364th G-View: Calamity of a Zombie Girl

This is why I am thankful to the Yuri Council. As my closest confidants they inform me of titles with potential I may have overlooked such as this ONA. Let us take a look at whether this little movie that was in production since 2012 was worth the wait. This is Calamity of a Zombie Girl.

WARNING: The following movie contains graphic violence, nudity, blood and gore. Viewer discretion is advised.

Alternate Title: Aru Zombie Shoujo no Sainan (Japanese)

Genres: Comedy, Horror

Themes: Dark-Comedy, Zombies, Yuri (A little bit)

Objectionable Content: Slasher flick levels of blood, gore and nudity.

Length: 80 minutes

G-Rating: 8/10 (Favoritism) 7/10 (Overall)

Plot Summary: An occult club group snuck into a building in search of an ancient treasure. The oldest member found two coffins. She retrieved what was believed to be the treasure the group was looking for and kept it a secret from the others as they left “empty handed”. However, unbeknownst to them the two corpses, Lady Euphrosyne and her maid/girlfriend Alma opened their eyes…They wanted their treasure back.

Alma awakening Lady Euphrosyne.

The best way I can describe this movie is it being a comedic slasher flick that has moments of tension ala the first Halloween (Michael Myers) but also the comedy of later Nightmare on Elm Street movies, think parts 4 and 5 and even a fight scene that reminded me of Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan. Readers who saw that movie will know what I am referring to when they get to that one on one fight between Euphrosyne and the kenpo fighter of the group. It is pretty much a dark comedy that knows it is silly but goes along with the madness being serious enough when necessary without losing its tongue in cheek format. No fourth wall breaking or referential humor, but for example the “I know what just happened is really violent but it takes me a couple seconds to let it all sink in” kind of humor. Again when the need calls for seriousness it tones down the brutal silliness such as a certain scene with a hammer. There are some surprise twists near the end but there are enough clues for viewers to figure it out or have a strong idea of what will be the big reveal.

This is the tamest of what happens in the movie. Other deaths are far more brutal.

The animation is good. The men look presentable and the ladies are all pleasing to the eyes. Even the timid girl does not look half bad. The soundtrack is intentionally cheesy, to which I mean B-Movie schlock horror soundtrack material. Also worth noting is the Crunchyroll translation.

Some of the Occult Club members. My favorite being the girl who is shrugging, aka the kenpo fighter.

I will not go into detail on the human characters as they are all stereotypes of some kind. Same goes for the villains. See, there are two kinds of horror movie casts. The first are the heroes who were unlucky and got themselves in a hellish situation. The other kind are the jackass douches who make dumb decisions and do all they can to not be likable, aka encouraging the audience into rooting for the killer. Most of the Occult Club members fall into the second category with a select few being likable…though still dumb. However, this is intentional. Why? As the plot summary indicates they are the ones who started it, especially the oldest member. Basically the “monsters” are the babyfaces this time around. Speaking of, let us talk about our leading ladies, the titular zombies.

Alma about to give Lady Euphrosyne “valuable intel”.

First of all we have Alma, Lady Euphrosyne’s loyal maid/homunculus (I think). She is a soft spoken, to the point maid yet very caring toward her mistress. She is also meticulous though is not afraid of getting her hands dirty when necessary, especially when she uses her special ability. Although she shares her dear mistress’ gift of everlasting life her one weakness is her poor defense. Next up is Lady Euphrosyne herself. She possesses superhuman strength and combat abilities. Unlike Alma she would rather take the direct approach but is not beyond reason, only resorting to violence when provoked. Both are kindhearted beings at heart who just want their stolen treasure back.

The yuri, put simply, is the relationship between Lady Euphrosyne and Alma. The lady cares deeply for her little maid and is open to taking their relationship to the next level whereas Alma’s feelings for her lady are more reserved. Without giving anything away there are several instances throughout the movie of the two showing their affections for each other in both subtle and not so subtle ways.

Overall Calamity of a Zombie Girl is a fun horror romp that balances seriousness with dark comedy. The humans are mostly unlikable on purpose, the lead zombies are fun to watch go on the hunt, the animation and soundtrack are fitting of B-Movie schlock horror and it delivers on slasher movie quality violence, gore and nudity. As long as viewers can handle some blood, guts and uncensored nudity then I say give this movie a go. Do not expect 2017’s Get Out coming in but more…let us say Jason X.

PS: I was told the Crunchyroll subs were in “Ye Olde English”. In actuality they are…average. Like translating senpai to “Miss” average. Maybe like the human characters it was done on purpose in the spirit of the movie.