Director Atsushi Muroga does it again... after having taken parts from "Reservoir Dogs", "Natural Born Killers", "The Getaway" and numerous other action/crime films to mix it all together for his gore loaded actioner "Score" (1995) about jewelry robbers versus criminal couple versus double crossing Yakuzas, he mixes Lucio Fulci's "Zombi 2" (aka "Zombie Flesh Eaters" etc.) with George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead" and "Re-Animator", plus "Return of the Living Dead" 1 and 3, and, concerning the basic plot, his own "Score" (which means the film has also elements of the above mentioned American non-Zombie productions) to create a modern Zombie movie that looks like one that was made in the early 1980s: almost nostalgic.
That doesn't mean that the movie is totally unoriginal. It's the first of a recent "Zombie wave" from Japan, followed by the nonsensical "punk rock horror" movie "Wild Zero" and the best of the bunch, the stylishly but a bit too long "Versus". "Junk" delivers all a Zombie fan needs, although it's been all there before, and - at least concerning the ideas lifted from Fulci and Romero - it has been there better. But all the blood and guts, plus the relentless action Asian cinema is known for, make this film entertaining 83 minutes, best consumed with fellow Zombie freaks, enough beer (or else) and snacks.
Obviously Atsushi Muroga doesn't intend to reinvent well known genres or plots. But he wants to give the audience a good time with popcorn action and horror - and gore. And this he does very well. Rating: 6 out of 10.
