Audition

31 Horror Movies I Own #23: Audition (Odishon)

True story: when I went to rent Audition from my local video store, the guy took one look at me and said, “Are you sure you want this one? I mean it’s really violent. REALLY REALLY horrible stuff happens. Like, I almost threw up while I was watching it…” Little did the guy know that by saying that, he totally sold it to me.

Anyway, yes. It’s true. Really really horrible stuff happens (Takashi Miike knows torture porn, that’s for sure!). And as with most films , it’s all super gross, “I-can’t-believe-someone-actually-thought-of-this” stuff. But the reason this one stands out (at least to me) as one of his best is because the lead, Eihi Shiina, delivers a chilling balls-out insane teeth-gritting performance as a woman who has some major “issues” with men. Drugging, torturing, and dismembering kind of issues.

You might think the situation widower Shigeharu ends up in is deserved. I mean, who the hell stages a fake commercial audition for the sole purpose of netting a new wife? Is this common in Japan? Regardless, the second the piano wire comes out; you’re going to feel soooooo sorry for the guy (and your stomach).

As a whole, this film is a little slow—but by the time you get to the first splatteriffic gore scene, you won’t care so much. There are also some WTF dream sequences, but none of its flaws overshadow the impact of the overall terror. You’ll never be able to look at needles the same way, that’s for sure, and the sack. OHGODWHATISINSIDETHESACK???

While I didn’t throw up, there are a few hard-to-watch scenes that stick with me, and give me that awesome shivery creeped out feeling I love. (Bonus: All I have to do is say “deet, deet, deet”, making a tapping motion with my finger, and my boyfriend gets TOTALLY freaked out).

I can only recommend this to serious gore-fiends, and if you like what you see, check out Ichi the Killer, Visitor Q and the banned-from-cable-broadcast episode of Masters of Horror, Imprint, for more messed up horror from the mind of Miike.