During World War II, the Japanese military established a secret underground laboratory in Tokyo. Three Olympic-level athletes were selected to undergo a process that would turn them into Jinra-go, superhuman armored soldiers. By March 1945, one of the soldiers had been completely transformed into the half man/half machine ultimate soldier called Mikadroid. But American B-29s firebomb the city and, while the two super soldiers manage to escape, Mikadroid and the lab are apparently destroyed. 45 years pass, Tokyo is rebuilt, and old secrets are forgotten. The site is now home to a complex that includes the Discoclub Layla. The disco’s patrons dance late into the night, unaware that a faulty basement generator has reactivated Mikadroid and the cyborg now prowls the basement levels, killing anyone in its path...
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Reviews
At the end of the second world war the Japanese buried one of their projects to make a super armored soldier. Almost fifty years later it wakes up and begins to kill. Steam punk-esquire scifi action film is a pretty good little time killer. Its very pulpy and grind house like in that its just trying to tell a rip roaring little tale made before computer generated effects (ooo models). I have to be honest since this film was highly touted by the publisher of Asian Cult Cinema in his books on the subject. Back when he was still running Video Search of Miami this was high on my must see list, but for whatever reason I never ordered it. Now that its out in an official US release I've picked it up and found that too many years of waiting for a GREAT film have taken its toll. Its a good one but not a great one. Worth a look as a rental.
My friend Nicholas rented this based on the title alone, but we were not disappointed. It seems like it is going to be a standard slasher, but it sorta changes gears near the end. The title was rather more accurate than I'd hoped; I was looking forward to some robokilling actually in the disco Layla, but true to the title all the robokilling really was beneath it. Watch for the Keith Haring-esquire mural... of death! I'll admit I fell asleep and missed a few minutes near the end, but that's what I get for watching a movie at 2am after all that thanksgiving turkey.P.S. Don't miss the great neon sign at the disco Layla, it's stainless steel and neon in Arabic and English (in Japan, of course).
