Both Sabu and the zombie genre seem to be at their best in this low-budget hidden gem, which won a number of awards internationally, including ones in Dhaka Interantional, Fantasporto, and the Grand Prize at Gérardmer.
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In a world where zombies have become pets, a cage with one of them arrives in Dr. Teramoto's house. Her guidelines mention that her name is Shara and that she should not be fed meat, just fruit and vegetables. The “package” even includes a gun, in case something goes wrong.
Shizuko, the doctor's wife, whom he does not seem to appreciate at all, orders her to scrub the courtyard, and feeds her with rotten food, a practice repeated every day. Additionally, Shara's daily routine includes a gang of youngsters that attack her every day and Kenichi, the youngest son of the family, who constantly takes pictures of her. Gradually, a few issues arise. The courtyard does not seem to become any cleaner, one of the family bodyguards rapes Shara (which arouses similar desires to the doctor), and Shizuko forces Shara to turn Kenichi into a zombie to save him, after a mortal accident. This last act changes everything for the family, with tragic consequences, particularly for Shizuko.
Sabu's film differentiates from the plethora of films in the genre, because he presents an everyday life that simply includes zombies, instead of the usual attack to humans. The tension is built slowly but steadily, with the events becoming worse and worse, initially on Shara and then to Shizuko. At the same time, the sense that something very bad is bound to happen permeates the film, inducing it with an atmosphere of a thriller. This sense is one of the movie's best attributes.
Sabu directs a minimalist movie, in terms of pace, image, color and sound, whose aesthetics are similar to the ones of art house films, with Daisuke Soma's cinematography and Naoichiro Sagara's editing moving towards this direction.Two of the highlights of the movie are based on the last two elements (color and sound), whose borderline absence stresses the scenes they are present. The former, in the scene where the film becomes colored for the first time, and the latter through the repeating sound of Shara scrubing the courtyard, which functions as the film's soundtrack.
The extremity in “Miss Zombie” lies with its two female protagonists. Ayaka Komatsu as Shara manages to manifest overwhelming sexuality under her grotesque appearance and is equally impressive upon her transformation from a weak-minded marionette to a character moved by altruism and love. Makoto Togashi as Shizuko presents a constant sense of evil and violence, just by her facial expressions and her body stance. Her transformation to a hysteric mother is equally sublime, as she manages to present it in a manner that lingers between the comic and the appalling. The two of them also present the comment Sabu wanted to make through the film: You can only press one so much, even if he/she is a brain dead zombie.
“Miss Zombie” is a great testament to Sabu's versatility and manages to present a new perspective to a rather preterite genre.
