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Audition (2002)
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Movie Review by Jarrod 
July 12th, 2007
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'Audition' is about as depraved and bizarre as a horror film can be. It savors every moment of sadism, every moment of physical agony, every moment of hopeless suffering. It is also distinctly Japanese, and could never and should never be corrupted by the inept hands of an American director, intent on Westernizing it for the mainstream audience. It is not a mainstream movie. Gore, nudity, and sex are irrelevant. There is plenty of the first and a bit of the other two, but what counts most is the psychological effect all of this has on us and on the character experiencing it. That character is Aoyama, a widower, looking for love once again, and getting help from his friend, who suggests holding "auditions" for a project that does not really exist, picking a potential new wife from the pretty young women who show up at the casting call. He gets fixated on Asami, who turns out to be something drastically different than he (and we) expects. It is surprising how slowly and deliberately the movie paces itself, maintaining a thin veneer of sincerity and normalcy before heading into dark territory, with graphic scenes of unnervingly intense and grotesque torture, presumably done for its own sake and the enjoyment of the torturer, accentuated by brilliant sound effects and stylish camerawork, which focuses on the personal connection between the victim and perpetrator, and shows what is being done in minute detail, not rushing through or shying away from it.
Chances are you will not want an acupuncture after watching this. It looks and feels very surreal, dreamlike, there is a slight sense at several points where we think we are just seeing a terrible nightmare, but then we are brought back to the painful and gruesome reality. Takashi Miike crafts an authentically terrifying, profoundly disturbing, incredibly odd movie that certainly illustrates the fatal flaws of the American horror movies, that they lack substance and imagination, they need to dig deeper and get at what really upsets and revolts us. In other words, prey on our worst fears and not spend so much time copying themselves and producing endless, abysmal sequels that should never have existed in the first place.
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