Grotesque

Grotesque (2009)

*** (out of 4)

Extremely graphic, depraved and vile film from Japan about teenagers Kazuo (Hiroaki Kawatsure) and Aki (Tsugumi Nagasawa) who are on their first date when they're kidnapped by a sadistic surgeon (Shigeo Osako) who takes them back to his house, ties them up and begins to torture them. As a life-long horror fan it seems every few one, two or three new movies cause a stir but when you finally get around to watching them it's clear that it was all hype and they're usually disappointing. Over the past few weeks I had heard a lot of GROTESQUE and I must say that director Koji Shiraishi has made a very brutal film that lives up to everything that has been said about it. The movie is a vile piece of trash but there's no question that it's well-made and certainly effective. I guess you could say that this is Japan's answer to American series like SAW and HOSTEL but those films don't have anything on this. The torture scenes, as you'd expect, are extremely graphic in detail so I'd say that 98% of people out there aren't going to be able to stomach them. I'm a pretty jaded horror fan and I've seen some incredibly brutal films but this here would certainly rank right near the top. The sexual violence in the film includes an incredibly humiliating situation where the girl is raped in a way that I won't ruin here but it's certainly one of the most unpleasant things you're going to see. The torture devices include a chainsaw, eye gouging and a couple scenes to the male anatomy that is going to have male viewers turning their heads like children. At just 75-minutes the film really doesn't waste any time building up a story or trying the stretch out the characters. In all honesty this is a good thing because a film like this doesn't need any boring backstory and in fact the worst thing about the movie is the one flashback introduction to the two teens. The performances by the three actors are extremely good and very believable. Both victims really make you feel the pain they're going through and Osako is so cold and chilling that he's certainly a character you'll never get out of your mind. GROTESQUE is thankfully going to appeal to very few people and it's hard to recommend except to those who want to see how far you can be pushed with violence and torture. It's hard to stomach but it's effective.