In one plot, a sister desperate to prove her brother’s innocence after he’s accused of killing four children turns to a psychic who raises the dead — both in the literal sense, and in her family’s dark past. In the second, a mother on death row for the murder of her own daughter tells a nun that, actually, crooked politicians, aliens and, of course, another psychic are the true culprits.
Sound a bit like a hospital-morphine fever dream? That’s because this is precisely how writer Hiroshi Takahashi conceived the convoluted, criss-crossing world of his loosely linked comedy horrors, Crazy Lips and Gore From Outer Space. And despite props, dialogue, characters and even ghosts being reiterated and rehashed across each title, it’s no surprise that uncurbed chaos, instead of any sense of narrative or thematic cohesion, weds the two.
While nothing’s off the table in Crazy Lips (acts of rape, incest and necrophilia are repeated ad nauseam), Gore From Outer Space, conversely, offers almost nothing at all (with close to zero gore, and mere morsels of alien lifeforms). For the former, with everything from violence to sound effects dialled up to 10, similar to movies like The Sadness and The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), it desensitises rather than shocks or subverts. And for the latter? It somewhat drags.
There are, however, fleeting flashes of brilliance across both pictures. Hitomi Miwa’s karaoke-esque breaks into song, coupled with some truly gorgeous cinematography from director Hirohisa Sasaki, are pure genius. And then there are Sasaki’s beautifully choreographed fight scenes, which could arguably hold a candle to any martial arts cult classic.
Not bad for hallucinations hatched from a writer’s hospital bed.
The question is, is it worth three hours to reach these moments? Unless you’re a Troma or B-movie diehard, the answer is possibly no. Give them a try anyway. Just be prepared to find yourself hunkered in one of two camps: those who see a Gonzo masterstroke, and those who see an ultimately threadless train wreck.
DISTRIBUTOR
Third Window
DIRECTOR
Hirohisa Sasaki
SCREENPLAY
Hiroshi Takahashi
CAST
Hiroshi Abe
Hitomi Miwa
Sadao Abe
BLU-RAY
14 September 2026
