D V D C R Y P T

EKO EKO AZARAK: MISA THE DARK ANGEL

Directed by Katsuhito Ueno
Written by Kaneco Kaji
Cinematography by Masahiro Nishikubo
Music by Daisuke Suzuki
Cast: Hinako Saeki, Ayaka Nanami, Yuki Hagiwara, Ayumi Takahshi, Hitomi Miwa, Chika Fujimura, Erena Yamaot

1998/90 Mins/Color/Stereo Surround
1.85:1/Japanese/Japan/NTSC Region 1

Review from Tokyo Shock/ Media Blasters DVD

An autopsy reveals that something evil is digesting a corpse, so hottie teen witch Misa Kuroi (this time played by the beautiful Hinako Saeki taking over for Kamika Yoshino) goes to the Saint Salem School for Girls. There a theatre production that she partakes in, is actually a bloody sacrificial rite that will bring on the coming of ancient evil. Soon, a legion of zombies terrorizes the girls, and they begin to die. Will Kuroi be able to save the girls and stop the evil?

This third installment in the series is no where near as good as the first two installments. This time around director Katsuhito Ueno takes over for Shimako Sato, who headed the first two films. And, the difference is almost immediate. The movie moves at a slow pace and is insufferably boring. Quite frankly it is not interesting at all until about the forty-second minute mark when the movie finally seems to pick up some steam, as the girls are attacked by… cheesy BLIND DEAD zombie rip-offs! Bonus! It decides to rip-off Sam Raimi’s the EVIL DEAD with some derivative steady cam work, as well. And, as if that was not bad enough, the CGI FX are absolutely terrible and cheap. The movie is also unintentionally hilarious and fairly ridiculous.

On the bright side, there is some OK gore and a few decent action scenes, but there is quite simply not enough to keep the film exciting. The presence of lots of cute Japanese girls is nice. For example, Saeki makes for a gorgeous Misa, so much so that she might be even hotter than the girl she replaced for the role, Yoshino. But, in the end, she is simply not as good as an actress as she was. Or maybe, it is just that she given so little to work and the role, ultimately is just plain terrible this time around. Who the fuck knows?! What I do I know is that this film left me totally under whelmed and, for the most part, completely bored. Shit, Misa might battle demons and evil, but I found myself battling sleep to keep my eyes open, only to be rewarded with a terrible anti-climatic ending.

EKO EKO AZARAK: MISA THE DARK ANGEL battles evil on DVD thanks to this release by Tokyo Shock. The movie framed at 1.85:1 but is not anamorphic. The picture is soft and grainy, which is particularly noticeable in the darker scenes. In fact the whole film looks washed out with inconsistent colors and flesh tones. So, in the end you have a piece of shit that looks like shit! On the plus side, the stereo surround sound is exciting and has lots of movement. Hey, look, it can’t all be bad, right?!

The only extra is an art gallery which has some real nice stills of the very pretty lead star. It comes with trailers to the first two films, but for some godforsaken reason not for this one, as well as: REBORN FROM HELL: SAMURAI ARMAGEDDON, ZERO WOMAN, and GAPPA (which might be one of the silliest, funniest, worst trailers I ever seen!). The disc comes in a keep case but has no inlet card. The chapters can be accessed from the static menu.

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