of pieces of sushi have come to life and are ripping the guests and workers to pieces. Doesn't sound weird enough? Well, the crazy bum then injects himself—and he becomes a tuna-man! Can the tuna-man and his hoard of evil sushi be stopped?!

During the course of the film, you're treated with hundreds of gallons of blood, beheadings, people vomiting sushi rice after they become zombies, some very gratuitous nudity and one dumb scene after another. This might have worked if the film had taken itself seriously and had intended to be artistic—which it clearly does NOT want to be! It's very silly and for folks who love cheesy and stupid films, it's a treat—sort of like watching a Troma film. But, rest assured, if you DON'T want to watch a stupid film, please stay clear! I think the average person would probably stop watching about 10 minutes into the movie. But, if you have a high tolerance for the strange and don't mind all the over- the-top gore, then by all means give it a try.

By the way, my favorite line in the film was when one of the folks said 'things have reached a point where they no longer make sense'. I couldn't have said it any better myself!

Witty, original and a little bit stupid. It doesn't matter how many times I see this film, I love it more and more with every viewing. It challenges every concept of a 'good' movie, instead opting for almost slap-stick style comedy coupled with HEAPS of fake blood and strange ways to die at the hands of infected food, not to mention the crude nature of Japan's take on sex appeal. 10/10, I'd recommend this to anyone and everyone - regardless of your taste you're guaranteed to get a laugh out of this. With the exception of a handful of moderately adult moments (and a female chest), this is definitely a film that every generation can have a chuckle at. If you're a fan of sushi, martial arts, Japanese culture, cheesy comedy or cheap gore, you'll have a new favourite by the end of the night.

From Noboru Iguchi, director of F for Fart in The ABCs Of Death segment, you probably have an idea now what you are in for. This film is as cheesy as hell in the most entertaining way and experience you will ever have in watching a (chessy) movie. The GORE here is sickly creative and twisted in the style of Japanese perverse culture and are very bloody, yet not so realistic most of the time. The SCARE here is probably seeing some of the comedic performances that is so absurd, well-acted, and twisted that makes me feel like throwing up in some scenes. I did burst out in tears twice from laughing though. Overall, Dead Sushi is a very funny over the top cheesy horror/comedy film that gets crazier and make less and less sense as it goes and it's well aware of that. So if you are in for a sickly delicious crazy fun time and lots of crazy surprises, then this is a movie that will go beyond all your expectation! >>A-<<

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.

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Trying to appease her grandfather, an aspiring sushi chef instead takes a job at a high-class hotel where her attitude about how the preparation differs from her training ends up putting her skills to the test when a curse turns the food against humanity and forces her to save everyone.

This emerges as an incredibly fun and goofy splatter comedy. Among the better qualities of this one is the fact that there's plenty of fun to be with how it tackles the extreme concept. This one gets a lot of mileage out of sushi preparation and the extreme lengths people go to in order to make it servable to others which is an incredibly goofy and silly concept in general. Focusing on her exacting processes and martial arts training is where this one really goes overboard with the silliness. That carries over into the central premise in that this one is trying to sell the idea that reanimated sushi are capable of going on a rampage from a curse and eating people alive. This is such a goofy idea that it becomes a plausible storyline here with the series of outlandish antics that continually arise here. That provides the film with plenty of strong action, from the opening attack on the couple that starts the curse to the first attacks on the staff at the hotel where the reanimated pieces begin flying around grabbing everyone, there's a sense of fine cheese on display that continually appears to be featured in other aspects. The action is utterly enjoyable, from the sushi going wild on the corporate guides flying around the room and slicing up their bodies in reckless abandon to the individual battles against the creatures inside the hotel where the voracious creatures attack or manage to get put down temporarily to the later action of the ravenous swarms appearing as a group to launch their attacks by embedding themselves into different parts of the body make for a lot of fun as well as funny, cheesy goodness. Even the kung-fu scenes look good, and with the enhancement of the giant fish-headed creature coming into play in the final half, it has a lot to enjoy about its action overall. Combined with the silliness of the comedy and plenty of fine gory ideas present throughout here, this one has enough to hold it up over it's few minor flaws. The main issue here is the atrocious CGI that propels this one forward which is just utterly abysmal in how it handles the creatures. There's a plethora of scenes here that play off the swarm of sushi-shaped globs floating around in mid-air attacking the people, and it never looks even remotely believable. The creatures come off as laughable blobs that barely interact with their surroundings only for a series of ridiculous streaks of blood-splatter to come flying out of wounds they supposedly inflict on everyone. Some of the humor might not be for everyone, as there's a wide realm of body humor and silly sight-gags that might not be suitable or appealing for all audiences.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Nudity, Graphic Language and sexual acts.

It's hard to describe this film, other than as bizarre.

If you are a fan of the early BBC Red Dwarf and The Young Ones TV series, then the humour, acting quality and animation quality are on that sort of level, except in Japanese - but with a Martial Arts, zombie and sushi food twist.

It's not high art, it's not high quality, and I watched it with a horrified fascination about where it was going to go.

Fans of the foodie Japanese classic Tampopo will recognise the egg yolk scene, and fans of The Way of the Dragon might see a tribute to Bruce Lee's showing off with Nunchaku - except in this film they are made from zombie sushi that the heroine has neutralised by removing the nervous system.

Yes, it really is that strange.

I have the benefit of speaking and understanding a very little Japanese, so about 5% to 10% of the dialogue made sense, without the subtitles.

Well, as much as any of the dialogue made sense. It's a very strange film, but I did watch it in horrified fascination that anyone could make such a film let alone persuade actors / actresses to take part in it, It's of a quality with the Red Dwarf episode Back To Reality, in terms of animation, FX, acting and storyline - but with Japanese dialogue, and with zombies, flying (and talking) sushi and a vagrant that transmutes into a human tuna.

If that's not enough to whet your appetite, then you probably have far too much common sense, and no sense of the utterly ridiculous. You have to have an appreciation of those qualities in order to appreciate this film!

Here comes another twisted and outrageous movie from the mind of Noboru Iguchi. His previous movie was grotesque without being all that fun. But this one is kinda entertaining and sort of humorous. It's mostly messed up and crude humor but that is basically this directors trademark. It's clear the he got a lot of his inspirations from "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!", "Piranha 3D" and "Piranha 3DD" except this one can be a bit more messed up because of certain areas. There is romance between a sushi chefs daughter and a sushi. This movie has a very low budget and everything looks fake from the CGI to the props and make up. But that sort of makes a flick like this a bit more humorous. Because you can't take any of it seriously, which works for a movie like this. It's a movie you can't take seriously but for good reason. Everything just seems so random but that is the direction Iguchi tries to go and he seems to know what he is doing. Or he just ended up going that direction and it worked out at the end. From start to finish I wasn't really bored with this movie. And actually found it to be quite entertaining. The acting is over the top as it gets but it adds to this movie in a positive manner. This is one of those movies that is so bad it's actually good kinda flicks. The story is very simple like a lot of Iguchi's movie. Basically about a sushi chef's daughter that leaves and ends up working at a inn. Serving business men but a guy that has a grudge against the business men infects the sushi and turn it into flying mutant zombie sushi. Then crazy and messed up stuff starts to happen.

6.9/10