This is another typically weird Takashi Miike outing.
First, the acting. The Japanese characters aren't too bad (considering there is a good chance that they can barely speak English in real life), but their broken English can be hard to understand sometimes. However, Bill Drago as Chris has by far some of the worst acting I have ever seen. He seems to yell every line in a ridiculous manner every time he speaks, and towards the end, seems to have a vocabulary of ten words (which is the scripters fault, I'll accept), and he basically screws up this movie, and lowers my rating of it by quite a bit.
The plot is somewhat interesting, and unfolds in the end into utter madness, which isn't necessarily a good thing. It also loses some focus towards the end, going into the scarred women's life story, rather than the woman Chris is looking for, and the thing that is revealed at the end is kind of stupid. The plot itself, though, is able to retain interest for an hour.
The gore isn't particularly gruesome, or plentiful, but at the same time, I can see why this wasn't allowed on American television. A torture scene towards the middle is particularly brutal (think Audition-type stuff), and painful to watch, but other than that, little else is shown.
Basically, this is an interesting movie, hampered by godawful acting by Drago, and a plot that wanders off course. Other than Audition, I still haven't seen anything from Miike that lives up to the ravings of his fans.
First, the acting. The Japanese characters aren't too bad (considering there is a good chance that they can barely speak English in real life), but their broken English can be hard to understand sometimes. However, Bill Drago as Chris has by far some of the worst acting I have ever seen. He seems to yell every line in a ridiculous manner every time he speaks, and towards the end, seems to have a vocabulary of ten words (which is the scripters fault, I'll accept), and he basically screws up this movie, and lowers my rating of it by quite a bit.
The plot is somewhat interesting, and unfolds in the end into utter madness, which isn't necessarily a good thing. It also loses some focus towards the end, going into the scarred women's life story, rather than the woman Chris is looking for, and the thing that is revealed at the end is kind of stupid. The plot itself, though, is able to retain interest for an hour.
The gore isn't particularly gruesome, or plentiful, but at the same time, I can see why this wasn't allowed on American television. A torture scene towards the middle is particularly brutal (think Audition-type stuff), and painful to watch, but other than that, little else is shown.
Basically, this is an interesting movie, hampered by godawful acting by Drago, and a plot that wanders off course. Other than Audition, I still haven't seen anything from Miike that lives up to the ravings of his fans.
