Director: Kinji Fujiwara

Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando, Kou Shibasaki, Chiaki Kuriyama

Original Release Date: 2001

Scores: Technical: 90, Story: 90, Acting: 90, Overall Score: 90

There’s not too many foreign film directors that can pull off a really good horror film, but Kinji Fukasaku truly does. In the movie, the Japanese government decides that they are going to start a program called “Battle Royale”. A select class of students are sent to a desert island and forced to fight to the death. Only one student can survive. Equipped with food, water, a map and a random weapon, these students must kill each other off, one by one, until only one remains.

Technically the movie is great. The first 30 minutes of the film had an independent low budget feel, but as the movie progressed, so did the camera work. The gore was fantastic, lots of blood sprays and bone crushing deaths. I can see why Quentin Tarantino used this movie as a reference to making Kill Bill. If you look carefully, you’ll even see the familiar yellow jumpsuit!

Overall this movie was very good, great plot, decent acting and a lot of over-the-top fun!

Click the poster to purchase the movie on Amazon.com.