Editorials
How The Extended Anime Sequence In ‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ Points To Tarantino’s Future
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair includes never-before-seen anime footage that chronicles an important part of O-ren Ishii’s past that could also present the path to Tarantino’s future.
Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaker whose works have always been passionate love letters to not just cinema but a wide range of pop culture touchstones, references, and vibes. Kill Bill represents a major creative turning point for Tarantino, where he seriously ups his game and essentially transforms himself into a brilliant action filmmaker by brute force. Kill Bill can very cleanly be cut into two separate films, which in many ways strengthen each volume’s respective material.
That being said, the Bride’s (Uma Thurman) roaring rampage of revenge was initially meant to be contained in a single film. It wasn’t until July 2003, three months before the film’s October release, that it was announced that Kill Bill would be split into two separate films, released six months apart. Kill Bill’s story and characters can breathe better in two separate volumes, yet murmurs of a four-hour-plus singular film would occasionally come forward.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair had its official release at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and then popped up at Tarantino’s own New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, The Whole Bloody Affair gained an apocryphal status, not unlike The Bride’s own notorious reputation within Kill Bill’s universe. Bootlegs and fan-made edits that attempt to emulate The Whole Bloody Affair as accurately as possible have attempted to sate curious fans. Now, more than two decades after Kill Bill’s original release, a proper theatrical push has become a reality.
The new release reconciles the two halves of this cinematic saga and presents them as originally intended. On a structural level, The Whole Bloody Affair is a satisfying experience. However, its never-before-seen anime sequence – an extension of O-Ren Ishii’s (Lucy Liu) own revenge saga – steals the show in more ways than one. This new sequence provides fascinating insight into the future of Tarantino’s career and a viable path forward that circumvents his self-imposed “Ten Film Rule.”
Part of what makes Kill Bill such an immersive cinematic experience is how it plays around with so many different storytelling devices and presentation styles. It inundates its audience with so many stylistic flourishes that an anime detour in Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren is just par for the course. This anime sequence, produced by Production I.G and directed by Kazuto Nakazawa (Tenchi Muyo!, Parasite Dolls), chronicles O-Ren’s tragic past and the circumstances that led to her evolution into an expert assassin and power player in Japan’s criminal underworld. The original anime sequence spends a lot of time in O-Ren’s prepubescent years, jumping from a massacre when she’s 11 to a violent rebirth at 20.
The Whole Bloody Affair covers an extra O-Ren altercation when the budding killer is 13 years old. This extensive sequence puts O-Ren up against Pretty Riki, a criminal who ultimately gets the last laugh. O-Ren’s attack on Pretty Riki in The Whole Bloody Affair manages to top the ultra-violent heights of the rest of the anime sequence. This new wrinkle in O-Ren’s past is also genuinely suspenseful and full of clever subversions. A simple hit continues to spiral out of control and grow infinitely more precarious, yet O-Ren remains steadfast with her goal. The majority of this sequence plays out in an elevator, and it instantly becomes one of the strongest cinematic elevator sequences that comes to mind, trumping the likes of Dressed to Kill, The Departed, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Damien: The Omen II.
A rather fascinating detail that seems to exist between “classic Tarantino” and “nu Tarantino” is the latter’s interest in engaging in gonzo revisionist history, whether that’s Hitler’s grisly execution or the prevention of Sharon Tate’s murder. Kill Bill is very much the inflection point between these two phases of Tarantino’s career. O-Ren’s expanded anime backstory wasn’t constructed under the same rubric. However, this new sequence retroactively fulfills the agenda of the second half of Tarantino’s career. The new Pretty Riki scene doesn’t prevent O-Ren’s death at the hands of The Bride. What it does do is turn O-Ren into a more sympathetic character that the audience almost wants to root for by the time that her showdown with The Bride comes to pass.
This expanded anime scene and how it recontextualizes O-Ren’s plight make The Whole Bloody Affair an even more appropriate demarcation line in Tarantino’s career than what was accomplished with Vols. 1 and 2 as separate films. This segment makes O-Ren’s death more tragic and even turns her into more of the centerpiece of the film’s first half, fully embracing the Lady Snowblood influence. The Whole Bloody Affair’s lengthier anime sequence turns it into even more of a centerpiece that’s more substantial and better justified, especially in a longer movie that has more room.
On some level, it’s easy to see why this lengthy scene was cut. The audience can fill in the gaps, especially since the end of O-Ren’s story is still detailed. However, O-Ren’s fight against Pretty Riki is far stronger than the additional sequences that follow, where O-Ren is 20 years old. As a collective piece, it really makes “The Origin of O-Ren“ feel like an anime epic that can stand on its own, independent of the rest of the film.
