‘Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl’ Review: Bloody Fun

Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster have been iconic monsters for decades, thanks to Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. There have been plenty of stories about these two fighting each other for decades. Now Japan has thrown its hat into the ring with the shlocktastic “Vampire Girl VS Frankenstein Girl.”

To say the story is wacky would be an understatement. Japanese high school student Jyugon Mizushima has stolen the heart of transfer student Monami. To show her love for him, she has given him a piece of chocolate-with her blood in it. Turns out Monami is a vampire and now Jyugon has become a half vampire. Keiko, the vice-principal’s daughter, is now fighting to get Jyugon back from Monami and gets killed. Her father, who turns out to be “the successor of Frankenstein”, revives her into a Frankenstein monster and the battle begins.

This movie is pure shlock with outrageous characters, buckets of blood shooting out of the characters and ridiculous logic. Look at the vice-principal; he dresses as a Kabuki character when he’s in his lab and the school nurse is his crony. This movie would be at home in 3D, with the amounts of blood that is sprayed all over the camera.

Let’s not forget the fight scenes are as corny as anything seen in these movies. Monami can create weapons with her blood and Keiko can attach her arms to her head to make herself fly. The copious amounts of blood also add to the silliness. There’s also an Igor thrown in who works for Monami. This character just adds to the fan service. It’s dumb in all the right ways.

Even though this movie is shlock there is one issue that should be brought up; the “Super Dark Club. “A club of girls who make their skin very dark in order to become “African” because that is the “super race.” The president even says she wants to become a gold medal runner because “black people are great runners.” It can be argued that the Japanese’s knowledge of the African people is very limited, but this is just pure racist. Good thing there are only two scenes with this club and can be skipped without ruining the story.

Besides that, Vampire Girl VS Frankenstein Girl is a fun, gory shlockfest that is fun if it’s not taken seriously. It’s no Oscar contender or film masterpiece but that’s not why you watch these movies. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff would be proud to know people beyond America are keeping their legacy alive.