Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman won’t expand your mind, but it will certainly cater to that small part of you that just wants to see a half-naked chick kick some ass in a gloriously bloody grindhouse romp.
The plot isn’t likely to be winning any awards; it is, at best, fairly basic.
Santiago, a small time DJ and video game addict, is thrust into danger after accidentally overhearing the city’s most dangerous criminals putting a price on the head of the assassin known only as ‘The Machine Gun Woman’.
When he is quite literally caught with his pants down, listening in from the toilet cubicle, Santiago does the only thing he can to save his life and promises to hunt down the femme-fatale bounty hunter.
The hapless DJ is the very embodiment of an unlikely hero, being scrawny, whiny and a tremendous physical coward, who is out of his depth from the very beginning.
What’s more, it works, as his incompetence provides the main source humour for the film.
For example, when he can’t purchase a real firearm without a license, he settles for an air soft pistol to defend himself against ruthless gangsters and assassins, obviously with amusing results.
Machine Gun Woman churns out a few tired staples – such as introducing each character with a colourised freeze frame. Yet it manages to bring a flourish of something interesting here, giving each character a bounty price – and Santiago’s just happens to be zero.
Perhaps most interesting is the numerous stylistic references to the popular video game series Grand Theft Auto.
These include introducing each new plot goal as a ‘mission’ for Santiago to either accomplish or fail, all in the distinctive GTA font.
Additionally, all car journeys are filmed in a third person chase camera that mimics the typical driving view from the games.
This is where the film really appeals to the part of you that just wants to have fun and laugh at some truly weird things.
It’s wonderfully insane, featuring one-man-band assassins, creative torture with an engine oil testing stick and an odd scene where The Machine Gun Woman gives fellatio to a gun.
While the acting is merely acceptable and the story is predictable, Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman is a gory, ridiculous and crazy ride that appeals to the less intellectual parts of your brain.
It doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it is: a film best watched with your brain switched off.
If all you want from a film is a good laugh and to see a leather clad female shoot guns and kill people, look no further.
Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman opens in selected cinemas September 27 and is available on DVD & Blu-ray on October 7.
Image courtesy of Ronmoc Entertainment via YouTube, with thanks.
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