Grotesque

This to me is what Hostel, Saw, and the myriad of other torture porn flicks over the years tried to do. I saw this film back in 2009 and I can remember the entire film vividly. The plot although tenuous is so disturbing and nihilistic that I felt I had to take a shower after the film. We have 3 characters in this film and almost the entire running length takes place in a dark dank underlit torture room reminiscent to a nazi-experiment chamber. I give this film a 7/10 for the sheer nastiness and how relentless the film is in depicting the pain and suffering of the two young youths abducted. This film has guts and guts is what you will see. I am not surprised the Nick Cage thought this was a snuff film because for the life of me this felt so bloody real. After the film I was so disturbed and depressed that I couldn't walk home alone. This hasn't happened since the original Halloween for me but I was just a kid than. If you couldn't handle Human Centipede, Serbian film or the Antichrist than stay far away from this one. You have been warned!!!!!

I'm a big fan of Horror and especially import Horror movies, But this wasn't my thing at all. The new wave snuff films (or rebirth of 70's uber violent films) are just not my taste... this movie is a prime example of these pointless torture movies, While in context the aspect of torture in a horror film i.e. Saw, Hellraiser, Texas chainsaw (the original) etc... works great because it's bad people getting their come up-pence or just a cautionary of the cruelty of man but this film is just a fictionalized snuff film with no story what so ever. Watching people getting brutally killed (particularly those who were just there) for the bulk of the movie then.... "the end" after some silly f/x does nothing for me except feeling a little dirty for watching this piece of trash.

If you a fan of Devils rejects, Vacancy and the like check it out but if you are like me a little and like at least a little mental stimulation with your gore fix skip this one.

"Grotesque" is a Japanese horror movie directed by Koji Shiraishi year 2009. This film only runs for at least 70 minutes.

Not much plot is in this movie. A sick doctor kidnaps a couple and torture them in different ways, often in gory ways.

As a torture movie, this film can clearly be classified as a "torture-porn", or more likely "gorno". With a lot of torture throughout this film, it can also be called a modern variant of the infamous "Guinea Pig"-film series, especially the first two movies being "Devil's Experiment" and "Flower of Flesh and Blood", which "Grotesque" seems to pay a homage to.

Like other films like "Ichi the Killer" and "Murder-Set-Pieces", this film was said to be available in Norway with an 18-rating, only to get banned later by Medietilsynet (the Norwegian answer to MPAA). Even on the Danish DVD I have it clearly says that this film is banned both in Norway and the UK.

In the UK this film is banned by BBFC, because this film has minimal narrative or character development and features more humiliation, brutality and sadism.

Absolutely NOT for weak stomach and any viewer under the age of 18.

So, can you manage to stomach through this Japanese hell of a movie, which is even worse than "Hostel" and "Saw" altogether?

A doctor with sickening and depraved needs kidnaps a teenage couple and forces them to play his depraved game of physical and psychological torment and agony, whilst constantly teasing them with promises of eventual survival and release. This film will no doubt stimulate debate, particularly In the 'English speaking world', as to what Is acceptable In movies and what Isn't (Japanese cinema Isn't very well represented outside of Japan, so the current and most popular genres of modern Japanese cinema are largely unknown to the outside world). How this film passed the censors Is beyond me, yet 'Grotesque' Is apparently available to buy and rent In most countries.It has very realistic scenes of male and female rape and the most terrible kinds of torture Imaginable. The whole thing has only the three characters and apart from the opening scenes, we never go beyond a couple of rooms throughout the whole movie.If you enjoy extreme physical & psychological torture, then this Is certainly the film for you. Sadly, there's no story to It - we just watch the agony of the two Innocent kids!

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.