Described as a ‘Japanese Shaun Of The Dead’, Tokyo Zombie is totally and utterly lacking in the wit of that particular slice of satire.

Tokyo Zombie is more influenced by American humour, of the old slap-stick variety, and it’s really not that stupendous an achievement!

You could claim it as an environmental message: there’s a pile of rubbish outside Tokyo that is growing into a toxic mountain. Naturally, dead bodies buried there start coming back to life with an insatiable craving for human flesh. Of course.

The premise is flimsy and a little bit tired, and the whole thing is played for laughs, some of them just plain ridiculous.

After an interminable period set around and near this steaming toxic mountain, our two lead actors set out on a kind of road trip, and the film takes a few unexpected turns. By the last metaphorical reel, the surviving “hero” has been roped into a kind of zombie-fighting contest… to the death, of course.

The film is not without some visual panache, and if you’re in the mood for something really silly, it might appeal. But as a fan of the zombie genre created by the great George Romero, in my opinion this further dilutes the zombie idea, and I wish they’d left it well alone.

As you can imagine, it’s not the kind of film you’d use to test your new surround sound AV system with. GARY STEEL

2.5 Stars