MIKADROID: ROBOKILL BENEATH DISCO CLUB LAYLA
(ミカドロイド)
dirs. Tomoo Haraguchi, Satoo Haraguchi, 1991
73 mins. Japan.
In Japanese with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, JULY 2 – 10 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 9 – MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY, JULY 23 – MIDNIGHT
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 – 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 29 – 10 PM

During World War II, the Japanese military established a secret underground laboratory in Tokyo. Three Olympic-level athletes were selected to undergo a process that would turn them into Jinra-go, superhuman armored soldiers. By March 1945, one of the soldiers had been completely transformed into the half man/half machine ultimate soldier called MIKADROID.

But American B-29’s firebomb the city and, while the two super soldiers manage to escape, Mikadroid and the lab are apparently destroyed. 45 years pass, Tokyo is rebuilt, and old secrets are forgotten. The site is now home to a complex that includes the Discoclub Layla. The disco’s patrons dance late into the night, unaware that a faulty basement generator has reactivated Mikadroid and the cyborg now prowls the basement levels, killing anyone in its path…

Part of a low-budget line of Toho movies shot on 16mm and released directly to video, MIKADROID was originally conceived as a zombie film (MIKADO ZOMBIE) before being retooled as a killer android – supposedly because shortly before production, a serial killer was arrested and found to have a massive horror-movie collection, causing a brief public backlash.

Moodier than your average DTV fare, the film makes great use of its meager budget + locations to create a palpable sense of uncanny dread between bursts of insanity, including a memorable parking garage sequence involving a skateboarding disco club attendee. Also features a performance by a young Kiyoshi Kurosawa – not to be missed!