Versus (2000)
Review by Jeff

Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura

Starring:
Tak Sakaguchi/Prisoner KSC2-303
Hideo Sakaki/The Man
Chieko Misaka/The Girl
Kenji Matsuda/Yakuza Leader

Plot:
Set in the present where a group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, unwittingly, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead, with the assistance of the evil Sprit that has also come back, come back from ages past, to claim his prize. The final standoff between Light and Dark has never been so cunning, so brutal and so deadly. This is where old Japanese Samurai mysticism meets the new world of the gangster and the gun. Gruesome, bloody and positively bold.

Acting:
The acting in this film is great, Tak Sakaguchi(Prisoner KSC2-303) was great, he was slick, and looked kickass, Hideo Sakaki(The Man) was also real good as his rival enemy, then we have Kenji Matsuda(Yakuza Leader) this guy was funny as shit and I thought his role was great he added some real good humor to the film.

Gore:
We get tons of blood spraying left and right here, we get tons of sword action, a guy cut in half, lots of gunshots, a head kicked off, heart ripped out, a guy cut to pieces, a head cut off, and much much more.

T & A:
Not a thing here, and with all the kickass martial arts and bloodshed it’s not missed.

Directing:
Ryuhei did a amazing job with look and feel of this film, there were some great camera shots and the visuals were great too, there were some real nice fast and slow shots throughout the film.

Soundtrack:
We get some fast paced rock/techno music and a real nice score to go with it.

Final thoughts:
Versus blew me away and the more I watch it the more I love this movie, it has some great martial arts, sweet gore, some good humor, and a great plot. If you love Asian horror, gore, zombies, or martial arts you will dig this flick a lot. I give it a 10/10.