(1981)
Dir - Yugo Serikawa/Toyoo AshidaOverall:
Overall: MEH
This was the second Marvel comics monster adaptation from the Toei Animation studio, the first being Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned based off of The Tomb of Dracula. Never given an official title in its American-dubbed form, this one has survived under both Monster of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Legend of Terror. Similar in its production and featuring identical animation, it also shares some of the previous Dracula film's flaws which are sub-par voice acting, dated, inappropriate music, embarrassing dialog, silly narration, and a number of plot points that do not necessarily add up. How Frankenstein's monster got his outfit and how he tracked his creator down over such a far distance so quickly are just two such details that are left vague to say the least. It suffers more though by veering ever farther from its source material and the story is as bare bones as anything from Mary Shelley's initial novel source. Dr. Frankenstein creates his monster, immediately regrets it, and then it runs amok and is hopelessly misunderstood. It progresses at a miserable rate and ends on a note so unnecessarily depressing that it becomes inadvertently funny. These aspects all contribute to the mundane nature of the entire thing, which never once picks up any steam to become that appealing.
(1987)
Dir - Hisayuki Toriumi
Overall: GOOD
Though it is really nothing more than yet another Alien clone, (and Alien itself having derived from a steady tradition of "astronauts going into deep space and getting their vessel infiltrated by a hostile, alien form" science fiction films), Lily C.A.T. works its cliches pretty good. None of the anti-corporation, "this is a hard life and we don't matter" themes are anything new, plus and handful of tropes such as a logical, bad-ass captain who sacrifices himself unemotionally, a wanted criminal with a heart of gold, and a jarhead who is the first to get whacked are ones that we have seen in some variation in all of these types of movies. Yet clocking in at only seventy-minutes, it gets in and gets out without lingering too long on such familiarity. That said, it is rather dialog heavy with many of the characters unloading their lines without stopping for air. Yet due to the moderate running time, it is refreshing to not pussy-foot around, (pun intended). Also the voice acting is solid for a change, complimenting the script as it should. Director Hisayuki Toriumi utilizes some excellent music, camera angles, and set pieces to creepy effect, styling it less like an anime and more like a live action horror movie. Reinventing the wheel Lily C.A.T. is not, but it does a swell job for what it is.
(1988)
Dir - Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Overall: MEH
Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri from Wicked City and Ninja Scroll fame, Demon City Shinjuku is yet another adaptation of one of horror novelist Hideyuki Kikuchi's works. A similar premise of demons and humans at odds with each other is once again afoot and this time the results are overall a bit more silly and redundant. For curious reasons, the accents are all over the place here. Even though it takes place in Japan and most of the characters are animated in the usual nondescript, anime style, everything from bad Chicano, hillbilly, British, American, and Eastern European accents are on display in a desperate attempt to make everyone sound like they are from a completely different part of the world for whatever reason. Considering the lack of nudity or comparatively more subdued gore, some of the dialog comes off unnecessarily crass, resulting in some possibly unintended laughs. Pacing wise, it screeches to a halt more than a few times where characters literally just stare at each other for several moments in silence as if the animators forgot to actually animate. The presentation is still excellently stylized though and the desolate title city overrun by monsters and criminals looks fantastic. Kawajiri also manages to conduct a few memorable acts, at least when the aforementioned pacing issues are not getting in the way.
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