Review: From the above synopsis it's more than obvious that KILL DEVIL is a shameless rip-off of BATTLE ROYALE. Now, as BR happens to be one of my all-time favorite Japanese movies, I was intrigued to see what this version had to offer. The premise of government-induced mass-killing of teens on an isolated island has plenty of potential for both entertainment and serious meditation on contemporary society. Another version of BR and BR2 could be a good way to see what kind of inspiration or homage Fukasaku's masterpiece could induce. Sadly, KILL DEVIL fails not because it is a rip-off, but because it is a thoroughly uninspired and dull rip-off.

It might be too severe to compare a low-budget debut of an anonymous youngster to the crowning achievement of one of the greatest Japanese directors of all time, so I will not do that. But I cannot avoid pointing the irony that a 70-year-old director was able to deliver a fresh, dynamic and insightful film about teen-angst, while a 'fresh' newcomer managed only a pale, turgid, sterile and sluggish flick. Therefore, KILL DEVIL's fault is not that it does not achieve the level of a masterpiece: its fault is that it barely attains the level of competence.

The film appears to have something on its mind, but its plot is just plain silly even on its own terms. Lacking the interior logic of a well-thought parable that BR was, KILL DEVIL is like a kid aping the adults, putting false mustaches on its face and pretending to be serious. The experiments that the government is conducting make no sense whatsoever while, worst of all, the ending seems to confirm *their*, not the youngsters' point, as it apparently corroborates the stupid and non-scientific theory of a killer gene determining the kids' behavior. While BR ended with a touching and violent renouncing of the grown-ups' world, KILL DEVIL unthinkingly dispatches its young heroes and stands on the side of the cruel scientists. It's ideologically questionable, as it seems to accept the notion of indefensible killer genes, and the necessity of strict government action to supress those afflicted with them.

Even worse, KILL DEVIL fails to entertain: the rhythm is slow, the characters under-developed and uninvolving, the action uninspired and brief, the narrative haphazard (explanation of the 'killer gene' in inserted out of nowhere, just as Shogou's pointless childhood flashbacks). The usual formula of exploitation cinema is to take a blueprint of a successful film and make a more exaggerated, over-the-top scenario. For some insane reason, the makers of this cheap flick, which had no other assets to speak of, decided to go with the 'less is more' approach, which is the final blow to this product, as it deprives it of a single (potential) selling point: brutal violence. Sorry, boys and girls: killings here are mostly offscreen, and with very little after-the-fact gore (which, to add insult to injury, tends to be rather violet, like some whore's lipstick, instead of deep bloody red).

Its visuals are annoyingly spare and prosaic: the outdoor scenes seem to be from 'My Gramma's Picnic in the Woods Video' while indoor ones clearly belong to 'My Little Brother's Learning How to Use Camera, Vol.1'. It's ugly beyond words: the choice of locations, the lighting, the framing… everything is as trite as can be. Just take a look at what Kitamura did with a similar budget and comparable surroundings in VERSUS: his woods are vibrant, alive and kicking, a perfect setting for a tale of epic proportions. The woods and fields as shot in KILL DEVIL are just plain dreary. The soundscape is utterly substandard: long silences, dull hisses in the dialogue background, plus irritatingly out-of-place techno and jungle beats which try to spice up the action scenes (only making them more ridiculous in the process).

The movie meanders in circles of its 80 minutes torture, until a silly ending delivers you from pains. The most obstinate viewers are advised to take a look at the 'alternate ending' feature: while I cannot believe that anyone, at any point, seriously considered *this* as a legitimate ending of a movie, this crazy bit of disco-dancing is certainly interesting in a head-scratching, what-were-they-thinking way (and even reminded me of the opening of Takashi Miike's masterpiece BIG BANG LOVE, JUVENILE A). While I cannot recommend this film to anyone except the most curious, at least I suggest that you view it at double speed. How they managed to make a boring film about a bunch of kids slaughtering one another on an island is beyond me – but they did it!