Akai misshitsu (heya): Kindan no ôsama geemu

Red Room has the production values and ambience of a snuff film. Admittedly this may be due to the un-subbed umpteenth generation bootleg i saw it on. The plot however is easy to comprehend, a bunch of strangers sit in a queasy looking industrial type space and draw cards. The loser then has to endure something horrible. Thats it for plot. In reality Red Room is a series of grotesque torture sequences, punctuated with (what i guess are) scenes of exposition and card drawing. The most memorable torture 'bit' being a lady taped to a swivel office chair and spun round and round FOR AGES. At first its funny, then its sickening before going back to being funny again. Also we have the old 'stick a hair dryer in someones mouth and let em have it' bit, as well as rape, watersports and sundry other delights.

As you may guess 'Red Room' is a freak show of a film, something to show a jaded friend who thinks he's seen it all.

Oh those wacky Japanese!

For those of you who have only seen an unsubtitled version, Daisuke Yamanouchi's "Red Room" is an entirely different film once you understand what is being said. The film changes completely from what appears to be a series of disconnected, vile, sadistic acts, to a deep, well thought out psychological horror film that packs a wallop.

It's still very strong stuff, but takes on new meaning with subtitles. Very highly recommended for fans of strong horror films, after seeing "Red Room" in its original form I am now seriously looking forward to more of Yamanouchi's work getting an official US release. Once again, Unearthed Films deserves huge credit!

Red Room is a delightful take on reality shows, rendering them to the most sickest degree. This movie is low budgeted and you can tell, considering the whole movie seems to stay in one or two rooms. That's not why I only rated it a 5 though, my problem with this movie is that even though it only runs for an hour, it is still too long. The scene after scene of sick stunts get dull after the first 40 minutes and it is more down to how there isn't much depth and too much "look how disgusted we can make you" moments.

However Red Room doesn't TRY to have depth, it's only sole purpose is to disgust and shock the viewer and it achieves this triumphantly. This is a bleak movie and you're more than likely to feel sympathetic towards the main male character and his puppy love. The other characters however are SO dislikable that you don't really mind if they get violently hurt throughout the movie. And maybe that's where the faults for Red Room lie; the unsympathetic tendencies you get from most of the main characters makes this dull and just a shock fest. I did like the colour arrangements for the movie as everything is tinted a dark, hovering red enhancing the saddo grasp of the film.

It's just really what you want out of a movie, if you are fine with just taking in the constant sickening stunts then you'll enjoy this.

Red Room invites people to participate in a game to win money : the "King's game". It is not excluded that this film could have influenced quite a few elements of popular culture of the 21st century. I don't want to draw any conclusions, especially since it was very underground when it came out (it still is, to a certain extent), but the similarities are sometimes surprising. If you look you might see what I mean. I think at least that it was able to contribute to the myth of the Red Rooms, as certain films contributed to that of the Snuff movies.

It's a film that I really like, without being my favorite of Daisuke Yamanouchi. I'm actually a big fan of this director, he's one of my favorite Japanese directors and even one of my favorite directors in general.

What do I like about Red Room?

First, the story: it has many twists and turns, the dialogues are very well done: the film is a psychological thriller in addition to being a splatter and torture-porn. Without being ultra-gory or extremely graphic, or even ultra-violent (one of the least brutal films of Daisuke Yamanouchi in my opinion) it still contains cruel, perverse scenes, which explore the pain of the characters in a captivating way. And there are some original things that I don't want to reveal!

I would say that another quality of the film is its accessibility: there is nothing experimental, we are in a more traditional work, with participants who compete to survive, around a card game.

I wanted everyone to survive, but as you can imagine, there were deaths. The ending was successful in my opinion.

There are quite a few other things to say, but my memories stop there and the essential is said.

If you want to discover some extreme Japanese cinema, give it a chance!

Red Room is an interesting blend of psychological thriller and torture themed horror, revolving around a semi-underground game show. Through the use of character development, and some rather interesting plot twists, it rises above the typical "torture porn" entry to achieve a genuine sense of dread and tension.

If you thought Hostel was a sick, depraved movie, then you had better steer clear of this film. It makes anything available in mainstream cinema seem incredibly tame, particularly in its use of graphic sexual violence. Indeed, if it weren't for the good characterization, it would be basically a really sadistic soft core porn film.

One thing to remember is to make certain to obtain a version with subtitles, or watch it with someone who speaks Japanese. Without the translation, the film will seem plot less and simply grotesque.