FREEZE ME (Japan, 2000)



Directed by: Ishii Takashi
Starring: Inoue Harumi, Tsurumi Shingo, Kitamura Kazuki
101 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
: : New York Premiere : :

"In his latest, FREEZE ME, Ishii reveals yet another side of his artistic
personality - a fascination with horror and a blackly humorous,
flesh-crawling way of expressing it. The obvious comparisons are with
David Lynch's walks on the weird side, but the core of this film about a
woman's ultimate nightmare - gangbangers with the persistence of
Terminators - remains unmistakably Ishii. Instead of repeating a formula,
he undercuts expectations to sensual, sickening and memorable effect."
- Mark Schilling, author of Contemporary Japanese Film

"...graphically disturbing..."
- Anthony Timpone, Fangoria

Ishii Takashi has made the most disturbing thriller you'll ever see. Chihiro was gang raped five years ago, back in her hometown, and now she's moved to Tokyo, gotten a good job, gotten engaged to a nice guy, and the past is the past, the scars have healed, she's moved on. Until one of the rapists shows up on her doorstep. Soon the whole gang is on their way to Tokyo ready for a repeat performance. Every second that passes is a second traveled back in time for Chihiro, away from the safe present and back into the grueling past.

Wound up as tight as Hitchcock, as cruel as Kubrick, Ishii Takashi anchors his film in Inoue Harumi's portrayal of Chihiro. Her brain scraped raw, her nerves exposed, her self-respect and dignity being chewed to pieces because she made one mistake: she thought it was over. She thought if she didn't fight back they would leave her alone. She thought she could freeze that moment and keep it locked away forever, but now it's thawed out and the cold, poisonous water is seeping into her soul. The only thing she can do to escape the inevitable is to wash away her humanity in the blood of her tormentors, and become her own revenge.

Human relationships are acts of savagery, you are born a victim or a predator, the ticking clock isn't marking the path into a bright future, but a freefall into a pitch black past: welcome to the world of FREEZE ME. You should hope you never have to come here again.

> Official FREEZE ME web site http://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/freezeme/menu.html