Those who check out director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's ambitious student film Banquet Of The Beasts (two years in the making) expecting a non-stop gore-fest might find themselves struggling to get to the good stuff, which only arrives after an hour of extremely tedious interaction between members of a radical political group, whose leader, Aizawa, is banged up in prison. Aizawa's mentally unstable girlfriend Masami takes control of the group, but her leadership is poor, resulting in tension that finally (finally) erupts into violence.
Make it past the first hour, and things do get better (and by 'better' I mean bloodier), as the action moves to a forest where Masami deals with trouble-makers in brutal fashion. It is while two men are getting a beating that the first (and best) gore effect happens: Masami shoots upstart Yasame in the head, leaving only the lower half of his face intact. As if obliterating his cranium isn't bad enough, she then fondles the brain matter oozing out of what's left of his skull. Juicy! The other guy doesn't get let off lightly either: he has his penis cut off, although this is far less graphic.
More gore comes when the group takes shelter in an abandoned building: Masami bites a man's junk off while giving him head, so he stabs her in the crotch, takes a gun, shoves it between her legs and pulls the trigger, causing her insides to explode. Then, while that guy is messing around with her entrails, another bloke enters the room and decapitates bloke #1 with a samurai sword. If this is the kind of stuff you're hungry for, then it should satisfy your cravings, but just be prepared for a long and arduous slog to get there.
3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.
