Review of Suicide Club (2001) by Danielle B — 30 Sep 2009

Yummy, bloody, Japanese schoolgirls. Human flesh cinnamon-rolls. This movie just warms up the soul.

Surprisingly well thought-out, considering this film had obvious budget constraints. Very smartly planned and executed sequences. I had been curious since reading the synopsis, how they would pull off showing 54 schoolgirls getting hit by an oncoming train. Something that I'm sure was very tricky to pull off.

The idea for this film seems completely absurd. For Japanese horror, however, nothing new. Especially nothing new as of late, considering how much fake blood has been spilled in Japan in the last decade. I felt myself making connotations to middle school, and high school, when kids did the stupidest shit to fit in. It wasn't so much about fitting in, as you will find by watching... but definitely follows your mother's old saying: "If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?" And the answer is yes. This is Suicide Club, bitch.

I enjoyed seeing the story from the side of the detectives, in a way, oblivious to what was happening. Surprisingly intense, and suspenseful plot build.

I found many of frames to be quite artistic... very decent photography overall.

My favorite moment would have to be with the character of Genesis. Who is a Japanese version of Tim Curry (Rocky Horror) spliced with David Bowie (Ziggy, Labyrinth). "I've always had delusions of grandeur since a child...".

This film, sick and absurd as it may be, connected to me on a deep level. The main idea is not just how teenagers will follow a trend until the end, literally. Or how influential and powerful the force of the youth can be; this is also very much about the idea of life more simplistically. This is explained to us by the young girl, or mastermind, who tells us how our souls and spirits are still connected to this worldly realm, even after our bodies die. However, that also, our true life begins in death. Boiled down so simplistically by the pop group depicted in this film, "Dessert"... and their song "Jigsaw"..... playfully singing: "life is just a jigsaw puzzle...." Maybe speaking of how the actual saw cuts the pieces to the puzzle is an even more simplistic way of chopping it down. True life is achieved in death. Maybe that is a more concise way of looking at this seemingly 1-layered meaning.

This movie, above all, was highly entertaining. Recommended to anyone at all looking for an Asian Horror fix.

"There's no Suicide Club you know...." anyone in the club officially, is dead, therefore making the club non-existent.