3 out of 5

Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura

Fascinating, ridiculous, strangely gory, the pieces that came together well in Machine Girl (tangentially related to this film by its maker, and coming slightly before this one) are a bit more strewn about in Tokyo Gore Police, as the surrealism and violence are upped a notch, which ends up ratcheting up the general WTF factor (pardon the obnoxious term) but subsequently derailing any hopes of an involving plot. While Machine Girl was no drama classic, it did a good job of carrying the viewer through the ridiculousness, whereas TGP lets details fall to the wayside, trusting the viewer to put the pieces together so that it can get on with the insanity. Which makes it fun to watch, but empty overall. Also discordant are the constant television commercial asides, which were apparently added to give the film levity but instead make you wonder how to perceive all the splatter. This concern passes, however, as do the 109 minutes of film. An entertaining, if heartless, entry into this odd Japanese genre.