MEATBALL MACHINE: Downloadable trailer for Yûdai Yamaguchi and Jun'ichi Yamamoto's 2005 remake, starring Issei Takahashi, Aoba Kawai, Tôru Tezuka, Shôichirô Masumoto, and Ayano Yamamoto

Here's a description of Meatball Machine (2005) from the Philadelphia Film Festival's 2006 Festival Program Guide: "Full-throttle splatter-ific Japanese cyberpunk science-fiction/horror at its most aggressive, this mind-blower about alien parasites that turn their human hosts into slave 'Necroborgs' will leave you dizzy and drained - in a good way. ¶ If you're craving an experimental science-fiction/horror rollercoaster that will have you leaving the theater feeling like you just had your entire brain and body shaken and stirred, Meatball Machine is exactly the full-strength cinematic potion you need. A feature-length expansion of a short film [note: according to numerous Japanese sources, the running time of Meatball Machine (1999) was 70 minutes] previously created by co-director Junichi Yamamoto (the other director here is Yudai Yamaguchi, responsible for the comedic cult favorite Battlefield Baseball), Meatball Machine makes the early aggressive cyberpunk endeavors of directors Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo) and Sogo Ishii (Burst City) look like models of restraint and tranquility. Meatball starts off as a sweet romance, but that doesn't last long: shy, lonely factory worker Yoji has a crush on fellow factory employee Sachiko, but just when they start to bond... well, aliens invade the earth and attach themselves as parasites to human bodies. The method of parasitism is grotesque enough - the aliens implant tumor-like globules on the shoulders of their victims and pilot them like robots (whilst also blinding them with devices that penetrate their eye sockets) - but when Yamamoto and Yamaguchi take the viewer inside the parasite blobs to observe the slimy mini-extraterrestrial activity first-hand, then you know you're onto a stomach-turning winner. Meatball Machine puts its cinematic foot all the way down on the gas pedal and doesn't let up until the inevitable battle between Yoji and Sachiko - a touching testament to young love, blood, and alien ooze."

For more information on Meatball Machine (2005), see Twitch's eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.

Yamaguchi's previous directing credits include Tebana Sankichi and Twice Shiroh Strikes! (Tebana Sankichi to 2 (tuwaisu) Shirô ga yuku), Sakigake!! Cromartie High School: The Movie (Sakigake!! Kuromati Kôkô: The Movie), Present (Purezento) - one of the movies in the Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater (Umezu Kazuo: kyôfu gekijô) hexalogy - and Battlefield Baseball (Jigoku Kôshien).

GOMORRAHY.com: Meatball Machine (2005) (w/ production stills & downloadable trailer)
Meatball Machine (1999) flyer (24 KB JPEG)
Meatball Machine (1999) VHS box cover (8 KB JPEG)