If you've been anywhere near a US theater in recent years, you'd probably be inclined to think the glory days of the respectable zombie film are all but gone and washed away. Slashers aren't the only horror treatments that have been given the glossed over look at you local megaplex, the down and dirty zombie film of yesteryear has been looking way to slick for it's own good these days. It's not just the polished appearance that's troublesome either, it's the constant run towards PG-13 horror that really troubles me, as there should never be anything close to a PG-13 zombie film - ever. Well, leave it to the imports to bring us back to reality, Japan in particular as they've been producing some fascinating horror flicks of late and quite a few zombie flicks to boot. More often than not they're silly, nonsensical and totally outrageous but most importantly - they're a heck of a lotta fun. Wild Zero was the first to completely peak my interest while JUNK has managed to sustain it - all in all, I like what I've been seeing. For its North American DVD debut, Unearthed Films presents JUNK as an all region NTSC DVD. so let's check it out.

Leave it to a couple of American doctors to screw up a simple rejuvenation experiment! When a young, dead (and very naked) Japanese woman is brought back to life at a top secret military base, it's evident just who's going to be in control...and it's not looking good for the living. In the mean time, a group of jewel thieves arrange to meet with a group of shady Yakuza, ready to cash in after a successful heist. The meeting place? Yup you guessed it, the abandoned military base. The first to arrive are the thieves, and conveniently enough one of their own is attacked by the undead, only to rise once again moments later. It's at this very moment that the Yakuza also arrive, ready to complete the transaction. The thieves try to convince the Yakuza that something unholy is a transpiring, but of course they think that all of this talk of the dead coming back to life is some sort of trick and they're not having any of it. That is of course, until they see first hand that yes indeed, the dead shall walk again.

Troubles are increased when a violent shoot out causes bottles of the DNX (the re-agent that looks suspiciously like Herbert West's creation) to spill over a warehouse full of dead bodies. Before you can say "Brains!" there's a full on zombie, yakuza, and jewelry thief battle royal of mammoth proportions. All the while the top-secret military operatives are working to put an end to all of this zombie madness in their own creative way...KABOOM!

Let's clear the air right from the start here. JUNK is NOT destined to be a classic of the genre - whew, that feels better. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me just say that I enjoyed the hell out of JUNK probably a lot more than I should have. The film itself is a conglomeration of some of the true greats of the sub-genre with part Romero Dead Trilogy, part Re-Animator a sprinkle of Evil Dead and heavy doses of 80's Italian zombie cheese. There's no biting social commentary here and the true lack of originality is what really holds JUNK back from being one of the true trendsetters. The thing I dug about JUNK however, is that someone behind the scenes really did their homework. Instead of just blindly paying homage and putting on their best copycat hat what they managed to do is piece together each of the best elements from these films and spit out JUNK from the other end. JUNK is a fun flick because it successfully blends all of these elements to ultimately deliver a satisfying cinematic experience. JUNK is a really fun time, and I'm sure that some would be inclined to discount it for the exact same reasons that I dug it. Just about everything you find in JUNK is simple and familiar with an effectively wicked sense of humor.

One of the truly exceptional elements that JUNK successfully brings to the table is a gleefully high level of onscreen carnage. Translation: This is one hell of a gory flick. Intestines are yanked and chewed on, blood sprays from nearly every bullet hole, knives are plunged into heads and the finale brings us an extremely persistent severed torso. The actual zombie make-up is a mixed bag with some faces displaying a bit more complexity than others. Not that this is a bad thing mind you, the effective simplicity brought me back to the carefree days of Dawn of the Dead...when the makeup didn't even need to cover the neck o be effective.

Unearthed Films has done a fairly decent job in bringing JUNK to DVD in the good old US of A. Quality wise, there's very little print damage to speak of, the transfer is quite clear and free of dirt or grain with fairly sharp and stable colors. Unearthed has easily provided a more than acceptable alternative to purchasing an overpriced import DVD. Audio is presented in Dolby Surround with removable yellow subs. Some of the dialogue is actually in English and unfortunately during these scenes there are non-removable Japanese subs present. Dialogue is quite clear with nice separation from the front speakers and no distortion to speak of with minimal surround activity.

Extras include a decent still gallery along with a trailer for JUNK and 4 other Unearthed DVD titles. Other extras include some production notes, cast and crew info and a reversible cover.

JUNK gets a definite recommendation from me for fun loving fans of zombie flicks. JUNK delivers on its promises, many times over and Unearthed Films has presented JUNK with a fine transfer on American DVD. Highly recommended.