| Overview: | Full-throttle splatter-ific Japanese cyberpunk science-fiction/horror at its most aggressive, this mind-blower about alien parasites that turn their human hosts into slave “Necroborgs” will leave you dizzy and drained – in a good way.
Based on a short film previously created by co-director Junichi Yamamoto (the other director here is Yudai Yamaguchi, responsible for the comedic cult favorite Battlefield Baseball), Meatball Machine starts off as a sweet romance, but that doesn't last long: shy, lonely factory worker Yoji has a crush on fellow factory employee Sachiko, but just when they start to bond…well, aliens invade the earth and attach themselves as parasites to human bodies. The method of parasitism is grotesque enough – the aliens implant tumor-like globules on the shoulders of their victims and pilot them like robots (whilst also blinding them with devices that penetrate their eye sockets) – but when Yamamoto and Yamaguchi take the viewer inside the parasite blobs to observe the slimy mini-extraterrestrial activity first-hand, then you know you're onto a stomach-turning winner. Meatball Machine puts its cinematic foot all the way down on the gas pedal and doesn't let up until the inevitable battle between Yoji and Sachiko – a touching testament to young love, blood, and alien ooze.
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