Audience Member
The world population has dropped in half since all of the teenage girls between the ages of 15-17 have begun dying off and returning as zombie schoolgirls! As the Romero Repeat Kill Troops set out to destroy the threat, a crazed scientist works to unlock the secret that is causing this deadly phenomenon. Any subtext about teen fetishism and innocence lost that STACY might present is marred by this awful mess of a production. Though billed as a Horror Comedy, STACY is mostly unfunny, and it suffers from terrible acting, ugly cinematography, and a painfully slow pace. There are only a few distanced moments of bloody mayhem that are worth watching for, along with the typical fanboy references to THE EVIL DEAD and George Romero. Naoyuki Tomomatsu is simply unable to translate the intelligence of Kenji Otsuki's original novel in a meaningful way, leaving most zombie fans either confused or uninterested. The over-the-top gore and camp ridiculousness that does make it into STACY would lead the way for better films like THE MACHINE GIRL, TOKYO GORE POLICE, and ROBOGEISHA later in the decade.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
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Audience Member
What can there be said about a movie about Japanese Schoolgirl zombies that hasn't already been said before.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
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Audience Member
STACY, ATTACK OF THE SCHOOLGIRL ZOMBIES en vf. Rien à sauver... Pà (C)nible, moche et d'un amateurisme effarant...
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I love the zombie genre, but even I have to admit that it's been done to death. Zombie flicks are cheap to make, so formulaic, mindless ones abound. When I find one that brings something new to the table, I'm happy to overlook a few flaws and find some delight in the undead novelty. Such is the case with "Stacy," a very unusual Japanese tale of the walking, flesh-munching dead in which the agent of reanimation is... well... love.
A weird disease has gripped the world in the early 21st century. 15-17 year old girls are exhibiting manic "near death happiness," followed by the emergence of "butterfly twinkle powder" on their skin, after which they die and then proceed to chew up the living. The zombies are of the Romero type, lumbering and easily evaded alone, but devastating in numbers. In fact, this film makes no secret of its derivation from Romero's flicks, particularly "Day of the Dead." We get a military organization called the Romero Unit charged with zombie disposal, a mad scientist experimenting on the shambling ex-schoolgirls to learn the cause of the disease, and several scenes that are recreating almost exactly from Romero's work. The zombies themselves are fairly low-budget affairs with sometimes cheap-looking prosthetics, but the Japanese twists are apparent in the rolling eyes and lolling tongues that add some menace to the mix. There's no shortage of gore and plenty of uniquely Japanese black humor to be had. In fact, if you're not paying attention, you might think that Stacy is just another cheezball zombie-romp... and then you're missing out.
The weird thing about "Stacy" is that it turns out to be a disturbingly touching horror movie. There are a few subplots at work here, but one of the most important involved a girl, Eiko, and a puppeteer, Shibukawa. Eiko is in the throes of NDH when Shibukawa meets her, walking around with a glass windchime and finding joy in everything to an extent that is calculatedly irritating. In the process, though, Shibukawa finds a kind of solace in her acceptance of her fate. Eiko has one foot among the living and one among the undead already, revealing to Shibukawa that those afflicted with the plague are looking for a strange kind of love and commitment. Unlike Romero's zombies, the only way to kill the Stacies (Stacy being a generic name for a schoolgirl zombie) is to cut them into 165 pieces. This can be facilitated with the use of Bruce Campbell's Right Hand 2.0, a sort of designer chainsaw we learn of in TV ads. The dying girls want this done by someone they love, not by the anonymous civil servants in the Romero Rekilling Unit. That's at the core of "Stacy," which evolves into a macabre exposition on the place of young Japanese women in their society, on love, commitment, and on accepting one's fate. Once the scientists figure this out, everyone accepts their fate, as shown in the most joyful death-by-zombies scenes I've ever seen in a horror flick. This sets up a particularly weird happy ending that, again, I've never seen before.
None of this is take away from the gore factor or silly antics that also populate "Stacy." As I said, this is a very different sort of zombie flick. Flaws? Sure. The aforementioned low budget SFX make-up and straight-to-video look of the production, uneven acting (although Natsuki Katô is terrific as Eiko), perhaps one or two too many subplots, and occasional misses on pacing mean that this isn't a movie that's going to win any awards for top-tier film making. Nevertheless, if you're into zombie cinema and are feeling a little wearied by all of the forgettable knock-offs that have begun congealing into a featureless, bloody mess in your mind, "Stacy" is certainly worth a try. This one will stand out in your mind for a long, long time.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
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Audience Member
Japoneses não sabem fazer filme de Zombies.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
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Audience Member
i saw this movie last night at Ms. Mae's to an awesome coincidental soundtrack...but based on that it was awesome!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
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