It's hard to describe this film, other than as bizarre.

If you are a fan of the early BBC Red Dwarf and The Young Ones TV series, then the humour, acting quality and animation quality are on that sort of level, except in Japanese - but with a Martial Arts, zombie and sushi food twist.

It's not high art, it's not high quality, and I watched it with a horrified fascination about where it was going to go.

Fans of the foodie Japanese classic Tampopo will recognise the egg yolk scene, and fans of The Way of the Dragon might see a tribute to Bruce Lee's showing off with Nunchaku - except in this film they are made from zombie sushi that the heroine has neutralised by removing the nervous system.

Yes, it really is that strange.

I have the benefit of speaking and understanding a very little Japanese, so about 5% to 10% of the dialogue made sense, without the subtitles.

Well, as much as any of the dialogue made sense. It's a very strange film, but I did watch it in horrified fascination that anyone could make such a film let alone persuade actors / actresses to take part in it, It's of a quality with the Red Dwarf episode Back To Reality, in terms of animation, FX, acting and storyline - but with Japanese dialogue, and with zombies, flying (and talking) sushi and a vagrant that transmutes into a human tuna.

If that's not enough to whet your appetite, then you probably have far too much common sense, and no sense of the utterly ridiculous. You have to have an appreciation of those qualities in order to appreciate this film!

You should know one thing: This is OTT high camp, that only has one goal: To be as crazy as it can be. If you read the outline, you know what you let yourself into. Fun and silly, nothing more and nothing less. We shouldn't talk too much about acting in this movie of course. I think for a comedy of this sorts, it's more than decent. Something you can expect to see in here.

If this is the first Japanese over the top movie you're going to watch, you're either in for a treat or you will very soon find out that this isn't your cup of tea (or sake for that matter). Of course I'm not suggesting you should get drunk for this ;o) (though that might be an idea for a sequel .. Dead Sake!)

DEAD SUSHI (2012, original title Deddo sushi) is one of those low budget splatter films that were all the rage in Japan 10-15 years ago. Some of them made it to the west for DVD release; you may remember titles like ROBO GEISHA, TOKYO GORE POLICE and MEATBALL MACHINE. Generally I'm not a huge fan of such productions but I do appreciate their quirkiness and low budget mayhem, and DEAD SUSHI is one of the better ones I've seen. It stars high-kicking Rina Takeda as a talented sushi chef living in her father's shadow who heads off to find work at a remote rural restaurant before disaster strikes.

These films are known for anything-goes madcap behaviour and DEAD SUSHI doesn't disappoint in that respect. The plot is essentially a small cast getting attacked by sentient flying sushi which burrows into flesh, lops off heads and causes all manner of gory mayhem. It's all done with tongue firmly in cheek, but they put a lot of effort into these films and this one shines in terms of energy and enthusiasm. It's a little too gross for me at times, but there's so much in the way of action, mayhem, weird characterisation and FX work that I found it hard not to be entertained.