I think I've mentioned on here before how much I love Japanese horror. Some of the most extreme, bizarre, and violent movies in the world come from this region, and I can't get enough. I watched Red Room for the first time last night, though I've been hearing about it for quite some time. Much in the vein of the Guinea Pig series, director Daisuke Yamanouchi is here only to shock and repulse you, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Some people might know Yamanouchi for some other sicko movies, most notably Mu Zan E, another film that's been on my watch list for quite some time. I'll probably have to get around to that one sooner rather than later after watching Red Room, seeing as I really enjoyed it.
The plot of the film is simple, yet original and refreshing. Four down on their luck contestants enroll in a game show of sorts, where the four will sit at a table and play a card game called The King Game, with the chance to win 10 million yen. Four cards are dealt. One card has a king symbol,and the other three are numbered 1-3. Whoever is the king gets to pick a punishment of sorts. For example, they can say 'I want #1 to punch #2" or something along those lines. The idea is that whoever is the king should try to pick something that the other contestants won't want to do, because if they back out, they lose the money. What I liked about this film was that we got a backstory on each of the contestants. Two of the four are a husband and wife pair, on the brink of divorce. The other two are young sisters. That makes it not so easy to say "Oh hey, I want #3 to chop #2's arm off" or something. This gives us a little attachment to each of the characters and makes the dynamic of this 'King Game' much more interesting. I can't tell you how many times I've played this game hypothetically in real life with friends. Of course there's always that one friend who insists she wouldn't let some dude shit on her for a BILLION dollars (for the record, I'd be all in on that one, no shame over here). For my friends reading this, you know who you are and you LIE! Anyway, I'm sure it's something we've all done with friends in real life. The concept put into film is really interesting and really makes you wonder how low people would actually go to win an obscene amount of cash.
The quality of this film is extremely low budget. Straight up camcorder. But again, I love low budget horror and don't think budget is a reason that a movie should be considered bad. But if you are bothered by really crappy production value, this film may not sit well with you. Oh, the sound clips in this film were a blast. The movie is littered with these really over the top sound effects that were just too funny. If you see the film you'll know what I mean. Pure fun.One gripe I have is, believe it or not, the lack of gore! Some scenes were creative, but probably due to budget constraints, there just wasn't enough red stuff to make me happy. When you're dealing with such an interesting topic, I feel like there are just worlds and worlds of creative things you can throw in here. The movie is practically set up for the director to have scene after scene of random gross outs.This film was much more focuses on sexual violence, which is not my thing. But guess what? Other fans must have had the same gripes as me because there is actually a Red Room 2 which is supposed to be way more brutal. I will definitely have a review of that up here soon.
In short, if you're a fan of extreme Japanese gross out flicks such as the Guinea Pig series, definitely check out Red Room. Not as gory as the aforementioned, but still lots of fun. The overabundance of sex and sexual violence brings it down a few notches for me, not that I am opposed to such things in cinema because I am quite anti censorship, but just because I think the film would have been better with more variety of 'punishments' for the contestants rather than several scenes of "Oh you two have sex now". Regardless, highly recommended.
RATING:
*** 1/2 out of *****
Some people might know Yamanouchi for some other sicko movies, most notably Mu Zan E, another film that's been on my watch list for quite some time. I'll probably have to get around to that one sooner rather than later after watching Red Room, seeing as I really enjoyed it.
The plot of the film is simple, yet original and refreshing. Four down on their luck contestants enroll in a game show of sorts, where the four will sit at a table and play a card game called The King Game, with the chance to win 10 million yen. Four cards are dealt. One card has a king symbol,and the other three are numbered 1-3. Whoever is the king gets to pick a punishment of sorts. For example, they can say 'I want #1 to punch #2" or something along those lines. The idea is that whoever is the king should try to pick something that the other contestants won't want to do, because if they back out, they lose the money. What I liked about this film was that we got a backstory on each of the contestants. Two of the four are a husband and wife pair, on the brink of divorce. The other two are young sisters. That makes it not so easy to say "Oh hey, I want #3 to chop #2's arm off" or something. This gives us a little attachment to each of the characters and makes the dynamic of this 'King Game' much more interesting. I can't tell you how many times I've played this game hypothetically in real life with friends. Of course there's always that one friend who insists she wouldn't let some dude shit on her for a BILLION dollars (for the record, I'd be all in on that one, no shame over here). For my friends reading this, you know who you are and you LIE! Anyway, I'm sure it's something we've all done with friends in real life. The concept put into film is really interesting and really makes you wonder how low people would actually go to win an obscene amount of cash.
The quality of this film is extremely low budget. Straight up camcorder. But again, I love low budget horror and don't think budget is a reason that a movie should be considered bad. But if you are bothered by really crappy production value, this film may not sit well with you. Oh, the sound clips in this film were a blast. The movie is littered with these really over the top sound effects that were just too funny. If you see the film you'll know what I mean. Pure fun.One gripe I have is, believe it or not, the lack of gore! Some scenes were creative, but probably due to budget constraints, there just wasn't enough red stuff to make me happy. When you're dealing with such an interesting topic, I feel like there are just worlds and worlds of creative things you can throw in here. The movie is practically set up for the director to have scene after scene of random gross outs.This film was much more focuses on sexual violence, which is not my thing. But guess what? Other fans must have had the same gripes as me because there is actually a Red Room 2 which is supposed to be way more brutal. I will definitely have a review of that up here soon.
In short, if you're a fan of extreme Japanese gross out flicks such as the Guinea Pig series, definitely check out Red Room. Not as gory as the aforementioned, but still lots of fun. The overabundance of sex and sexual violence brings it down a few notches for me, not that I am opposed to such things in cinema because I am quite anti censorship, but just because I think the film would have been better with more variety of 'punishments' for the contestants rather than several scenes of "Oh you two have sex now". Regardless, highly recommended.
RATING:
*** 1/2 out of *****