Zeiram (ゼイラム, Zeiramu), stylized as ZËIЯAM (originally marketed in English as Zeram), is a 1991 Japanese science fiction film directed by Keita Amemiya.

The film stars Yūko Moriyama as an extraterrestrial bounty hunter named Iria, who comes to Earth to do battle with Zeiram, a powerful alien creature.

With the help of her partner—an artificial intelligence named Bob—and two ordinary Japanese electricians, Iria fights Zeiram in a virtually constructed alternate dimension known as a "Zone".

Extraterrestrial bounty hunters Iria and Bob accept a job to apprehend Zeiram, a powerful alien entity, on Earth.

Bob speculates that Zeiram is a forbidden biological weapon whose "hat" is used to eat other beings and use the organic matter he consumes to produce his monster subordinates.

Iria and Bob decide to bring a powerful weapon called the Metis Cannon to fight Zeiram, despite the personal risk it causes them to use it without prior approval from the authorities to whom the bounty hunters answer.

"[7] Newsday's Terry Kelleher, who gave the film two out of four stars, was unimpressed by the comedic banter between the characters of Kamiya and Teppei, but concluded that, "The business of Zeiram is action, and Amemiya keeps it coming, accompanying the abundant violence with a refreshingly small amount of gore.

"[4] A reviewer for Fangoria described wanting to "reach into the picture tube and slap the two male idiots [Kamiya and Teppei]," and criticized the English dubbing,[8] but praised the film's imagination and overall called it "loads of hi-tech fun, and although it's primarily aimed at a juvenile audience, it has enough extreme gore and craziness to keep anyone amused, especially fans of '60s superheroes such as Ultraman.

"[5] Similarly, Betsy Sherman of The Boston Globe wrote that the film "melds the cheesy camp of '60s Japanese monster movies, the resourcefulness of recent Hong Kong fantasy pictures and the sensibility of pulp science fiction.

"[3] A reviewer for LA Weekly praised the film's direction and special effects, describing the latter as "so insidious they're the stuff of nightmares and so cheesy they're the stuff of fondue", and writing: "Zeiram may call to mind Blade Runner, Alien and even John Carpenter's The Thing, but Japanese sci-fi director Keita Amemiya never ceases to amaze with his originality and inventiveness.

Released in 1994, the series serves as a prequel to the original Zeiram, taking place several years earlier when Iria is still a rookie and detailing the events surrounding a prior encounter between her and the titular entity.

The plot plays out similarly to the original Zeiram, with the four getting into cat-and-mouse confrontations with the creature and the monsters that he summons and dealing with complications caused by Iria and Bob's faulty tech.

The sequel adds the additional challenge of Fujikuro, a manipulative rival and saboteur who seeks the same ancient teleportation relic called the Kamarite that Iria and Bob returned to Earth to obtain.