Wicked City (1993)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good concept, poorly executed.

Better Late Then Never

A Disappointing Continuation

Working for a special corporation, a special hunter finds that a group of demons are attempting to upset the balance between an agreement held with several supernatural entities and must fight alongside a fellow agent from the supernatural world to restore the balance between societies.Frankly, this one was a rather thrilling anime. One of the more engaging aspects of the film is the exceptionally enjoyable storyline that manages to bring together plenty of unique concepts to the forefront. The idea of a treaty engaged between different members of supernatural factions is quite a fun ride, and the film gets a lot of play out of the idea that the treaty coming to an end means that a series of big battles must be engaged to restore balance. That this leads into a non-stop series of big action scenes between the two sides is quite a lot of fun, giving this one a breathless pace which is due to the great encounters with the terrifying demons and creatures, from the spider-woman surprise following their sexual encounter or the battle with the creatures at the airport which is enhanced nicely by the terrifying creatures he has to fight off. That carries along nicely with the later frenzied encounters where the shapeshifting creatures in the mansion or the creature that attempts to tentacle-rape her out on the highway where it seemingly throws every kind of deformed and tentacle-shaped being in their arsenal. Due to the rampant attacks from the creatures in another dimension with far greater powers than ordinary mortals due to the strong storyline, there's plenty of fun thrills to be had with the anime format which allows for the supernatural demons and creatures to be placed in far more terrifying detail as they truly look otherworldly and terrifying that makes the action that much more fun. The action here is given a strong stylistic charge with the way the scenes come off here, making this one look all that much greater with the neon color-scheme running wild in the film so that the battle in the spa with the demon nurse or the encounter with the spider woman in the tunnel are rather excited yet the highly romantic sequences look great as well. Graced with tons of nudity and a truly hilarious side-character for some comic relief, this one ends up with a lot to really like about it over a minor flaw. The overall feel of the film is that it just seems to throw elements together that have a vein hope of making sense but in the end, it really just has too many strands going for it. Things just seem to happen here and it never explains why people have their powers, what the overall goals are for each side or what the plot-twist is supposed to mean as hardly anything here happens for a reason. Beyond this, the film is quite a lot of fun.Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Graphic Language and strong sex scenes.

An earlier creation from Ninja Scroll director Kawajiri, Wicked City sets the template that would contribute to the success of the former. The core Kawajiri cast of strong male, alluring-yet-deadly female, and twisted old geezer are very much in play here,; all three working to prevent another hostile takeover by the demon world.The resultant action plays out like a more refined UrotsukiDoji, with interspecies relations, body-horror and demon rape playing out across the (no doubt) Men in Black-inspiring narrative. I'm pretty sure a certain scene (hint: Venus cocktrap) inspired a recent throwaway Hollywood schlock-horror flick. Nevertheless, some solid storytelling and character development lie underneath all the hentai-esque excess - there's even some tender romance for all you lovers in the dark. A great shame this ain't available in the UK (at least not on DVD); this is certainly on par with, if not better than, Ninja Scroll. An essential watch for those with a strong constitution.

In a world where humans which we live in and a dimension called The Black World roamed by shape-shifting beings whom have been living secretly among us for many years. There has been a peace treaty assigned between the two worlds yet a Black World gang called The Radicals want to stop that treaty from ever happening as their target is a wise ancient yet sex crazed 200 year old peace keeper Giuseppei Mayart who is the one to make the treaty is protected by two top agents named Taki who is your basic human agent and Makie who is a sexy black world agent with unique claws as the treaty must be protected.Nasty, bizarre and exciting Japanese animated horror fantasy from Yoshiaki Kawajiri who later gave us the classics "Ninja Scroll" and "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust". It's a highly overlooked but very cool erotic anime movie with sex, gore and action including a nice sounding plot that goes together with them, the animation is also very nice here and Makie is one gorgeous toon girl.This is one sexy and bloody H.P. Lovecraft-esquire piece of animation from Japan not to be missed and definitely not for the kids.Also recommended: "From Beyond", "Re-Animator", "Hellboy 1 & 2", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "The Professional: Golgo 13", "Akira", "Ghost in The Shell 1 & 2", "Men in Black", "Videodrome", "Scanners", "The Thing", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Ichi The Killer", "Versus", "The Mist", "Lifeforce", "From dusk Till Dawn", "Vampire Hunter D", "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust", "Kite", "Perfect Blue", "Watchmen" and "Sin City".

I wouldn't profess to be an anime "fan". I certainly watch it, and own a few British released videos, but I don't go to conventions or run down to Forbidden Planet every week looking for the latest import. The reason? Cultural differences mean a lot of high-end anime is perhaps confusing and a little boring for us westerners (see Akira and Ghost in the Shell). But not Wicked City. Just like Ninja Scroll, this dispenses with theological and spiritual issues in favour of gore, guns and shagging. Written and directed by the same guy, this is similar to Ninja Scroll, with the same superhuman themes and forbidden love interest. And I love it. Call me shallow, but I've been brought up on a diet of in-yer-face culture, and the Japanese prevalence to dwell on life and self-worth don't interest me in the slightest, at least not when I watch videos. Wicked City has the meanest gun IN THE WORLD, an amusing old man (a trademark of the director I fear) and people in smart black suits. O.K, the final battle is classically confusing, but not a day goes by when I don't yell "Fu**ing monsters!" at the top of my voice. An utterly enjoyable romp, and one that's always a pleasure to watch on the Sci-Fi Channel.