"Freeze Me" Japanese Theatrical Poster
AKA: Freezer
Director: Takashi Ishii
Producer: Takashi Ishii, Nobuaki Nagae, Taketo Niitsu
Cast: Shingo Tsurumi, Shunsuke Matsuoka, Harumi Inoue, Kazuki Kitamura, Naoto Takenaka
Running Time: 102 min.
By Jesse
Freeze Me tells the story of a woman who was gang raped by three thugs as a teenager and later starts a new life with a good job and a loving fiance. A few years later, one of the rapists shows up at her door and rapes her again, threatening to give her neighbors pictures of the tape that he and his scumbag friends made of the whole thing. The main character is trapped and sees no way out, so she kills the thug and puts him in her freezer. After her fiance finds out about the rape, he leaves and she is left all alone. The other two rapists show up at her place and she kills them in brutal ways, also putting their bodies in freezers.
This movie may sound like a simple exploitation film, but it is much deeper than that. The heroine of the story has been intimidated by just about every man in her life and the fear of her own sexuality. She feels trapped by members of the opposite sex and the only way that she can feel like a human being is to take revenge on the cruel animals that committed those acts against her. This movie is very harsh and startled me a few times. It’s also pretty disturbing and is well acted by all involved. The English dubbing was a bit out of whack though, and made the movie seem unintentionally humorous a few times.
The story is in the same vein of Audition and Roman Polanski’s Repulsion. Nothing really new, but the way the director Takashi Ishii (Gonin) takes command of everything makes this concept feel fresh and invigorating. There are also scenes of beauty to contrast with the harshness of the violence, such as when Chihiro (Harumi Inoue) sees gently falling snow that stops her from ending her life after the rape. The music played at the beginning and finale of the film is also superb and will hit you where it counts.
Overall, a great movie that I highly recommend.
Jesse’s Rating: 8.5/10
