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Stacy Director: Naoyuki Tomomatsu Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 80 minutes Studio: Wea Corp Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-07-22 Buy from Amazon

From Description In the early 21st century, teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 17 begin dying all over the world. Shortly before they die, the girls succumb to NDH (Near Death Happiness), a "pre-death" state of absolute bliss and joy. Once dead, girls come back as a flesh-eating zombie nicknamed "Stacy". The world is in chaos. Countries suffer from famine, war, and zero-population growth because of this teenage death epidemic. To keep the zombies from returning and eating innocent people, families are urged to kill their daughters before they are allowed to die by this mysterious disease (chopping them up and leaving them in garbage bags for govern-ment-sanctioned pick-up). In a Japanese military base, some undead schoolgirls are held and tested by a scientist who tries to unlock the secrets behind the girls return from the dead. Suddenly, the world turns upside down yet again as a soldier, in a fit of depression, lets the girls free to storm the base and devour anyone in their path. Based on the popular Japanese novel by Kenji Otsuki, Stacy is a bloodbath of extreme gore effects and comedy with elements of Resident Evil and George A. Romer's classic Day of the Dead.

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 24 Average rating: 3.5 " WHAT THE HELLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! " I'd had read some of the reviws for Stacy's and it'd seemed like it was gonna be a good ol' zombie movie. However, when I saw this piece of crap I nearly threw up, PLEASE, don't listen to the good reviews of this movie, it's a waste of time and money, trust me!!!!!!!!!! I don't what was worse, the lead girl consent laughing ,which made me want to kill her myself, or just the other horrible acting in this movie. AVOID THIS AT ALL COSTS "The Fastest Way To A Man's Heart...And Spleen, And Liver, And Intestines, Etc..." One of the more thematically bizarre takes on the zombie sub-genre, "Stacy" will please some horror fans while merely puzzling others. I consider myself a member of the former, and will do my best to explain why I like it so much. "Stacy" is about a series of strange occurences wherein, out of nowhere, girls all over the world begin to die on (or around) their 16th birthdays. They then return quickly to life, kinda, as gut-munching, walking corpses. This phenomenon has become commonplace, and the residents of the Japanese city (where the main story occurs) are used to dispatching the zombies. It's still tragic to the families involved, but not unexpected anymore, and a nationwide team of soldiers christened the 'Romero Repeat Kill' troops function as a group of garbagemen, eliminating and disposing of the undead remains. The dramatic arc of the tale focuses on a young man who meets a particular girl who falls squarely in the age group that is most likely to die and return. She is a little unbalanced, no doubt due to her 'near-death' status, and they spend time together, doing things that most young couples normally do. The only difference is that she has asked him to be the one to kill her when she re-animates. This is a heavy burden for the young man, and much of the film deals with the impending sense of having to part with someone you are fond of; the need to set free something you love. Other plot elements concern some of the 'Repeat Kill' squad and their relationships, both with each other and people near to them. One or two of the 'Repeat Kill' troops have some secrets, all of which tie into the movie's climax. There is also a group of Japanese girls who have become free-lance zombie exterminators, and a 'mad scientist'-type who discovers that the cause of all the murderous mayhem is a bit different than what normally appears in zombie flicks. True love is a key element to the story, as well as the zombies' creepy infatuation with those who 're-kill' them. The DVD includes some liner notes which explain, to a degree, the idea around the film's odd-ball themes. "MOE" (pronounced 'mow-eh') is described in the notes as the Japanese word for the worshipping of young girls, particularly pop idols, schoolgirls and the 'Sailor Moon' sort of fantasy depictions so common in that culture. "MOE", as well as the some of the less-conventional personal tastes of the man who originally dreamt-up "Stacy", factors a great deal into a story like this one, which Western-based viewers might otherwise find mind-bogglingly dumb. I recommend reading the liner notes first, or before a second viewing, as it makes the tone of the film much more understandable. "Stacy" is shot like a television movie, and some of the narrative is gibberish. The attempts at sight-gag humor, such as the commercial for the "Bruce Campbell's Right Hand" home chainsaw, were a little too goofy for me. But the underlying story of love and culture, mixed with some awesome gore scenes and an action-packed zombie finale, made me like "Stacy" very much. "Stacy" is a kind of modern, undead fairy tale. The film's music is, appropriately, comprised of insipid Japanese pop-fluff. Overall, I find it to be a weird little zombie oddity, and fans of something outside the norm (even for a genre picture) should go on a date with "Stacy". "T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E" I don't know what was going through my head when I paid forty dollars for this at HMV. Reviews I read made it seem somewhat okay, but no, no it's just terrible. From the moment I pressed play I was dissapointed. The Camera quality was awful, acting awful, gore effects...incredibly awful. Seriously, this looked like it was done by a bunch of film students who don't have any knowledge of effective film making, and think that if they use American icons they can win people over, hence the "Bruce Campbell's right arm 2" chainsaw they advertise in the film. This is probably the worst thing I've ever bought, luckily I talked my way into trading it for The Fresh Prince season one, which is one laugh after another, oh what a crazy mismatch! But just dont ever make the mistake of thinking it might be good. dont buy it, rent it, or even talk about it. Thank you. "A Zombie LOVE STORY???" Just when I thought I had seen it all, along comes "Stacy" - a film from the Asia Cult Cinema Collection by Naoyuki Tomomatsu. I