Reviewed By
Vaughan

Analysis
On a cold and snow swept night, a group of three men break into the home of young Chihiro whilst her mother is at work, and force her to have sex with them. The violent and sadistic fiends even video tape the horrific event to allow them to relive the incident for their sick amusement. 5 years later, Chihiro's haunting memories of that night are beginning to dwindle as life with her new boyfriend begins to blossom. One morning though, as Chihiro is leaving her apartment building on her way to work, she comes face to face with one of the monsters from her past leading poor Chihiro once again into a world of dark and violent sexual encounters. As her situation grows evermore hopeless she is forced to defend herself, leaving her first visitor in a bath of his own blood. When she hides the body in her freezer she is forced to decide whether to run or fight when the next visitor comes knocking.

Japan, as more people are becoming aware, is the home of some fantastically grown-up movies that hit upon strange and sometimes brutal subject matter whilst also remembering to include such important ingredients as good cinematography, acting and plot (although the latter is sometimes so weird that it is dismissed out of hand). 'Freeze Me' is essentially a story of extreme vengeance and violent retribution as our female lead slowly turns from victim to aggressor as she is systematically abused by the figures of her past. As shocked as Chihiro is by her violent reactions, she feels a certain freedom and power that she has not felt for many years and begins to develop a sick taste for her actions. The talented and completely yummy Harumi Inoue plays Chihiro and accomplishes a performance that must have been demanding with it's combination of nudity and sexual violence aimed directly at her character but still manages to develop her shocked and frightened persona into a refreshingly breezy killer.

As is expected from Japanese cinema you can be sure that the small technical's are never left unchecked. Take Yasushi Sasakibara's wonderful camera craft for example, the fact that most of the film is shot from inside a small and cramped flat doesn't mean that flair and imagination shouldn't be considered and Sasakibara's use of clever cut away's and interesting angles is both refreshing and stylish. The shots from the inside of the freezer looking out as Chihiro delivers her lines to a frozen corpse whilst mixing herself a drink shows a flair that is not normally associated with Western genre cinema. The haunting final shot that shows a naked Chihiro silhouetted from the rear against the rainy sky line of her open and bloody balcony door as she slowly shuffles towards them is a sublime image that will leave you with a heavy heart.

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action	None	Void of any real action.
Tension		I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping some of the segments within Chihiro's flat were. The build up to the sudden release of aggression showed by the leading character is slow and compelling.
Violence/ Gore		The deaths are always bloody and always brutally violent.
Bare Flesh		Harumi Inoue is the source of all the nudity in this film but who needs anyone else when you have the naturally outstanding figure as she does.
Plot		A simple yet compelling story that draws the viewer into the plight of Chihiro, taking care to maintain the audiences sympathy for her.

Verdict This is a brave production that takes the theme of rape and turns it into a pretty version of 'Deathwish'. It is very nicely shot and the acting all around is excellent. Although it is classed as a horror film for the obvious inclusion of violence and gore you need to remember that this is Japanese horror and as such contains more cinematic credibility than it's western counterpart.

Movie Pictures (Click picture to enlarge)