Electric Dragon 80.000 V

There are two characters in Electric Dragon 80.000 V: Dragon Eye Morrison and Thunderbolt Buddha. That was all I needed to know. I signed up for all 55 minutes of it.

Electric Dragon 80.000 V lands like a cinematic lobotomy. It more or less defies description, though there is a semblance of plot. It’s late. I’m tired. Here’s the Wiki overview:

As a child, Dragon Eye Morrison undergoes electro-shock treatment for his aggressive behavior. The levels of sheer energy absorbed by his body over the years allow him to channel and conduct electricity. Now an adult, Morrison works in the city as a reptile investigator and has learned to channel his rage through the performance of aggressive guitar-based noise. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt Buddha, a TV repair man turned vigilante, who has the same electro-conductive powers after a childhood accident, goes after crime bosses and gangsters. When both men learn of each other’s existence, Thunderbolt Buddha challenges Morrison to a final showdown on the rooftops of Tokyo.

I struggled with Electric Dragon 80.000 V. The visuals are cool. The loose plot is fine. But the noise cut through me. MACH-1.67 provided the soundtrack, which is one of the director’s side projects. Imagine putting a condenser mic inside a garbage disposal while processing kittens and silverware. That is what this film sounds like. The extended scenes of Dragon Eye Morrison battering his guitar in his apartment and out in public while the “music” plays were too much.

Still, there are several nice shots in the film. The trails around Dragon Eye Morrison’s hands during the final fight made me think of Enter the Dragon and The Last Dragon.