I always thought Capcom producer Shinji Mikami was a bit of a crackpot for calling Devil May Cry a "stylish hard action" game. But Versus director Ryuhei Kitamura has done him several better, dubbing the camera work in his zombie-gangster-gorefest "Non-Stop Freefall Ultra-Violence Action Entertainment!". Outlandish as that may be, it's a surprisingly accurate depiction of the events in Versus.

Taking place entirely within the Forest of Resurrection (talk about foreshadowing!), the film begins with a pair of prisoners fleeing their pursuers. Arriving at the pickup point to find some yakuza thugs, things escalate when one of the prisoners (badass Tak Sakaguchi) demands the release of a goofily-dressed girl they're holding captive. Shots ring out, and the lead gangster becomes the film's first casualty. Or does he? This is the Forest of Resurrection after all, and the newly dead thug is magically reanimated... only to become the film's second casualty moments later.

The prisoner (who I like to call Dante), the girl and the thugs spend the rest of the film trying to flee the forest, hacking, slashing and blasting their way through legions of undead gangster corpses. The action is fast and furious, the blood flows quickly and liberally, and the dark comedic undertones ensure the film isn't taking itself too seriously. Martial arts, gunplay and samurai sword action are skillfully combined into a stylish, gory zombie blast-a-thon. The film runs a bit too long, but that can be forgiven when that extra half-hour is chock-full of grisly carnage and badass action.

In fact Versus has just about anything you could ever want in a movie of this type. Let's do a little checklist, just for fun.

Weaponry
Sword fights? Check.
Gun fights? Check.
Martial arts? Check.
Duel featuring a healthy mix of all three? Check.
Pistols? Shotguns? Automatics? Check, Check, Check.
The biggest fucking gun you've ever seen? Check.

Zombies
Zombies? Check.
Zombies bursting out of the ground? Check.
Zombies with samurai swords? Check.
Zombies with guns? Check.
Zombies with limbs falling off? Check.
Zombies doing the zombie shuffle? Check.
Zombie killed every 3.4 seconds? Check.
Zombies comically outwitted into shooting each other? Check.
Zombie disemboweled with a hail of bullets? Check.

Severed Heads
Severed head used as melee weapon? Check.
Severed head used as projectile weapon? Check.
Severed head used for defensive purposes? Check.
Severed head kicked like a soccer ball? Check.
Severed head kicked clean off shoulders? Check.

Characters (wait, this film had characters???)
Badass, tough-as-nails hero clad in leather trench coat, with rugged good looks and I-don't-give-a-damn attitude? Check.
Annoying, bungling, rat-like guy inserted for comic relief? Check.
Quiet, bishonen guy with pretentious glasses? Check.
Eccentric, overconfident sub-leader knife-expert guy? Check.
Requisite badass pouty goth chick? Check.
Super-powerful demon guy ten times better than all these chuckleheads? Check.

Miscellaneous
Cannibalism? Check.
Vampirism? Check.
Someone spitting out a pint of blood every 5 seconds? Check.
Good guy punching out the girl he's trying to save? Check, Check and Check.
Futuristic hi-tech samurai sword with laser sight? Sure, why not.

In fact, the phrase "Sure, why not?" succinctly sums up the attitude of the movie, as Kitamura seems to "sample" from every type of subgenre to craft a film that touches all the bases. But Versus definitely puts all the pieces together into one of the goriest and most violent films I've ever seen; it's immensely entertaining from bloody start to gory finish. A balls-to-the-wall symphony of breakneck action set pieces and fantasticly visceral gore, Versus was exactly what I wanted to see, and was a great film to cap off this year's festival.

Thumbs up.