thought it was simply going be another zombie zinger like "Dawn of the Dead" or "Night of the Living Dead", but this gruesome grinder is all about love...the lack of...and need for. Need I say more? A Zombie Love Story??? It has extreme gore effects and comedy with all the elements of "Resident Evil" and George Romero's "Day of the Dead". The ending is quite good...and touching...if you can believe a zombie flick could even venture into romance and amor. I've never seen anything like it! You have to be a hardcore horror fan to appreciate the talent (or lack of) that went into this piece. Let's leave it this way...here's what's written on the back of the box: "WARNING! This film contains scenes with chainsaws, graphic gore, extreme violence and girls in bunny outfits." In the tongue-in-cheek zombie genre', Stacy" gets a 5! "Expect the unexpected" On a purely gut level, "Stacy" sounds like a great movie. An extremely low budget film that looks like director Naoyuki Tomomatsu shot on video, the movie consists of a bunch of young Japanese schoolgirls turned into ravenous zombies running around tearing people to shreds. That one line alone ought to inspire the avid horror fan to run, not walk, to the nearest DVD dispersal point for a copy. Another selling point for the film, in my eyes, is the fact that Synapse films performed the transfer to DVD. This company is a true hero for the horror fan, releasing obscure film after obscure film from around the world for our viewing pleasure. I recently read an article concerning the DVD release of "The Deadly Spawn" that claimed Synapse spent more money on the restoration than the filmmakers did on the entire movie! And we're not talking pocket change, either. That's what I call dedication. A final reason to pick up this film, if the above two reasons don't do the trick, is the superiority of this shot on video production compared to the dreck spooned out over here by companies like Sub Rosa. It is obvious Tomomatsu has enough talent to move on to film, something I can't say for the directors of "Shatter Dead" and "Peter Rottentail." Something sinister on a global scale is occurring in the film "Stacy." Some malady--whether biological, chemical, or psychological no one knows as of yet--is causing pre-teen girls everywhere to perish suddenly. As bad as that sounds, what happens afterwards is a real nightmare: the girls emerge from their tombs as mindless flesheating zombies willing to prey on family members, friends, and total strangers. At some point, a talking head attached the moniker "Stacy" to these hapless victims, a name that stuck and now applies to zombies in every country. The implications of such a catastrophe should be very clear: without these girls growing up to bear children, the human population will move rapidly towards extinction in the coming years. In the meantime, the authorities take all manner of precautions to stem the tide of Stacy related disasters. Governments urge parents to look for the warning signs, including bouts of giggling immediately preceding demise called NDH (Near Death Happiness), and prepare to do the unthinkable. Armed with "Bruce Campbell" chainsaws purchased through companies advertising on television along with a ready supply of government provided trash bags, mother and father must be willing to dispose of their out of control daughters before the child hurts anyone else. Just in case a few milquetoasts can't fire up the old chainsaw when the moment arrives, Romero Repeat Kill soldiers move in too clean up the mess. None of the above takes center stage in "Stacy," however. We do get to see a few of the messier scenes involving Romero troops and a rampaging Stacy, and we do see a few of the advertisements on television for the Campbell chainsaws (you can wear them on one hand!), but other issues move to the forefront. Specifically, the movie follows the relationship between a puppet designer and a soon to be Stacy. Director Tomomatsu spends a huge amount of time following this budding relationship between an older man and a younger girl. They go out for walks in a garden, engage in long, meaningful talks, and the puppeteer even stages a show for his new girlfriend. It's disconcerting in the extreme for American horror film fans to watch what is essentially a romance movie taking place in the middle of gory carnage. It's all apparently related to the overarching theme Tomomatsu is trying to get across to his audience, about the social position of young girls in Japan in relation to male domination and expectations. Or something along those lines. Whatever it is, "Stacy" sure is a strange, schizophrenic film. Imagine "The Professional" fused with a George Romero gutmuncher. The horror fan in me wants to reject the social messages of this film--messages I had to read about in the liner notes because I haven't a clue as to how Japanese society works--and focus instead on the extreme gore. And there is a lot of gluey stuff going on, especially during the final scenes when a doctor working on the causes of the Stacy phenomenon loses control of his test subjects. For such a low budget production the gore effects look quite remarkable. Regrettably, the bloody effects work will only take you so far. The rest of the trip consists of the romance angle and cornball antics so inane that will take your breath away. What was up with the girls that formed the underground Romero type group? That they offer to help squeamish parents kill their Stacies is all fine and dandy, since a law requires parents to dispatch their own troublesome female offspring leaves the faint of heart in a quandary, but to name their group after Drew Barrymore? What's next, the Christina Aguilera Attack Squad? The Britney Spears Revolutionary Army? Egad! Too, that constant NDH giggling is likely to work your last nerve to a frazzle long before the movie grinds to a halt. I can't find it in myself to take "Stacy" out behind the woodshed because of its problems, however. The movie is such an inventive twist on an old horror idea that I generally enjoyed it despite the often impenetrable plot. As for the DVD itself, the picture quality looks fantastic for a shot on video project. Synapse throws in a trailer as an extra, but nothing else. I heard Tomomatsu is in Japan making another zombie film as I write, so perhaps we can expect another weird take on the zombie theme in the future. Give "Stacy" a watch if you like a movie that mystifies as much as it churns the stomach.