Mad Cats (2023) [Film Review]

Mad Cats; or, Demon Warriors
     This has nothing to do with me! I just got dragged into it!
Welcome to another December review, in which I am taking a look at another upcoming Third Window release, which is Mad Cats (2023), an indie action flick cooked up by director Reiki Tsuno.

Release Info

Directed by: Reiki Tsuno Starring: Sho Mineo, Yuya Matsuura, Ayane

Language: Japanese, English Original Title: MAD CATS Runtime: 88 min

Synopsis
Taka (Sho Mineo) is a young guy who leads a “worthless” existence. One day, he receives a tape on which a female voice tells him that his brother (So Yamanaka), an archeologist, is held captive at a place where they once found a cat. Taka rushes to that place only to discover that there is an ancient artefact from Egypt, which is the forbidden catnip. Demonic cats who turned into humans are chasing after Taka. In the quest to save his brother, he is joined by a street beggar Takezo (Yuya Matsuura) and a mysterious woman (Ayane).

Hell Here
I have to say that I went in to check out Reiki Tsuno’s Mad Cats completely blind, having read completely nothing about the movie beforehand, and this approach was beneficial to me. Mad Cats feels like an homage not only to the pulpy style of Quentin Tarantino, but also to many horror/thriller flicks from the 1980s like The Terminator (1984) or Fright Night (1985).

In fact, I did notice the stylistic parallels between Mad Cats and Adam Wingard’s The Guest (2015) which also was constantly referring to the kick-ass cinema of the 1980s. Awesome soundtrack composed by Yuki Hotta (with the generous usage of Birthday Girl songs) and really eye-catching cinematography by Shintaro Teramoto are the definite assets of the movie.

That being said, the story itself may not be everybody’s cup of tea. Undoubtedly, Mad Cats has the necessary dosage of comedy, action, and typical sense of creative wackiness you would expect from an indie production, but at times, the film may feel dragged out and repetitive with some of its sequences.

This may also come off as nitpicking, but I do believe that sound mix might have been improved. Maybe it was only my case because I was watching the film with headphones, but a lot of sound effects seemed louder than the regular voice track. Still again, this is not a big issue that distracts you from the viewing experience.

With regard to performances, the main actors do a fine job. Sho Mineo is great as the goofy everyman, Ayane is definitely a force of nature as the female warrior, whereas Yuya Matsuura is having a field day as a street bum who accidentally gets entangled in an otherworldly battle. After seeing the actor in Onoda - 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021), and Lonely Glory (2022), I really look forward to his future projects.

Recommendations
All things considered, Mad Cats is an interesting indie production with a big heart, but there are certain loose ends which may be noticeable for demanding viewers. Personally, I do not regret seeing it. The movie is going to be made available on region-free Blu-Ray from Third Window Films on the 29th of January, 2024. The release is going to include such bonus features as an interview with director Reiki Tsuno, director feature commentary, behind the scenes materials, and theatrical trailer.Overall score: 6/10

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