Ameriatch
One of the best films i have seen
Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
InformationRap
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Keira Brennan
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
andrew73249
A man wakes up in an endless black maze, with only a few inches of head room, forced to crawl around fruitlessly, all with no idea where he is or how he got there. The only respite from this is the torment he receives from various booby traps and his brief glimpses into chambers in which torture, dismemberment, and various unspeakable acts are committed upon other hapless victims by unseen agents. Yes folks, the word "grim" doesn't really even begin to describe this one.Tsukamoto brings us a punishing, claustrophobic nightmare on film that defies explanation, including the obvious one that the characters are dead and in hell. While the "person wakes up in room with no idea who he is or how he got there" device is well worn, it remains so effective simply because it can be a metaphor for almost anything. Rarely is it used as well as it is here, despite the absence of easy interpretations.I've never been great at speculating about the "true" meaning of a film like this, but I will say that it seems to involve the aftermath of an altercation of some kind in which the man and a woman in his life both receive stab wounds to the abdomen. We don't learn much more than that, but the last 5 to 10 minutes completely open the possibilities, and surprisingly, provide something resembling an upbeat conclusion. Well, sort of. Intriguingly, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" is not quite the sign posted here.Speaking of the afterlife, if that's what this is, this particular vision of damnation is astonishingly similar to the one that has haunted me as long as I can remember. Being forced to crawl around in a dark, extremely tight space for all eternity is apparently the very personal conception of hell that I in fact share with many others, or at least with Tsukamoto. If you're one of us, then consider this a warning or, if you like, an invitation to watch. Suffice it to say, this is not for all tastes or moods. But if you want something that makes Cube seem like a cheerful, feel-good film, this might just be the one for you.
Indyrod
Coming close to completing my collection of all the Shinya Tsukamoto movies, and this one is pretty hard to explain. A man wakes up in somekind of a concrete space, hardly able to move, and notices he has an injury which is bleeding. It's very dark, and you only see his face for quite a while and hear him think to himself about what is going on. He begins to crawl through tunnels, or maybe a maze, and comes across a woman also trapped and bleeding. Different visions occurs, like a force knocking on a huge door which he can't seem to reach, and multilated bodies floating on the surface of a source of water in this space. They begin a conversation about life, dreams, death, and what is happening to each other, and how to escape. He wonders if the world is at war and they are prisoners, or some pervert has locked them away for whatever reason, or is it really a very nasty nightmare or are they in hell. That's pretty much what is going on, at least for what you can see, because the movie is pretty dark until the last 10 minutes or so. Although the movie is only around 49 minutes long, that is plenty long enough for this type of ambiguous narrative. Being a huge fan of Tsukamoto, this movie to me is like a terrible nightmare, and that may be what it is, you have to judge that because the movie doesn't help you along much at all. But what there is that is so Tsukamoto, is the superior use of music and sound effects, along with some disturbing visuals. Interesting movie to say the least, and a must-have of course for Tsukamoto fans.
jesko-malik
The thing about Haze... First I have to say that the DVD costs about 20, that's a bit expensive if you expect a full movie and in the end only get a short-film, BUT, the director once again creates a dark industrial set with a bit of organic flair. Just the way I like it! It's not as horrific as Tetsuo or Brutal as Tokyo Fist, it has more from his last movie Vital mixed with the craziness of his early films. In an interview he says himself that in his eyes the movie is between Tesuo and Tokyo Fist and I think thats not the worse description. All in all it's worth a look, but before you buy it for a high price better check out your next DVD-Rental-Store and have a look for yourself. About the German DVD release from rem (RapidEyeMovie) I can say that it has a beautiful but for the Label standard made Box with a Poster. The Extras on the DVD are okay, I think about 6 Trailers and an Making Of and an interview with the director ('bout 15 min). So Dude's check it out and have fun!
paultjiam
This Japanese low budget horror movie is a true piece of postmodern eclectic movie-making. Instead of using Japanese movies as a source of inspiration (Like: the Ring, Grudge, Kill Bill), this movie consists of American horror movies. The movie starts with a scene of a wounded man who found himself in a very small place (ref. Cube). Soon this man finds out he's trapped in a maze and 'may be' used as a victim in a game of rich freaks (ref. Saw, My little eye). After this short introduction, the pain begins. If you have ever seen American History X (and you probably have), then the scene with the black man biting in the pavement, while Edward Norton kicks him to death, will still be in your memories. You can expect something like this, only ten times worse. Eventually he meets a woman and with her, he tries to find his way out. It won't take much of your time, since the duration of this movie is only 50 minutes, so you should watch it. If it is only for the homage (did the director ever seen that movie?) to American History X. A nice short horror masterpiece.