Review of Suicide Club (2001) by C B — 12 Aug 2013

I signed up for RT to review Love Exposure (another Sono film) after watching it and having no one to talk to about it, so I guess I'll keep going! Suicide Club was the first Sono film I saw, and I've watched it again probably 4-5 times in the last decade.

It's the best of his that I've seen, which is limited to those released in the US. The thing that keeps me coming back is not just the madness of the story, but the truly ingenious arrangement of aesthetics and mood.

The subway music (really creepy if you've been to Tokyo), the dark lighting, the skin, the computer graphics, the idol band, etc. I hate to be blasphemous, but even Lynch could take some notes from this one.

Using this intense atmosphere to full effect, he takes into unsettling cult territory (as he often has since, but not this deftly) without giving us too much information. That is what makes it effective on an almost sensual level.

Again, compare to Lynch.