O-Ren’s anime backstory was already evocative of mature anime titles like Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire, and Kite, the latter of which was actually required viewing for Chiaki Kuriyama in order to better get into Gogo Yubari’s mindset. These reference points, especially Kite, are even more apparent in 13-year-old O-Ren’s attack on Pretty Riki. 13-year-old O-Ren’s character design seems to even explicitly reference Kite’s young assassin, Sawa.
Kite’s influence on the third chapter feels more natural when it’s explicitly referenced and not just part of a performer’s subtext. There are also several shots, sequences, and reactions that are direct references to some of Production I.G’s most iconic works. This could feel clunky and shallow in less adept works, but this extended anime sequence’s ability to lovingly pay homage to not just Production I.G, but anime as a whole, meshes with the rest of Kill Bill’s magpie-like tendency to pastiche pop culture.
What’s perhaps the most exciting thing about the extended anime sequence is how it points to a potential future for Tarantino that allows him to skirt his pesky self-imposed rule to only direct ten feature films. Tarantino taking on a full anime series, a series of OVAs, or even an anthology effort in the style of The Animatrix would allow for rewarding storytelling opportunities while not breaking his own rules. This pivot may have been seen as a step backwards for Tarantino in the past, but anime’s reputation has completely changed in the two decades since Kill Bill’s release.
There are increasing cases where acclaimed live-action filmmakers like Takashi Miike and Chad Stalhelski have opted to direct anime. Any such stigma is now gone, and Tarantino has also grown more fascinated in recontextualizing his film properties in different media, whether it’s his novelization of Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Django/Zorro comic crossover, or his serialized and re-edited The Hateful Eight: Extended Version. It makes more sense than ever for Tarantino to embrace anime in a more substantial capacity.
The prospect of a Kill Bill anime may have previously seemed like a poor substitute for a live-action third installment. However, Tarantino’s reputation with Kill Bill has clearly changed after using the Unreal Engine to bring to life an unfilmed sequence from his original Kill Bill script. In a world in which “Yuki’s Revenge” can exist in Fortnite, there’s no reason that Kill Bill can’t live on as an anime. Expressing future Kill Bill stories in this style wouldn’t need to be viewed as any sort of compromise, and Production I.G is now up to the challenge even more than they were back when they did the original anime sequence.
While there may be a natural temptation to deliver a hypothetical Kill Bill Vol. 3 as an anime, Tarantino has already created a rich universe that can easily sustain new stories that pull from its past instead of looking to the future. A full O-Ren Ishii anime would be a popular project, but there’s also a lot of value in an anime that adopts more of an anthology approach to Kill Bill’s eclectic cast and history, whether that digs into the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, Pai Mei, or Bill’s relationship with his brother, Budd.
Tarantino recently spoke about how revisiting The Whole Bloody Affair has sparked the idea of telling a new Bill story that looks at his relationship with his “three godfathers” – Esteban Vihaio, Hattori Hanzo, and Pai Mei. This is a story that would be perfect to bring to life as an anime. Such an anime could also be used to bring more unfilmed Kill Bill material into existence, like what was done with “Yuki’s Revenge.” One of the best parts of Tarantino’s original Kill Bill script is a Bill-centric chapter, “Can She Bake A Cherry Pie…,” that unleashes his skills at an illegal casino. Some of Tarantino’s strongest writing has been lost in this unfilmed chapter, which could finally be appreciated in a Kill Bill anime anthology.
Alternatively, Tarantino could go one step further and use anime as the conduit for a broader anthology that tackles the entire breadth of his filmography. Such a series could include plenty of Kill Bill representation, but also become a venue for Tarantino to complete more of his unfinished projects, like “Vega Brothers,” “Killer Crow,” or even the Django and Zorro crossover. Tarantino’s films being reborn as anime isn’t even an idea that seems that odd during a time when anime for Lord of the Rings, Scooby-Doo, Terminator, and Rick and Morty exist. Tarantino has also shown enough respect and admiration for anime that it’s not hard to imagine him creating a totally original story that’s been specifically modulated to be told in anime. This new narrative could function as a tribute to anime in the same way that his other projects are pastiches of their respective genres.
The long-awaited release of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair provides closure for a fringe project that fans have wanted to see for decades. The film’s most exciting new addition, and the warm reception that it’s receiving, will hopefully rekindle a reunion between Tarantino and Production I.G. O-Ren Ishii’s assault on Pretty Riki deserves to be the start of something bigger and not just the swan song of a part of Tarantino’s past.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair releases exclusively in theaters on December 5.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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