Suicide Club

 

 

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there were a few times during this movie that i had to walk out with my friends and smoke a cigarette just to chill out a bit. i know alot of people can just watch wave after wave of psyche-defying mutilation and giggle, and i thought i could, but i really can't. honestly, people say the message this movie offers has nothing to give to an american public. i disagree. i find the message all too relevant.

i liked the movie. not so much for the particulars of cinematography or linear plotline, but for the awesome GEEK moments. i hope that if i ever jump off a building and land on my wife on the way down, she'd go and get a cup of coffee afterwards. that and if for nothing else, you must see the character called GENESIS. HE IS HOTTER THAN YOU!

With an opening scene so shocking and disturbing as to be deemed infamous by many, 2002's Jisatsu saakuru (aka Suicide Club) grabs you by the throat, thrashes you around for an hour or so, temporarily morphs into some kind of weird rock and roll opera, gives you another kick in the solar plexus, and then bids you on your way - a little confused about what the heck you just witnessed. The film will probably be just a little bit too open to interpretation for Western audiences, but by gum I freaking loved this movie. While American horror directors seem to base all of their films on a shared database of five scripts, the Japanese are continuing to revolutionize the horror film day in and day out.

If you've ever heard of this film from director Sion Sono, you probably already know how the movie opens. You've got a group of Japanese school girls (fifty-four in all) talking and giggling one minute, and then joining hands and jumping in front of an oncoming train the next. I wanted to stand up and applaud right here in my room because it's so shocking and so well done. Yes, we gorehounds can critique the manner in which the blood first appears, but no one can question the effectiveness of so much blood literally going everywhere. Shinjuku Station almost instantaneously turns into Splatter City, baby. The cops, led by Detective Kuroda (Ryo Ishibashi) investigate, but there's not much they can do about a mass suicide - not until the pattern of suicides continues to the point that they have to consider the possibility that someone is murdering these kids in some kind of incomprehensible way. The second scene of multiple suicides is almost as unnerving as the first, and as time goes on individuals - including adults - begin taking their own lives, as well, a fact which sort of undermines any cult group theories. A couple of mysterious informers - one calling herself The Bat and the other a child who continually clears his throat after every sentence - as well as a distinctly weird web site provide some insight into the subject, but the clues they provide are pretty cryptic. Believe it or not, events actually take an even darker turn later in the film.

As is so often the case with Japanese horror, some of the deeper aspects of this film may not make perfect sense to those unfamiliar with Japanese culture, but I daresay any horror fan cannot help but be impressed by what goes on here (those who can't stomach a little blood and gore, though, probably won't last very long). It's a really dark story, and some of its central images are of the type that you won't be forgetting any time soon. I'll admit that the story didn't answer all of my questions, especially at the end, but this is horror on the cutting-edge and I loved every minute of it.

The first half of this film really sucks you in. You're on the edge of your seat wondering why are all these kids killing theirselves and what's going on with that roll of human skin? What could have been a thrilling horror flick sinks under the weight of a convoluted, nonsensical plot . . .something that plagues a lot of Japanese horror flicks. Perhaps, because I found myself nodding off towards the end, I may have missed something but not much. Interesting to watch if only for the first thirty minutes. After that you're besieged with glam queens, girl pop bands, secret subliminal suicide messages and a weirdly surreal ending at a concert. Maybe something was lost in translation. Recommended if you're a fan of Japanese horror and don't mind not fully understanding the gist of the plot. If you are a fan then check out Uzumaki, Dark Water and of course The Ring which are all creepy and actually have a plot you can follow.

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5.0 out of 5 stars good movie
I love watching horror movies, specialy japanese ones. For those who loved tokyo gore police, meatball machine and machine girl

Published on Oct 13 2009 by Hugo Marques

5.0 out of 5 stars Music & Ultra-Violence...
This is not so much a review as much as it is a tidbit of information (in fact....this is not a review at all.... Read more

Published on Sep 14 2005 by dionysus-jonez

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't take it so seriously
I had a great time with this flick. It didn't change my life or say anything profound. I don't watch films for my social commentary/satire, I watch them to be entertained. Read more

Published on July 7 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars What the hell was that?
This could have been a pretty good movie. It started with a bloodbath, that didn't at first seem to be obligatory. Read more

Published on July 5 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Just because it's weird doesn't mean you have to like it
I was intrigued with the plot at the beginning. There were some nice dark, suspensful scenes, and I thought I would really get into this film. Read more

Published on July 5 2004 by Disco

1.0 out of 5 stars Come on...Lets Kill Ourselves Together!!!!
I found this movie, to be hysterical. It wasn't horror at all..there was only two creepy factors. One the skin that was peeled off..and two how they peeled of the skin. Read more

Published on July 3 2004 by misericorde

4.0 out of 5 stars REALLY weird
I liked this movie a lot, except for one thing: in the end, I had no clue what really went on. The movie left so many things unresolved and unanswered that I couldn't stop... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Stupid!
This is the worse movie I ever seen in my life!

Published on Jun 12 2004 by Kevin Nguyen

3.0 out of 5 stars absolutely shocking
This was definitely shocking. At the end of it I was completely speechless. The overall message was clear and it was presented "okay". Read more

Published on Jun 3 2004 by new new yorker

3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing
Suicide Club is extremely intriguing and itself is a cinematic puzzle. If you are not in the mood for thinking about a movie this movie is certainly not for you. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004

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