Freeze Me

Rating:
Summary: Forget the traditional horror themes . . .
Review: Actually, I would rate this movie at about 3.7, so I rounded up. I did take off a bit for replay value. If you allow yourself to forget about the amount of (or lack of) graphic violence and gore, this movie is unsettling and I was satisfied after watching it. As for the victim, you are made to wonder how she could let things go so far. Where were her support mechanisms? Is this type of incident possible or even probable in Japanese culture, considering its views on women?

I found those questions and others, (how she could have friends, but still feel there was no one to turn to) made this movie entertaining in many ways. If you are looking for a gore-fest, this is not it. If you are looking for a movie that shows the strange quirks of another culture, brutality that is stark and unflinching and an ending that is both open and apocalyptic, you could do a lot worse. I thought the ending was appropriate for this type of movie.

Another reviewer mentioned the main character moving to Europe at the end of the moive. Unless this is something that is shown in another version, or appears in the director's bio, the ending is more open to interpetation. MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD:

It is possible, in the new DVD release that I watched, that she killed herself at the end - however, you do not see it happen. She is standing on her balcony, there is a flash of light and then she is gone.

Rating:
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served...
Review: Cold is what you get in "Freeze me," a revenge tale directed by Ishii Takashi, writer of the infamous Japanese horror film "Evil Dead Trap." All revenge tales, from "I Spit on Your Grave" to "Kill Bill," share a common plot; Person is wronged, person wrongs back. "Freeze me" takes this familiar story and frames it in an uncomfortably realistic scenario of modern Japan. The stigmatism of being raped can be so strong that the majority of occurrences go unreported, but are simply buried away as a shameful secret. While this may seem unthinkable to many viewers it is a harsh truth.

The story unfolds in a fairly predictable way. It is a revenge film after all. However, there is no joy in Chihiro's vengeance on her attackers. She is a destroyed character, wronged beyond the point of experiencing any relief or possessing any strength. Even dead, her violators continue to haunt her, as she keeps their bodies in industrial freezers in her apartment, unsure of how to dispose of her evidence.

Ishii keeps the camera work tight, intimate and uncomfortable. We are brought closer into Chihiro's world than we would want to experience. The viewer is trapped into the same tight space. The colors are muted, with the frosty blue tint of the frozen corpses being the most colorful thing in the film. The lovely Inoue Harumi, who plays Chihiro, is nude for much of the film, but her nakedness emphasizes her vulnerability rather than offering the viewer any pleasure.

One of the strangest and most unexpected elements of "Freeze Me" is seeing Takenaka Naoto, who is so likeable as Butterfly Joe in "Ping Pong" and The Dolphin Trainer in "Waterboys," playing such a despicable character as lead rapist Baba. It is good to see his range as an actor.

The main weakness of this film is that it is a revenge film, and thus familiar enough to be predictable. It does not improve up the basic plot stylistically in the way that "Kill Bill" does, not does it bend the boundaries of shocking violence such as "I Spit on Your Grave." It does do a good job of presenting a capable genre flick. Definitely worth a viewing, but not something that will rock your world like "Audition."

Rating:
Summary: Brrrrrr, it's cold in here!
Review: Gang-raped five years previously, cute and plucky Chihiro had managed to overcome the trauma of that event and put her life back together. She got a good job, even got a boyfriend. But then her past reared its ugly head. The three gangbangers decided to celebrate one's release from prison by calling on Chihiro. The first one showed up alone-which turned out to be a big mistake. He pushed his way through her apartment door, raped her, and proceeded to once again ruin her life. He showed up at her job and started a big fight. He chased off her boyfriend. This storyline reminded me of "I Spit On Your Grave", with much less gore though. Sorry, this was not your typical Japanese bloodfest. No, this one was all about revenge, and the personal price the girl had to pay. There was little to no suspense here, same with the gore. Not very much was revealed about the characters. And as for the sets, much of the story took place inside Chihiro's apartment. Ironic vengeance was what drove this story. The woman took back her life, at the cost of her heart and soul. I liked the ending. We don't know if she jumped from the terrace, or if she escaped to Europe. And that's ok. Either way the story of her being abused by those sex maniacs-including her boyfriend-ended on that terrace. Freezing the rapist's dead bodies was a wonderful means of poetic justice. All in all I thought this was a good film. It's in a genre by itself. It's not horror, nor mystery, and certainly not action. It is what it is, an enjoyable and intriguing look at one woman's fall into insanity, and the desperate measures the cruelty of humanity can drive us to.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly amazing
Review: I find this movie to be a little disturbing not because of the blood dead bodies etc. I feel very sorry for chihiro (cant remember exact name but its something like that) I feel that and by no was do i mean I would actually do this in real life because I wouldn't but I feel as though she had every right to kill those bastards because they have made her life hell in the past by raping her they then come back and ruin her life all over again!.
But to be quite honest I was dissapointed with the ending of the film it would have been nice to know if she made it to Europe or if she got caught!.
But all in all the film was very good the only japanese films I have seen are the Ring 1 and 2 audition and Freezer (aka Freeze me) but i would say i really liked audition better than freezer but freezer is in 2nd place.
I would reccommend bying this DVD because it is good it concentrates on what really goes on for some people because lets face it people may think films like this are unrealistic but from what i hear these films are quite very near to the truth of what goes on in some households in Japan and maybe even other countries.
Ok I'm blabbering on now but seriously I find this film to be very very good so rent it or buy it personally I wouldn't buy it because i have seen it 3 times already on the sci-fi channel so i really have no need to see it again i think you would be better to rent this item because it isn't a film you can stand to watch over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: The Ice Queen Cometh
Review: Is this a serious film that makes the viewer think and rouses discussion as the end credits roll? Nah, but it is FUN. You basically know whats going to happen, but watching it all (you guys out there will especially like the shower scenes) is what this is all about. Hey, the best horror movies are the ones that you can watch without feeling like the writer/director is trying to give off some moral platitude about the state of society. Horror movies are made for those of us who get a thrill out of getting scared and seeing other people die (fictionally, that is).

