Before his feature debut, Sharkskin Man And Peach Hip Girl, Katsuhito Ishii directed television commercials and music videos. Keep that in mind when you watch his films, as it lends some explanation as to the pacing and the look. Ishii is more interested in making 'cool' movies than in making good ones. That said, in his defense, with Party 7 he succeeds. It is very definitely a cool movie and at times, it's even a good one.

After an animated opening credits sequence that immediately makes you think of a Ralph Bakshi cartoon, we meet Miki (Masatoshi Nagase), a small time hood who decides to rip off his boss for the tidy sum of two hundred million yen so that he can end his life of crime and take a nice leisurely stroll down easy street. He winds up hiding out in the Hotel New Mexico unaware that the place is managed by one Captain Banana (Yoshio Harada). If his name weren't strange enough, the good captain is really into voyeurism. He likes to watch so much that he's had a special room built in the hotel that allows him to spy on any of his guests any time he chooses to. He also wears his special (and fairly creepy) Captain Banana costume when he indulges himself.

Captain Banana isn't the only one in the Hotel New Mexico that gets off on watching. Okita (Tadanobu Asano), the son of Captain Banana's former partner in crime, is along for the ride - he's even brought his own box of Kleenex to clean up whatever mess he might make on the way. As the pair watch their guests, they witness Miki's sexy ex-girlfriend, Kana (Akemi Kobayashi), show up looking to collect on a debt he owes her. The fact that she's long since been married off to the wealthy Todohiro (Yoshinori Okada) doesn't change things in her mind. When Tohohiro shows up to help his wife collect, things get a little heated. That's all pushed to the side when a hitman named Sonoda (Keisuke Horibe) arrives on the scene sent to take back the money that Miki stole and to leave him dead as payback. Sonoda's boss (Tatsuya Gashuin) is en route to make sure that the job is finished and of course, it all hits the fan.

Filled with quirky characters and snappy dialogue it's easy to see the influence of Tarantino here and Ishii obviously wants his film to fit into that mold. To an extent he succeeds, as his film is pretty entertaining even if it's striving for style over substance. The characters are reasonably interesting with Captain Banana and his peeping pal stealing the show and earning most of the laughs with their oddly charming stories of perversion and continuous high fives. Tadanobu Asano, probably best known for his masochistic turn in Miike's Ichi The Killer is pretty effective as the nerdy and almost shy assistant to Yoshio Harada's emboldened (thanks to his disguise) Captain Banana. The film isn't quite as sexualized as the peeping Tom motif might lead you to believe, however.

There are a few expected and unexpected twists along the way that keep the film moving at a solid pace and Ishii manages to hit a nice blend of comedy, drama and even sadness. The cinematography is nice and well shot, the scenes in the peeping room in particular having a nice cool color scheme which provide a clinical vibe to its inhabitants collective kink. The sets are pretty minimal with the bulk of the action taking place in Miki's hotel room or the peeping room so it's a testament to Ishii's script that the film stays interesting as its success lies almost completely with the characters and the dialogue.

Ultimately the film does have a pretty charming story underneath it's hipster veneer. The quirkiness works and well at times it feels a little too 'weird for the sake of weird' it's at least an enjoyable story told through Ishii's hyperactive eye. Is it a classic? Nope, but it is a lot of good, weird fun and it's plenty entertaining.