Audition (1999)

Director: Takashi Miike

Writer: Ryu Murakami, Daisuke Tengan

Tagline: She always gets a part.

Actors: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda, Toshie Negishi, Ren Osugi, Shigeru Saiki, Ken Mitsuishi, Yuriko Hirooka

Runtime: 1h 43m

Category: Japanese, Psychological, Torture

Synopsis: A widower agrees to a setting up a mock-audition to interview girls to be his new love interest; but the girls are told that they are auditioning for a movie role. He ends up choosing a young woman who seems withdrawn and quiet. They date for a while and end up going out of town together. The first night at their hotel room she disappears. Now he is desperately seeking his new love when he is confronted by awful news…that his new love has been lying to him from day one! None of the references she had given to him during the audition check out; in fact…one reference turned out to be a murder scene! Relaxing at home after a long day of traipsing about town, he hears a noise…she has come back! Only the lovely young woman he fell in love with has drugged him causing full paralysis. Then she begins to torture him endlessly until his teenage son comes home and kicks some ass!

Review: I was referred to this movie by a friend of mine from work that is really big into the oriental horror genre. While looking up some info about it I came across a bunch of other people who claim this movie to be one of the scariest they’ve ever seen…I don’t know about that. I will say this though…apart from a cool thirty second snippet half-way through the movie; the entire beginning was bor-ing.

The story was, essentially, pretty good. I was not impressed however with the way Miike went about shooting it. It seemed jumbled and slow. But the raw story was scary as hell. Watching this chick as a mousey, kinda shy, homely type, then seeing her cutting off a dude’s foot was down right chilling! I just wish there wasn’t so much back-story. I understand why it’s there but it was just so long. Either way the story itself was good and solid with a nice psychotic twist.

The acting was ok. I wasn’t terribly thrilled with it but I guess that’s just me. It didn’t even seem to pick up until the end; where the acting was really good. Unfortunately that balance is off kilter and made the movie seem uneven; like I was watching a Lifetime movie, then changed the channel to FEARnet OnDemand. Like I said a few moments ago, the acting was great at the end but the whole beginning was just bor-ing (yes, I used it again…do sometin’!).

The effects were pretty good for a slow starter. I was impressed with the psychological terror infused during the last half-hour or so of the movie. With the cinematography and simple things like the burlap sack in her apartment, I was able to actually let myself get creeped out. And the torture scene at the end with her pretty face lording over him while she plunges needles deep into his abdomen and underneath his eyes…holy hell! Definitely some cool effects…near the end.

Rating: 16. Although the movie did give me the creeps (eventually), I have to rate it lower since it was soooo slow to start. I understand that they were setting the scene and the background but…damn! It was a good movie but I just can’t help but almost nod off during almost the whole first hour of the film. I would tell you the download it before you rent or even buy it. Make sure you love, or even like, this movie before you spend valuable bills. (16of25).

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