Following a bungled robbery, three men and their female getaway driver escape to a US Army facility in Japan, unaware its being used to store the experiments of a Herbert West wannabe who speaks what sounds like phonetically remembered dialogue. Because dumb ideas appeal to movie scientists, the doc has developed DNX, a serum that duplicates the complex combination of chemicals that create life but has the unfortunate side effect of turning the recipient into a flesh-eating zombie. The gory mayhem kicks off with the arrival of the thieves bosses, who judging by their dress code probably work for Lawrence Tierney, have colour-coded names and think Like A Virgin is a metaphor for big dicks, so picture their surprise when their planned double cross is interrupted by the arrival of an undead army. Fortunately, the doc is hip to the slaughter and leads an attack on the base, little realizing that the zombie horde is commanded by his late fiancée, the prototype recipient of DNX, who in death has developed a taste for fright wigs, pancake make-up and parading around in her birthday suit. Torn up flesh, gouged entrails and splashing blood, promised the Japanese press book, giving a fair idea of director Atsushi Morogas intent. Like Robert Rodriguez, he can stage a gun battle and loves comic book violence, but his make-up effects are on a par with Zombie Creeping Flesh and the acting of the English-speaking players, whose scenes appear to have been tacked-on to expand the running time, are mostly good for laughs. If you can put that aside, then Junk is everything a zombies versus gangsters movie ought to be loads of silly fun.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
