Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

Terrible acting, one-note characters, disjointed plot, awful dubbing and cheesy effects. But this movie is so over the top bonkers that it all just works together brilliantly. Don't try to make sense of it, there's none to be found. Just sit back, grab a drink, switch your brain off and enjoy.

I don’t really believe in the term ‘guilty pleasure’, because to me campy movies can be a genuine artform if a filmmaker fully commits to the bit in a clever way. As such, I reject the idea of anyone having to feel guilty for enjoying this. This is very much the _Commando_ of the 90s, it’s exactly the adult cartoon it wants to be. Every sound, editing and acting choice reinforce its ridiculous, over the top vibe. Not all of it is tasteful (particularly the way it uses music kinda sucks, and the excessive slow-mo could’ve been reigned in), but the movie is memorable because of the entertaining action sequences, dumb (but good) comedy and schlock horror influences. Just imagine Quentin Tarantino and Sam Raimi teaming up for an exploitation movie, and you’re close to what this is. Would it be a better movie if it genuinely tried with the script? Maybe, but it would probably be less entertaining. Overall, while I definitely can’t guarantee that anyone will like it, I thought this one was quite fun. 6.5/10