As the Halloween Horrors begin to wind down, the cinematic pace just lights right up as I tackle the new Japanese splatter epic The Girls Rebel Force of Competitive Swimmers. How is that for a mouthful? Pretty outrageous. I won’t go out on a limb and say we’re talking about anything spectacular with this film, you should know what you’re getting into. There will be blood, and there will be boobs. A well scripted plot however, is nowhere to be found. Check your brains at the door though and you’re bound to have a pretty good time, read on and discover for yourself!
The Review: Japan has been a burgeoning wealth for the underground splatter scene for quite some time, but has really been making headlines recently with many titles that have been grabbing gorehounds by the ear. The Machine Girl, Meatball Machine and many other sleazier titles. The Girls Rebel Force of Competitive Swimmers (from now on, referred to as: Rebel Force) is just another in that long line of films putting cheap gore back in the spotlight. Unlike the previously mentioned films however, Rebel Force is a V-Cinema (films made purely for the Japanese video market, usually pure exploitation and often not all that good) pure bred. No outside producers stepping in, no artistic pretensions: this is a cartoonish gore flick about schoolgirls who get naked a lot and battle evil demons. There’s definitely a level of style to the film, no doubt about that, but the intentions are completely in the forefront from the very beginning and no matter how you scratch it; Rebel Force is only here to deliver a lot of what you want and then make off like a bandit in the night. There are a lot of body parts flying around, arterial spray gushing like fountains, high school girls who are naked more often than clothed and a plot that makes less and less sense as the movie carries along. Let’s just say, at this point you know what you’re getting into. I guess the only fair way to judge this film is to say: did it exceed genre limitations? Was it bloody enough? Yes, and then some. Were the chicks hot enough? Ahhh, yes and no in some cases. Was it entertaining? Yes, it was but there’s a certain amount of intelligence you have to leave at the door to get full satisfaction out of it.