Freeze Me

When I got this, I was really looking for a guro-esque movie, so I will review it from that standpoint.
Yes, there is rape, but it's really not shown for very long or in any degree of detail. More hinted towards than shown. Yes, there is murder, as the female lead kills all the guys that raped her at some point in the past. She is never killed herself, or harmed, really. An amusing movie overall, but not recommended for others looking for guro-esque films.

I find that the Japanese aren't afraid to take risks in artistic expression. The one parallel I can think of in my sheltered existence is the book "The heart of darkness" by Joseph Conrad. The "horror" if I may quote. I think of the universality of fear. The main actress seems to transcend the Japanese culture. I guess it is the stereotype in my own head of kimonoes and respectability that begins with taking off your shoes at the door of a Japanese home.

My two cents. The victim/avenger in this flick definitely had some issues, and it was someone that I could sympathize with. But still, I liked it from the standpoint that given the right circumstances, anyone can 'snap.' And she definitely had the circumstances. That's my take on this flick. Four stars...

I loved this movie. The plot was interesting and the whole idea of a chick killing rapists and freezing them was awesome. Anyone who doesn't mind some violence and has enough brain cells to read subtitles should check this film out.

The recent importation of massive numbers of Asian horror titles has kept me busier than a one armed paper hanger. Takashi Miike's voluminous catalogue of films alone--he often makes three or four a year--is usually enough to satiate my hunger for these movies, but when I tire of "Audition," "Dead or Alive," and "Visitor Q" I cast my eyes deeper into the Far East. I can always spend time with the increasing numbers of Korean films, like "The Isle," or even start trying to keep tabs on the latest entries from Thailand. Then there are the Hong Kong Category III shockers, "The Untold Story" and "Ebola Syndrome" to name just two. These latter films are usually so disgusting that I have to spend a few weeks washing my palate out with sub par American slasher knockoffs just to recover from the general nastiness. Recently I've been on an Asian kick again, so I guess it's time to churn out a review or two. Takashi Ishii's "Freeze Me" seems as good a place to start as any. It's a movie from the Land of the Rising Sun that is more at home with a Charles Bronson "Death Wish" picture than a slasher or gore flick.

Yep, what we've got here is a good old-fashioned revenge film, but with greater depth than you would suspect. The film begins by introducing us to a beautiful young woman named Chihiro (Harumi Inoue), a gal with a good job, a nice if quite small apartment, and a caring boyfriend named Nogami (Shunsuke Matsuoka). Our buxom heroine, unfortunately, harbors a horrific secret that is about to come back and bite her in the you know what. Out of the blue, she happens to catch a glimpse of a decidedly unwelcome presence hanging around her mailbox in the apartment building, a guy she knew roughly five years before back in her home town. Through flashbacks, rather cringe inducing flashbacks at that, we come to learn exactly why Chihiro fled from her childhood digs and headed for the bright lights of Tokyo. The chap leering at her from her mailbox, along with a couple of pals, assaulted our young gal in a particularly heinous manner on a cold, snowy day. Moreover, these thugs videotaped the festivities and promptly sold copies through the mail. Now five years later the nightmare returns. All three men will eventually show up at Chihiro's apartment to relive old memories.

The three thugs--Kojima (Shingo Tsurumi), Hirokawa (Kazuki Kitamura), and Baba (Naoto Takenaka)--simply don't worry about Chihiro calling the cops or seeking other assistance. They seem to expect that her fear of being exposed to her boyfriend, whom she didn't tell about the assault, as well as concern for her general reputation should the videotapes reemerge will keep her quiet. They are correct. Chihiro goes to great lengths to keep this secret, mainly by making sure her boyfriend will not come back to the apartment. And the secret is kept to the great detriment of her tormentors. You see, they made the mistake of showing up at her lodgings one by one instead of as a group. This allows Chihiro to kill each of them in grotesque ways (a knife in the shower or a hammer to the head while a tormentor plays a videogame work equally well, it turns out), but the murders present a big problem. What to do with the bodies? She can't very well carry them through the streets of Tokyo. The solution involves ordering a big freezer, placing a body into the contraption, and then using it as a piece of furniture. A problem with the electrical system ultimately leads to a rather malodorous defrosting difficulty and a problematic choice for our heroine. "Freeze Me" is indeed a nasty bit of work.

Ishii's picture is a beautiful piece despite the rather nauseating subject matter. The cinematography works wonders considering nearly all of the action takes place in an extremely tiny apartment, the performances are good for what is essentially an exploitation film, and actress Harumi Inoue is a real beauty who has little objection to prancing about in her birthday suit. More important, however, are the numerous layers to the film. Coldness plays a big role, both metaphorically and literally. The attack took place on an extremely cold winter day, and the memory of the assault has doubtless frozen itself into Chihiro's memory. In some way, that horrific day placed a coldness in our heroine's heart that can only find expression in returning the favor to Hirokawa, Kojima, and Baba. It's no mistake that she chose to put them in freezers; it's merely her way of turning the attack back on her tormentors in a poetic justice sort of way. Of course, I could be reading far more into the film than is actually there. Perhaps "Freeze Me" is nothing more than a mindless exploitation film reveling in images of graphic violence and excessive nakedness. Why not? There will always be an audience for such fare in films, especially when they come from Asia. Filmmakers over in those parts have no qualms about showing things that would never pass the MPAA.

Supplements on the DVD are sparse, limited to a few trailers for other Asian features and a director's biography. Oh well. The film is wacky enough to hold your attention without a bunch of extras muddying up the waters. If you're a fan of films like the "Death Wish" series, any of the Dirty Harry flicks, Meir Zarchi's "I Spit on Your Grave," or Abel Ferrara's "Ms. 45," you'll want to pick up a copy of Takashi Ishii's "Freeze Me." It's a bit deeper than the average American revenge film, at least in my opinion, and the movie will help fill out your collection of films in this important cinematic subgenre.