Battlefield Baseball Movie Review

As sports horror movies go, Battlefield Baseball has to be in the top two or three up there with, well, uh... something, right?

Try to imagine Shaolin Soccer with even less of a plot but with zombies mixed in. Our heroes (a Bad News Bear collection) comprise a highschool baseball team -- and they're nervous about an upcoming game -- not because the team is so good on the field, but because they're undead mutants and have a tendency to rip apart their opponents limb from limb.

Things progress toward the inevitable game, and though schoolyard lessons abound on the way, Battlefield Baseball ultimately becomes nothing more than an excuse for Yudai Yamaguchi and crew to splatter various characters across the field with a collection of increasingly absurd, puppet-like special effects. Those familiar with the early works of Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, and the most primitive of J-horror flicks will know what to expect.

Can dismemberment be cute? Put it on a baseball diamond and the answer is... sort of.

Aka Jigoku kôshien.