GORE IN THE STORE
REVIEWS BY FANS FOR FANS
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

The Hole
Outcast
Outcast
(Second Opinion)
Choose
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Mirrors 2
Puppet Master - Axis of Evil
Deadly Crossing
Death Race 2
The Last Exorcism
The Last Exorcism
(Second Opinion)
The Expendables
The Chatroom
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Splice
Peeping Tom - Re-issue
A Town Called Panic
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
Night of the Demons
Lawnmower Man (Blu-ray)
Siege of the Dead
Psych 9
Big Tits Zombie
Exquisite Corpse
The Collector
The Collector
(Second Opinion)
The Tortured
Zombies of Mass Destruction
Tears For Sale
Higanjima: Escape From
Vampire Island
I Spit On YOur Grave (1978)
Twelve (XII)
Dead Cert
[REC] 2
Mother
Killer Pad
Rin – Daughters of Mnemosyne
Death Tube
Death Tube
(Second Opinion)
7 Days
Death Note
Beyond The Rave
Hunter Prey
7th Dimension
Army of the Dead
Splintered
Basement
Meat Grinder
14 Blades
Manson Girl
The Blackout
The Torment
The Torment
(Second Opinion)
Hierro
Psycho - Blu-Ray
Pet Shop of Horrors
Kaiji:
The Ultimate Gambler
Shelter
Fullmetal Alchemist:
Brotherhood Part 1
The Final
Bubba Ho Tep - Blu-Ray
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Vampire
The Dead
Resurrecting
The Street Walker
The Haunting Of
Molly Hartley
Soul Eater: Part One
Rozen Maiden:
Traumend Vol. One
Bikini Girls On Ice
Diary of a Bad Lad
Satan's Baby Doll
Feast 111
Phobia
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Valhalla Rising
City of the Living Dead
Dorothy
Daybreakers
Daybreakers
(Second Opinion)
Harpoon: The Reykjavik Whale
Watching Massacre
Harpoon:The Reykjavik Whale
Watching Massacre
(Second Opinion)
Feast 3:The Happy Finnish
Raging Phoenix
His Name Was Jason
Left Bank
Ju-On: White Ghost/White Ghost
Spiral
Ghost Machine
Stag Night
Bitch Slap
The Descent 2
The Descent 2-Second opinion
Dance of The Dead
Henry Lee Lucas: Serial Killer
House Of The Devil
The Twilight Saga
New Moon
Salvage
Salvage-Second opinion
Dread
The Haunted World of
El Superbeasto
Saw VI
The Horseman
Triangle-Second opinion
Triangle
Cabin Fever 2-Third opinion
Cabin Fever 2-Second opinion
Cabin Fever 2
Stan Helsing
Pandorum
Pandorum-Second opinion
Open Graves
Paranormal Activity
Growth
Growth-Second opinion
Train
Antichrist
Wrong Turn 3
Coffin Rock
Orphan
Sorority Row
Drag Me to Hell
Staunton Hill
Summer Moon
Driftwood
Messengers 2

 

Directed Directed by Yohei Fukuda. Starring Shoichi Matsuda, Mika, Atsushi Ishino, Sanae Tsukamoto. Horror, Japan, 117 mins, cert 18.

Released in UK on DVD by Digital Media on the 20th September, £15.99.

Now please don't take this the wrong way, this film is in the vein of the Saw series, the Cube series that came before it and, to a certain extent, the Manhunt video games.

There is no convoluted story or over the top back plot, just a gripping tour de force of gore, tension, quality acting and a twisted sense of humor.

The main premise is as follows; a few weeks out of the year a website appears named Death Tube which shows a variety of people in individual rooms being put through different challenges. If these challenges aren't completed then the participants will be killed in all manner of gruesome ways.

The contestants are not competing on their own however, they can all communicate with each other and with the website viewers through computers and webcams installed in there prisons.

Much of the humor comes from the host of the show, a bright yellow cartoon bear called Pon-Kichi (pictured)! He plays the part of the tricycle riding puppet from the Saw films but brings such a menace while looking so cute that you cannot help at smiling when he is telling someone they are about to be punished for not fulfilling his challenges via drill, demolition swinging ball and many other improvised murder weapons.

This gives an interesting twist to the proceedings as the film has comments flying across the screen from the viewers at home, some giving help, some gloating at the violence they are watching on screen and some saying they don't believe how poor the acting is by people who obviously justify watching the sick video as it being fake. This touches on aspects of the Internet that have been covered before but are still important, we all know we have free access to more books that you could ever read in a life time and beautiful movies that could nourish the soul. However the majority of us look up celebrity sex tapes, monkeys having sex with frogs and images of beheadings of American aid workers.

Should we be held accountable for acts that we watch if we don't take any measures to stop them?

This film certainly thinks so as all the 'victims' are people that have taken part with the Death Tube site as an observer. This is by no means a preachy film though has certainly has its tongue firmly in its cheek!

The acting is pretty good and played completely straight even though there is a gist yellow bear terrorizing everyone whilst singing and playing what sounds like a kids TV show theme tune.

The challenges and kills are pretty inventive and instead of being over the top man traps like in Saw, they are a sick twist on a children's game show. For instance an obstacle course race which ends up with a character being poisoned and spitting out blood to someone taking a ballot as to who they think should live.

This is where the comparison to 'Cube' comes in; instead of being about the bloodiest death (although there is some of that) it's more to do with what this group of people have to go through in order to survive. Who can they trust, who has skills they may need to stay alive and who actually deserves to stay alive.

I absolutely loved this film, although the majority of the film is a cookie cutter copy of many of the other 'Death Game' movies the inclusion of the psychopathic giant yellow teddy bear absolutely saves this from being mediocre and makes it truly original!

Ross McNeil.

© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2010
__________________________________________________________