Helldriver
is a 2010 Japanese splatter film directed by  Yoshihiro Nishimura. It stars Yumiko Hara and Eihi Shiina, and was written by Nishimura and Daichi Nagisa. Synopsis
Kika and her father are pursued by her mother, Rikka, who has gone insane and engaged in cannibalism, and her uncle, Yasushi, who aids Rikka. The murderous duo corners and burns Kika's father to death. Before they can kill Kika, a meteorite punches a hole through Rikka, obliterating her heart. Still alive, Rikka rips out her daughter's heart and puts it in her chest. Immediately, an unknown substance encases the two, putting them in cocoon-like states. Black ash emits from Rikka and eventually covers the northern half of Japan, turning people into bloodthirsty zombies. To contain the infection, the government builds a large wall dividing Japan in two, keeping the zombies north while the uninfected population remains south. One year later, Kika is freed from her cocoon-like state and awakens when an artificial heart is put inside her chest to keep her alive. Having been dropped off at the wall, several zombies approach her. With a chainsword that shares the power source with her heart, she quickly kills the zombies by severing the horns on their foreheads. Kika rescues a man named Taku and his mute companion, whom he calls No-Name. The two collect the zombies' horns, which can be turned into a drug and sold on the black market. Kika is woken by pain in her chest, as Rikka is freed from the cocoon and declares herself "queen" of the zombies, and begins commanding them. Some time later, Kika, Taku, and No-name are arrested while attempting to deal the zombie horns, as the horns, other than being drugs, contain a volatile and explosive substance. Prime Minister Hatoda and his supporters protest the killing of zombies, claiming they are still human. The opposing side, led by Justice Minister Osawa, believes the monsters must be wiped out before Japan is overrun. When Hatoda makes a speech near the wall, Osawa's men destroy part of the wall, allowing several zombies to come through. Before Hatoda is torn apart by them, he screams out that all zombies are, indeed, no longer human. Osawa declares himself the new prime minister. The government identifies Rikka as the source of the zombie outbreak. Agreeing to track her down, Kika and her companions are freed and supplied with equipment. After crossing the wall, they are attacked by an unknown assailant using decapitated zombie heads used as crude bombs, but are saved by an ex-cop named Kaito. Shortly after, at a zombie-infested bar, the group finds Maya, No-Name's sister, being tortured and fed on by Yasushi. The group saves her and escapes, pursued by Yasushi. During the chase, Kika kills the zombified bar owner, and Taku sacrifices himself to force Yasushi's vehicle over a cliff. Having lost a lot of blood from her torture, Maya dies. Kika, Kaito, and No-Name eventually reach Rikka, who controls a giant body made out of zombies. While Rikka tortures Kika by abusing the latter's heart, No-Name fires a tracking signal onto Rikka's location. Osawa commands the army to fire several missiles at Rikka, but she is unfazed and captures two of the missiles, using them to fly the giant body to southern Japan. Kika climbs onto the giant, but Yasushi, who had survived the crash, confronts her. After a fight, Kika kicks him into one of the missiles which explodes. Meanwhile, thousands of zombies on the ground have broken through the wall, attacking the southern half of the country. After being attacked by a zombie, Osawa is killed by his own guards who believe he is infected. With one missile gone, the makeshift zombie plane becomes unstable and veers back to northern Japan. Kika engages her mother in a fistfight. Having gained the upper hand, Kika rips out the heart in Rikka's chest and decapitates her. With the "Queen" dead, all of the zombies fall to the ground dead. As the plane falls apart, Kika almost dies but No-Name and Kaito save her. No longing needing her original heart, Kika crushes it in her hand. During the end credits, the other missile explodes, launching Rikka's severed head into space. It eventually reaches an alien planet and presumably strikes an inhabitant the same way the meteorite did to Rikka. Cast

Production
Director Yoshihiro Nishimura began working on the script to Helldriver in 2009. Nishimura took influence from George A. Romero's film Night of the Living Dead which dealt with current events of the day. Nishimura stated that there was "quite a lot of satire and social criticism in this film...I describe what ensues after the nation splits in two, with humans controlling one half and zombies the other, and the kind of discrimination that would occur within Japan were something severe like this to happen." On May 15, 2010 Helldriver began filming in an abandoned warehouse in Choshi, Japan. Other scenes involving hordes of zombies were filmed outside Mount Fuji. Release
Helldriver had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas on September 28, 2010. It was also an Official Selection at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in 2010, the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in 2011, the Calgary International Film Festival in 2011 and Montreal's Fantasia International Festival in 2011. The film had its theatrical release in Japan on July 23, 2011. The screening of Helldriver at the New York Japan Society in April 2011 was a benefit in aid for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Reception
Film Business Asia gave the film a six out of ten rating, calling it an "average-to-occasionally-inspired effort" that was not as strong as Nishimura's Tokyo Gore Police but better than Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl. The review went on to say that the film "suffers from the perennial problem with all zombie movies: the creatures have only one way of attacking and the heroes have only one way of killing — which soon becomes repetitive unless there's an interesting story or characters." The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, stating that "Even for a genre film, the storyline is negligible" and the "action choreography is run-of-the-mill." The review went on to praise the make-up in the film, stating that "Nishimura put tender loving care into image and costume design...Even "walk-ons" have distinct facial features and expressions." References

External links
 

2010 films
2010 horror films
2010s Japanese films
2010s Japanese-language films
2010s science fiction horror films
Films set in Japan
Films shot in Japan
Japanese post-apocalyptic films
Japanese science fiction horror films
Japanese splatter films
Japanese zombie films