Absurdism, caricature, the grotesque and manic physical comedy all feature heavily in this most certainly unique film. To form an opinion of Battle Heater I suppose will depend on what you make of the use of these techniques. Similar in spirit to Alex Cox's Repo Man, the main concern of the film is the demonic Kotatsu that, Little Shop Of Horrors' style, starts devouring any and every human anywhere near it. Technology features heavily in the film, the hero's sidekick worships electricity and uses all his spare time fixing electrical items seemingly beyond repair. The Kotasu that is subsequently fixed turns out to be a killer. Technology versus man? Possibly, but the comic style undermines any pretensions of serious critique. Next door to our hero reside a rock n roll band that constantly terrorize the rest of the building, wanting desperately to be famous. Their fate? Grizzly death. Bearing in mind that the lead actor was in one of Japan's most famous bands is a nice little interplay: an aspiring fictional rock in roll band beating up a real ex rock roll star turned fictional hero? Dangers of fame? Blurring the concepts of reality and fiction? Another wealth of postmodernist concerns? Hmmm. If you were to look in depth I'm sure you could make something out of many such interplays/ juxtapositions but would it really be worth it? Probably not, and I think the slapstick style and comic book effects echo the fact that it's a film that doesn't want to be taken seriously. It could even be a parody of Lynch. But again it shares the most with Repo Man, the absurdity, visual impact and repeating and interlinked themes suggest that there is a subtext scratching at the surface and someone with the time and inclination could argue a very good case for it being worthy of consideration as more than just a wacky horror/comedy.
But I think i'd rather just laugh this time around.
But I think i'd rather just laugh this time around.