The Master of Gore himself
Yoshihiro Nishimura (born April 1, 1967) is a gore effects artist, writer, and director who has become a cult phenomenon in the B-movie community, particularly for his work in over-the-top Japanese exploitation films (otherwise known as J-sploitation). He's essentially a cross between Salvador Dalí (who served as one of his inspirations), Terry Gilliam, and Takashi Miike.Despite working since the 1990's, he didn't truly become noticed until he did effects work for 2005's Meatball Machine, which received praise for its graphic, surreal effects on a low budget. Since then, he's worked on almost every J-sploitation film there is. In 2008, he would release his directoral debut, Tokyo Gore Police, based on his 1995 short film Anatomia Extinction. The film received praise for its impressive gore effects and satire, and has been back and forth between effects work and directing/writing.
Also worth noting that Nishimura's work can get super weird. Here's just a sample
(Warning NSFW).
Works he's directed:
- Anatomia Extinction (1995)
- Tokyo Gore Police
- Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (which he co-directed along with Naoyuki Tomomatsu)
- Mutant Girls Squad (which he co-directed along with Noboru Iguchi and Tak Sakaguchi)
- Helldriver (2010)
- The ABCs of Death (segment Z is for Zetsumetsu)
- The Profane Exhibit (segment The Hell Chef)
- The Ninja War of Torakage (2014)
- Meatball Machine Kodoku (2017)
Recurring tropes in Nishimura's filmography include:
- Action Girl: His movies have no shortage of them.
- Author Appeal: Aside from his love of over-the-top gore, he also loves scenes of creepy people eating bugs, phallic weapons, bizarre, otherworldly monster designs, Nazis, and wrist cutting.
- Bittersweet Ending: Just about every film he's done ends with one, with the exception being Meatball Machine Kodoku.
- Black Comedy: His movies contain loads of jokes about death, dismemberment, blood, suffering, and, well, practically everything and anything terrible that can happen to humanity.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: His protagonists are mainly losers or average people who have a few flaws of their own. That said, they're way better than the people they're up against, which often include cannibals, crazed scientists, and corrupt policemen.
- Bloody Hilarious: Most of the humor in his works comes from the crazy amounts of blood that spray from his characters.
- Corrupt Politician: They occasionally show up in his work, with the most obvious example being the ones in Helldriver and Mutant Girls Squad.
- Crapsack World: More often then not, Nishimura's worlds are terrible places to live in, even before something terrible happens.
- Downer Ending: Meatball Machine Kodoku, which ends with everyone dead, and the aliens succeeding in their plans to turn humans into a drink for their kind.
- Gainax Ending: Not as bad as his contemporaries, but some of his works can end in one.
- Genre-Busting: While most of his works can be considered horror/comedies, his films also have elements of romance (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl), science fiction (Tokyo Gore Police), and even period piece/fantasy (The Ninja War of Torakage ).
- Gorn: His films often contain so much blood, they'd make Kill Bill blush.
- Groin Attack: Common in his movies. Expect a lot of dicks to be either kicked, chopped off, or torn/ripped apart.
- Loser Protagonist: Most of his male protagonists are usually salarymen who have no spine.
- Male Frontal Nudity: His movies aren't afraid to show penises.
- Mind Screw: Christ, can his films can get downright bizarre and morbid. One only has to look at the sample video above.
- Mood Whiplash: His films can go from surreal and comedic, to dramatic and sad within the span of a few seconds.
- Refuge in Audacity: His movies would be considered extremely offensive if they weren't so tongue-in-cheek and wacky.
- Scenery Gorn: Bloody limbs and blood splattered sets as far as the eye can see.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: His works are mainly cynical, often filled with heaping amounts of Black Comedy, dark social satire, and Bittersweet Endings. That said Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, his only attempt at a romantic comedy, is the closest he's come to idealistic (and even then, it can get pretty twisted at points).
- Surreal Horror: All of his works can count as horror, with most of it coming from the strange situations and creature designs (particularly the freakshow in Tokyo Gore Police and the entirety of Anatomia Extinction).
- Surreal Humor: That said, many scenes of his are so bizarre and audacious, that they end up becoming silly and hilarious.
- The Teaser: Has these in all his movies, though Helldriver and Meatball Machine Kodoku take this up to eleven. The former's opening credits don't happen until 45 minutes into the film, while the latter's don't happen until after 30 minutes.
