All Night Long

All Night Long Directed By Katsuya Matsumura, Starring Yoki letomi (1992).

Demented nerds snapping and turning against society for no reason, it's an all too familiar theme that moves in a constant cycle of violence. It's an uncomfortable subject rearing its ugly face in reality lately with mass shooting by stupid idiots like James Eagan Holmes (the Batman theater machine gun killer) and Elliot Rodger (a rich disgruntled virgin and also the son of an assistant Hunger Games director). He uploaded his manifesto to Youtube just before committing mass murder and suicide. The pressure of fitting in becomes suffocating, parents and the media reaches out its pointy finger to pin the blame on something--anything! The mental health industry's ineptitude and no consequences for easy access to assault weapons are responsible in my estimation. Than again certain people just have a psychotic edge and will eventually crack anyway--they have to constantly be doped up at all times--so they won't randomly attack people (just like the tag-line of the series says; Human Beings are Garbage).  

   Some critics have compared the All Night Long series to Guinea Pig and gore hounds expecting the same shot-on-video style snuff film will be disappointed. This one has more of a plot unlike GP, but eventually the sequels get more plotless. The youth gone insane aspect from Dangerous Encounters seems to be the influence here, although this film is very mild compared to the Tsui Hark landmark film. I am kind of grateful and don't feel like watching more cats get tortured for the sake of shock value! 

   For some reason All Night Long (which is not the life story of Lionel Richie) has been very difficult to find (it's in eternal save mode on Netflix). The first movie and it's sequels are available on separate DVD's from Tokyo Shock on Amazon for 6 bucks each. All the IMDB reviews are trashing the shit out of this rare demented shocker from the land of the rising sun. Maybe people were expecting too much, or are too jaded,--in the DR catalog--the film is described as a grueling experience, so let's hope we don't land in boiling water then have our freezer burned limbs stripped of their flesh (OR THE 731 special). 

   The passport shots of metropolitan youth already forces Battle Royal to spring to my mind. The three protagonists are Shinji Saito (Ryosuke Suzuki), who is going to vocational school to learn a trade as a mechanic and can sort of relate to girls. Kensuke Suzuki (Eisuke Tsunoda), who is a rich frat kid that collects guns and has a fantasy about being murdered on the beach with a shotgun. Tetsuya (Yoji letomi), a "Mclovin looking geek" feeds his green snake a hand full of maggots (that squiggle in loud detail).The typical pressure of school, career goals and fitting in starts to gradually effect Tetsuya the worst and his pals sort of ignore him and do their own thing. What this film needs is a Fast Times At Tokyo High style Galleria for the boys to score chicks at!

Hey Trainspotting's on, where's Ewan Mcgregor?

   The three thrill killers in All Night Long quickly become unglued after witnessing a random stabbing of an innocent girl by a maniac with a butcher knife while waiting for a train to pass. After watching the senseless murder, instead of going to the police, they all get tipsy on some red wine and seem to relish the details of the shocking incident. It's unclear to me if that incident would instill any sort of violent reaction, but since its the only trigger this half written script has to offer then that must be the reason, (here I am pinning the blame on something as well).  

Why so chipper?

   Director Katsuya Matsmura seems influenced by 1st Kind's nihilistic dejected youth hellbent on destruction. There's zero authoritative presence and these kids are never caught or learn from their reprehensible actions, it's all very bleak and existential. The film vaguely preaches Social Darwinism (one slovenly fellow with a bowl haircut says "The weak must not inherit the earth").

Only the grossly obese and mentally challenged shall rule the earth

  Each character attempts to fit in somewhere within the social order and adolescent bullshit is the trigger that sets these kids off. It's too weak of an excuse, it seems to me that these sordid characters would eventually start killing anyway, we're not really given a valid reason as to why they all end up on a murderous path. 

     

unless my hand is dressed up like Hennifer Hlopez

   

   That same before mentioned chubby creepo with a bowl haircut and a members only jacket sits with Tetsuya and skeeves him out when he talks about how he likes to abuse women. He starts an odd friendship with the fat weirdo because he thinks he has game and can possibly get him laid. 

   Saito is on a career path to becoming a airline mechanic and is clearly the only mentally stable person in the film (but his marbles soon fall out of his head). 
   Although for Suzuki the rich kid, it's not all champagne and sports cars either. After he picks up a psychotic bitch, she handcuffs him to a chain link fence and kicks him in the balls then afterwards she insults him by saying he smells like wasted sperm! I'm thinking her and the fat mongoloid kid should hook up,they are perfect for each other.

Ted Nugent said this is great for hunting humans and clearing up sinuses 

   Tetsuya gets more pathetic after he attempts to find a date for the big dance and gets so queasy that he barfs. Meanwhile Saito's breaking point happens in the park when some random street thugs rape his girlfriend and beat him up. The same thugs (who seem to pop up out of nowhere) are at the party, which is a total freakout, complete with dildos, Nazi flags and foosball, FOOSBALL!

(this excellent photo was taken from Alan Cribbs and John Hayes on foosball.com)

   The end is kind of an all out plotless free for all and I've read that the All Night Long sequels get increasingly more sleazy and random as they go on. According to Jay Mcroy's book "Nightmare Japan" there is no revenge aspect as claimed in the description of the DVD case, it's more of the characters shared humiliation that causes them to reassert their masculinity and ruthlessly attack not only those that deserve it, like the punks, but themselves and anything they care about. You could spend a long ass time deciphering this complex film or you can just enjoy it for what it is, a deranged story of senseless destruction perpetuated by idiotic youth with too much time on their hands and no sense of remorse! 
   

If the Nazi flag doesn't frighten you, we brought along a tiny phantom

   There should be a deleted scene where the town's water supply was contaminated and high levels of mercury ended up in the sushi, that may explain why everyone is at each other's throats!             

EXTREMELY DEPRESSING, WATCH ONLY IF YOU WANT TO FEEL MISERABLE!