Rating:
Summary: Cold maybe, but not freezing....
Review: Plot revolves around this female who was gang raped as a young woman, moved to Toyko and rebuilt her life. Life was good until the men from her past reappear and threaten her future. Her method of dealing with them was drastic to say the least but not too plausible. SPOILER WARNING: freezing the men and thereby keeping them contained in her past, literally and figuratively on one level, yet not on another, because she had to constantly deal with the issue of keeping them frozen, was an interesting premise (she could never keep them in her past despite the freezing and ultimately choose death, maybe?) but it never came close to fulfilling its potential. Film is not worth a second viewing. However, I would be interested in watching subsequent films by this director (Takashi Ishii) before writing him off.

Rating:
Summary: Cold maybe, but not freezing....
Review: Plot revolves around this female who was gang raped as a young woman, moved to Toyko and rebuilt her life. Life was good until the men from her past reappear and threaten her future. Her method of dealing with them was drastic to say the least but not too plausible. SPOILER WARNING: freezing the men and thereby keeping them contained in her past, literally and figuratively on one level, yet not on another, because she had to constantly deal with the issue of keeping them frozen, was an interesting premise (she could never keep them in her past despite the freezing and ultimately choose death, maybe?) but it never came close to fulfilling its potential. Film is not worth a second viewing. However, I would be interested in watching subsequent films by this director (Takashi Ishii) before writing him off.

Rating:
Summary: Freeze Me, Left Me, Balm Me
Review: Watched the Japanese horror flick Freeze Me earlier, and I have to say it was a bit of a let down. It didn't scare me, it didn't inpire me, I was actually bored at times to the pont where I fast forwarded while reading the dialog.

ATTENTION: MAJOR SPOILAGE AHEAD: The story is basically, 1) girl gang raped by three men in little home village during winter. 2) Girl moved to Tokyo and starts new life, falls in love with boy, marriage and happiness on horizon. 3) After years, the three men find her in tokyo, they were all supposed to meet and enjoy her again. They ruin her job, they are the cause of relationship break up. 4) She kills them each, one by one, put bodies in freezers. (must buy new freezers). 5) Old boyfriend comes back, forgives, then he discovers bodies in freezers. 6) Girl kills boyfriend, moves to europe.

This movie lacked everything that Audition did so well... there was no "mood", the girl, even though she was crazy, acted with such rationality as to minimize the fear factor. Death scenes were completely lacking. (she killed one guy by hitting him in the head with a full plastic bottle of water... is that possible???)

The biggest problem, was that there was nothing "off" about the movie. For the "fear factor" to be maximized, you need to make the audience feel uncomfortable with themselves. Repulsed, yet simultaneously intrigued. Here, we knew why she was doing it, we understood why she froze them, we knew that she was going to kill them, there was no suspense, no surprise, no mystery. The only way to make up for lack of suspense is with gratuitous violence and gore, which was also missing.

Let's compare it to another horror film. Silence of the Lambs took a two-tier approach... first of all, there was the killer, this was actually just a well done Nancy Drew mystery, but then they threw in Hannibal. The audience tried to identify with him, however how can you identify with a psychopath psychiatrist who eats human livers with fava beans and a nice Chianti??? It was this internal battle, raging in the viewer, that enhanced the story and brought it up to the level in which it belongs. Freeze me had no internal battle. The home town boys were schmucks, they deserved to die, they were killed... not even in a gratuitous or unusual way. So she had to store them in freezers to keep the stench down and to symbolize the winter when they raped her. It screams "real life story turned made for tv movie."

Th0th

Rating:
Summary: The dvd menu would make an excellent screensaver
Review: When you put this movie into your dvd player, a nice menu appears with a very beautiful picture of the frozen girl, with big wide open eyes, and with hauntingly beautiful music playing in the background. If you have ever seen the movie Solaris, the music at the end of the movie Solaris is a bit similar to the music in Freeze Me.

I would love to have the menu as a screensaver on my computer.

As for the movie itself, I did not like it that much. I hate the way the female acts weak and submissive. The one police authoritative figure in the movie seems weak, and even the girl's boyfriend is weak.

I did enjoy the 3 scenes where she murders her 3 tormentors, and the one scene where she has an interesting conversation with them as they laid dead in the freezer. She gives them a "I got you Now" speech.