The Shock Labyrinth

I gave it a chance and watched it twice just to see if I had missed some creative writing, directing, acting, props - anything. Even the actor interviews when asked what the movie meant the most frequent answer, "What ever you make of it." The usual plot device of making the viewer question whether what was being seen was taking place or was just in the mind of our central character just didn't fly. Just a not well thought out mess.

Some examples: 1. The long opening and closing scenes of a forest did not fit with anything in the movie which was centered about an amusement park and hospital. The focal structure in the film, a spiral staircase, seemed like an oddly out of place prop for either location. 2. The visuals of falling feathers and rising/falling bubbles contributed nothing. 3. The floating rabbit backpack, both as a physical form and as a go through walls form, was just meaningless effects. 4. The comatose girl who is presented as supposedly an avenging spirit, she's hooked up to various hospital monitors which if move would set off an alarm, is shown with dirty feet as if she was out in the world avenging. Yet, on one occasion shows up at a person's apartment. 5. The intermingling of the two time periods were at times actual physical events and at times visual or hallucinatory. Not consistent. 6. The police interviews which were intermittently injected to provide some cohesion and clarity, did neither.

As children, Ken, Rin, Motoko, Yuki and Myiu ventured into a closed house of horrors at a local amusement park without the approval of their parents. Four came out, but Yuki was never seen again. Tonight, approximately ten years on, Yuki will return.

Spooky premise? Shock Labyrinth as a movie bears some similarities to Silent Hill, House on Haunted Hill and Ju-On, though, unlike the aforementioned Japanese horror film, the feature, rather than being a combination of events set out of chronological order, provides the audience with an opposing atmosphere, where the past and the present frequently clash to reveal what really happened all those years ago.

Unlike contemporary horror, Yuki (Misako Renbutso) does not appear as a terrifying figure, kicking down the door, only to proclaim 'here's Johnny!'. Rather, she's portrayed as an adorably cute, innocent victim, who, for the entirety of the film is capable of receiving our sympathy. One look into her character's eyes, and we immediately melt, though the same cannot be said for the other leads that occupy this film.

Ken (Yuya Yagira), a young man who has only recently returned for reasons that are not thoroughly provided, and Motoko (Ryo Katsuji), who exhibits dominance over his group of friends, portray stereotypical male characters, who inevitably attempt to exert control over a seemingly uncontrollable situation when things start going wrong.

Myiu (Erina Mizuno), Yuki's younger sister, is as guilt ridden over her sister's disappearance as she is quick to blame her for all the wrongs in her life, while blind character Rin (Ai Maeda), is able to, despite her condition, take note of her surrounds through the environment's vibrations, allowing her to predict what awaits her and others in unexplored areas.

Instead of asking if Yuki is okay, the unanimous reaction upon her arrival is to treat her like a pariah, her four childhood friends initially viewing her as an unwanted hindrance. After an accident leaves Yuki unconscious, she is taken by her friends to the hospital, where they mysteriously discover they are the only people in the seemingly empty establishment. Here, the friends are forced to encounter the fateful day Yuki disappeared, an event most of them would rather forget, and as paranoia and mistrust set in, the characters are forced to confront their hidden desires and honest personalities. A particularly powerful scene involves Rin questioning the legitimacy of people's sympathy, which is just one example.

Friendship, peer pressure, family, resentment, jealousy and unrequited love are just some of the themes explored. Despite this, ironically, many of the characters remain two dimensional in a film marketed as a 3D feature. Besides the depth that is provided in a number of scenes, actual 3D affects are incredibly fleeting, and generally occur when the film happens to be moving in slow motion, which again, happens very infrequently. Often this involves a plush bunny, moving either on its own, or through the air, which, similar to a rabbit been pulled out of a hat, fails to excite after its first appearance.

The movie works best as a mystery, and is, in this sense, similar to a wheel of cheese, but instead of a mouse running off with the slices, the critter is returning them, the viewer being required to watch the entirety of the feature to satisfactorily understand what happened all those years ago. By the end, director Takashi Shimizu provides the audience with enough information to compliment both a rational, or an illogical ending, this decision solely been at the behest of the viewer.

Though there are several unique moments in this feature, the film doesn't prove to be in the slightest scary, and the symbolism of a forest, which appears more than once in the movie, is lost on me I'm afraid. Although this image could literally convey the notion of being lost in the woods, considering the film takes place in an amusement park, a different metaphor might have been appreciated.

Shock Labyrinth neither shocks its audience or provides them with a labyrinth, with corridors and images alike been repetitively explored. Despite its negative features, the mysterious plot will keep your interest peaked, and even if this begins to flounder, the promise of three gorgeous female characters and two handsome men will certainly keep your heart racing. In the end, you will more than likely be wondering: if my friends and I go somewhere we shouldn't, how safe will I truly be?

Not a slasher or a tension edge of your seat horror movie but it makes up for it with above average 3d and a decent but confusing story. The filming was excellent and I watched it with dubbed english so hard to judge the actors. But a few jump scares some creepy characters and overall entertaining movie. glad I purchased the 3d bluray , unlike a LOT of horrible German 3d horror movies I shouldn't have purchased.

3.5 stars for this above average supernatural thriller. While the story is not wholly original - it's an example of the Revenge For Past Mistakes sub-genre of horror flicks - the movie nonetheless has interesting and sometimes creepy visuals, and a story line which unfolds in a way that is more interesting than many other films in this genre. The acting is also reasonably good, and while some scenes are a bit maudlin in the manner we often see in Asian horror flicks, it does not ever become overbearingly so. It moves at an unnecessarily slow pace, with some redundant scenes in which no new new info is revealed, and in which the thrills or creeps are the same as previous scenes; but the movie never bogs down entirely. Very much worth a look for fans of J-horror or Asian horror in general, even if it's not on the same level as the classics from that region.

I really would have loved to like this more. And I tried to stay with it, as long as I could. You could argue about the 3-D or not. I will leave that aside and concentrate on the movie. A movie that starts off quite nicely. But as it progresses and with more riddles and things happening out of nowhere, you will loose focus of the movie and it's main characters after awhile.

And although it has a good idea as it's stronghold, it still is too long, for it's own good. It feels as if the running time, is twice as long, as it actually is. While not much is happening and you still loose the plot/focus of the story, it's hard to find many good things in this. I still liked the cinematography overall (not the 3-D effect mind you) and some story beats it took. But as many people here, I was expecting much more of this.