34. Death Trance (2005) - Dir: Yuji Shimomura
It was a tough decision to put this above Versus, but after a careful rewatch of both, it had to be done. I simply adore this film. And while it could be the most ultimate guilty pleasure on this list, I honestly believe that it is a genre film totally worthy of all the praise I've bestowed upon it.
Alright, let’s get one thing straight, right off the bat: Death Trance is the coolest damn film ever made, period, end of story – next! Take equal parts Mad Max, Ninja Scroll, Trigun, Django and Versus, put them all together and then pour out something that is cooler than all of those things combined, even if those things could somehow combine together to form Voltron. Death Trance has ninjas; it has samurais, it has tongfas that have guns in the handles, and guns that have swords in the handles; it has a sword that is actually a crazy-assed double barreled shot gun, and a sword with an organic pulsing hilt; it has crazy-mohawk-wearing punk rock killers who ride motorcycles; it has a dang creepy little girl; it has a giant coffin that might destroy the world; it has a one-winged angel-demon of death; it has magical doors that appear out of nowhere; it has spider-vampire men; it has zombified black-cloaked monster-men; it has two evil swordswomen twins of death; it has a Goddess of Destruction; it has magic; it has capoeira; it has kung fu; it has gun fu; it has street fighting; it has wrestling; it has wire fu; it has horror; it has comedy, and most of all, it has enough passion, exuberance and energy packed into its ninety-minute running time for a dozen lesser films.
Death Trance is directed by the action director of Versus, Yuji Shimomura, and stars Tak Sakaguchi (Versus), and - wait for it – Kintaro Seagal, yeah that’s right, Mr. Stephen Seagal’s son, who is infinitely cooler than his father ever was. There has been some speculation as to just how much of Versus’ coolness was due to its director Ryuhei Kitamura, and how much of it was because of Mr. Shimomura. After having seen all of Kitamura’s post-Versus work and now Death Trance, I too have my speculations. Not that Kitamura’s other films are bad, heck – some of them are freaking awesome, but they do all seem to lack that crazy amplified, frenetic pacing of Versus, a trait that Death Trance has in spades. And, the best thing is, the narrative never slows down to try to make sense of anything it offers – it demands that the audience just goes with it – don’t ask questions, just shut the heck up and be prepared for a rocking-damn good time.
In the film, Grave (Sakaguchi) is a man on a mission to steal a legendary coffin from the East Temple – a coffin that is said to be able to grant wishes. In order to get his wishes granted, Grave must journey with the coffin through haunted forests, vast desert wastelands, and into a mystical world. Along with the coffin comes the added bonus of a queer little girl, who is always hungry, never talks, and is somehow symbiotically attached to the power inside the traveling tomb of terror. Grave however, is not the only person after this talisman of power. A host of other cutthroat scumbags also want it, and will stop at nothing to get it. Hot on the trail of Grave are a group of wannabe ninjas, a mohawked samurai, two evil twins, and a mysterious woman who just might be some kind of angel with her wings ripped off.
En route to his magical destination, Grave traverses some of the most beautiful and surreal terrain ever filmed. The cinematography is drop-dead absofreakinglutely gorgeous – “Christopher Doyle who?” I might ask. Every single frame of this film is worthy of being burnt onto my retinas, and permanently etched into my minds eye. And, every single shot and sequence is crafted with painstaking attention to composition, balance, and eye-popping detail – the film practically reaches out of the screen with clawed talons and rips the eyeballs out of your skull. Filters of every kind, bloom lighting, and motion blurring are all used to great effect, and yet through it all, the technical wizardry never feels like it is flash simply for the sake of flash – the flashiness is used to further heighten the aesthetics and atmosphere of the strange world captured on screen.
While the film looks awesome, some might complain about the threadbare narrative – a complaint that I might share had the execution been anything but perfect. The plot is simple, and the characters even more so, but what it lacks in narrative complexity, it makes up for in sheer heroic-coolness and pacing to die for. Rather than hit the ground running, pedal to the metal, the film does in fact take its time and comes to head with awesome momentum. The fight scenes themselves start off a bit tame, perhaps even mundane, but each consecutive brawl brings with it a new sense of urgency and escalating excitement. Because the narrative is such a simple quest-story that only moves forward, the audience can only move along with it, and in fact is never given an opportunity to question anything thrown at the screen.
By not complicating the narrative with needless twists and depth, it is easier to accept what is happening based solely on the fantastic nature of the bizarre and timeless world encapsulated by the story. And by not focusing on any one aspect for more time than is needed to make the viewer say “Oh wow. That was cool!” it is able to constantly throw new stuff at the screen all the time. What would be a show stopping and climatic reveal or sequence in a lesser film, is just another moment of awesomeness amongst many in Death Trance.
I have often complained that modern genre cinema lacks passion, and that many modern genre filmmakers lack the personal conviction to trust that their audience will dig the vibe, and they wind up missing the mark completely. Death Trance is not such a film – it hits the mark with an accuracy of an expertly thrown shuriken, and oozes passion from every corner of the screen. It is a film with a fantastic premise, and a fantasy setting that totally commits to the ideas presented and runs with them – with scissors. The film starts and never looks back, as it continuously builds momentum until all hell breaks lose in the final confrontation – and best of all, it ends with the promise of a sequel, a sequel that will actually shed more light on the eternal conflict and add to the world. Death Trance is one film that I hope turns into a franchise, I can’t wait to see more, and I can’t wait to watch it again and again.
