Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead is its full title, though Naoyuki Tomomatsu’s film from 2012 also goes by the more decorous and bare-bones Lust of the Dead, which makes the debt to George Romero’s Dead movies even more stark. The twist this time is that it’s only men who are becoming zombies, and they’re raping their way towards a zombie apocalypse by violating everything female they come across.
Isn’t that just men all over though? The film has a bit of fun with this idea. In early scenes just after the worldwide epidemic has taken hold, a scientist on a TV news item informs the Japanese viewing public that these zombies have abnormally high levels of testosterone, which is what is making them the way they are. In a vox pop a member of the public boils it down to a soundbite – men are all rapists anyway, she says. And then a handy journalistic term is coined by one of the on-air anchors, just in case there was any doubt where Tomomatsu is coming from. Toxic Man Syndrome.
Tomomatsu also has a bit of fun with zombie lore. These zombies shuffle because… their trousers are round their ankles. With films on his CV like Eat the School Girl, Erotibot, The Vampire Sex Diaries and Scissorpenis (other potential titles clearly not having made the cut), Tomomatsu obviously enjoys playing in this space where sex, horror and the utterly facetious cohabit.
But is there a plot? Yes, two women on the run from zombies seek shelter in a shinto temple, where they are first challenged by two other heavily armed women. Eventually the four bond uneasily but are then joined by a guy who describes himself as a priest. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but in any case he does definitely seem to be a self-described “otaku” – the extreme Japanese version of a nerd – and so, it’s suggested, is massively lacking in the guy stuff that might potentially turn him into a zombie. Or that’s the theory.
Alice Ozawa and Saya Kobayashi play fugitives Nozomi and Momoko, Asami and Yui Akawa are the weapon-wielding Kanae and Tamae, while Ken Nakazawa plays the priest like one of the grinning-ninny minor characters from a martial arts movie. The women get backstories presenting them as victims of the patriarchy and regularly unburden themselves of their clothes in scenes edging into fragrant lesbianism – so much kneading of breasts. The priest, for his sins, looks on while tied up in ropes. His turn will come later.
It’s chaotic, cheap exploitation but no more stupid than many a big-budget zombie movie and there’s a good bit of satire and social commentary. Tomomatsu captures the sense of a society falling apart, and of women suddenly released from everyday expectations. There are good visual jokes and some “ooh, that’s going to hurt” moments, like zombies being shot in the penis, which is the best way of killing them, apparently.
All four actresses are big in the adult game but they do well in scenes that require actual acting – the scenes between Momoko and Nozomi in particular are nicely done, tender and provide a dramatic counterpoint to the frequent burst of splattery zombified violence.
Not everyone will make it out alive but there are four more canonical Rape Zombie movies after this and a couple of offshoots – Love Zombie: Romance of the Dead and Rape-Zombie Side Story: Hardcore of the Dead. Some feature Kobayashi and Ozawa, more feature Asami and Aikawa, and though one of their characters dies in this first instalment, that’s clearly a mere detail to be got around.
“Your boobs are so pretty… and big,” says Momoko to Nozomi at one point, as she palps them as if making papier mâché. It’s really what the film is about, boobs, those sexy but slightly humorous things that hang off women. It turns out that Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead is not quite as feminist as it was initially making out. But then you probably suspected that already.
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© Steve Morrissey 2025
