I just can't get over this movie. It's really haunting me. I thought I'd post some of my thoughts about it, and why I liked it so much. These are just my some of my thoughts and I would be happy to hear any comments as long as they're not in the fashion of 'This movie sucked, you are stupid/sick for thinking otherwise....' It was just gonna be a few lines, but.. eh... there's so much to say!

Be warned SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! If you haven't seen it yet, read no further, because this is a movie you just have to experience for yourself and it's best if you know nothing about it beforehand.


Very exceptional is a film that manages to be so incredibly gory and scary at the same time without one messing up the other. Excessive gore is usually trivialized in my mind and more entertaining than frightening. For a movie to really get to me however, I've noticed it's usually the power of subtle suggestion that's most effective in stirring up emotions.

As most of you guys, I watch tons of movies all the time and therefore it's quite rare that I'm affected by what I see. 99% is all clich? and so predictable it's more fun trying to be the first to lay out the entire story to my friends whilst watching or at least guessing what's going to happen next, and be right about it. Very rare indeed is it then that I predict what's going to happen but hope till I want to scream that it won?t be so. Empathy can be a though emotion to stomach sometimes. It's easier to turn the other way... pretend the horror is not there.

The fact that all the people dying in this flick do it of their own free will is probably the most frightening instrument of the movie. It's actually as an act to declare independence (no pun intended). Independence from everyone and everything.

The opening scene is probably the best ever created. Compare it to the opening from 'Ghost Ship' and you see very clearly the difference between god and bad directing. Although 'Ghost Ship's opening was quite entertaining to watch, it was nothing more. I didn't feel any sadness when I saw all those people cut in two. Did you?

Not so with 'Suicide Club'. The idea of (quite) innocent little school girls throwing themselves in front of a train of their own free will is not so easy to dismiss as entertaining gore. Not to me at least. Even up to the last second I actually said out loud 'No, they can't... they're not actually going to... please don't.... etc?'

The closing of that scene, when the camera is only focused on a white bag with blood washing over it like tide water, was pure genius in my opinion. Even before we get to know that the bag actually has more meaning later on, it stands there as a horrible reminder of the lives lost. Details like these are most effective in conjuring forth empathy from the viewer. I once arrived at a motorcycle crash site a few hours after the accident, and the victim?s torn down empty shoe lying on the side of the road was much harder to handle than the smashed up bike. It told me of the life lost, not just the machine broken.

Now next we off course immediately want to, no, we NEED to know WHY? What could have caused them to do it? The first clue I noticed and jumped at as a possible solution was the atmosphere of loneliness portrayed throughout the rest of the movie. Some might recognize this from 'Kairo' or more importantly 'Cure'.

As the death toll hastily rises, I knew solitude could not be the reason. The brilliant school rooftop scene is the clearest indication. This is even harder to digest as popularity craving seams to be the drive for the characters to jump. Also here I was yearning until the end that they were all just kidding around, and wouldn't really go through with it.

Another scene which really got to me was the attractive woman's finger cutting dinner preparation. Hope for salvation was again given as the little child goes back to the living room and tells dad 'Mommy is acting funny'. But he only dismisses it as a child's ramblings and goes on with his doings. The meaninglessness of her act is even stronger as she seams to be a happily married woman with kids. Why?

Then there is of course the detective's tragic ending. He is the only person who we can see to have any understandable reason for ending his own life. We were fooled into believing he was kind of the 'hero' who would solve the riddle and from years of movie watching we have all learned that the hero can't die. At least not until he has killed the bad guy... He gives out an important clue right before his death however. The notion is put forth that there might not be any monster. No demon that controls minds or hypnotizing television messages. The danger lives inside all of us. The fear is of our own psyche.

I must admit I felt a little fear of being disappointed when the whole new age Charles Manson character appeared. It would be a too easy solution and leave a lot of silly plot holes. How ingenious then to show his fake responsibility as just another example of how people will do anything for fame. I was so relived it was not the answer to the riddle.

When the actual answer is explained it does not satisfy however and this is THE most ingenious part of the whole plot IMO. You get a feeling that the solution is there, and all needed clues are provided, but like doing jigsaw puzzling whilst drunk it's impossible to piece it all together.

Most movies will enthrall you for a while like a rollercoaster but then let you off at the end and you will be happy with its safe conclusion. 'Phew, it was only a movie'.

It's the feeling of unfinished ness that is now haunting me. I can not let it go.

I'm so anxious to the sequels, and so relived that this will probably never be remade by Hollywood.

It was OK, nothing more.
The ending left me cold, Rather then make me feel that all the pieces were there for me to solve, I felt like they couldn't be bothered to actually give a coherant reason as to why this was all happening, I agree that it's impossible to solve, but that annoys rather than entertains.

Also (this is from memory as I saw it ~a year ago) the bit toward the end backstage @ the j-pop concert with the man in a room full of baby chicks planing rectangles of skin from kids' backs was plain silly.

I'd say it was a film of two halves, the first half is superb, and the film contains possibly THE best opening of any film ever, unfortunatley the second half descends into psuedo intellectual nonsense.

However it is worth watching as I'm sure the next 2 (suicide club is the first in a proposed trilogy) will be.

alot of good bed time reading here i see i havent seen the movie but it sounds promising John_Doe have good taste in movies... since this is an asian movie maybe u john can help me with this one -> http://forum.dead-donkey.com/viewtopic.php?t=1879

have you tried requesting over at the asian forums?

what is the link??

http://www.acfmovies.com/

Asain horror:
http://www.acfmovies.com/board/viewforu ... c81c6d7b6a

and please don't spam requests

Right, wel I eventually got round to watching this last night and was very impressed!

Although I'm gonna have to agree with PC_Arcade, first half was reallt great but I was disapointed with the last third/ending of the film.

Although, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your take on the film John_Doe, and agree it was an exceptionally well made film. So all in all GREAT VIEWING. Not heard any news of the sequels!!

Yep, excellent movie even that I didn't understand everything about it. First after the movie I was confused because the ending was weird I think and other parts remained also blurry to me. In the end where the girl lets piece of her skin to be sliced away. Why didn't she commit suicide like all the others or was it just that she could decide to do it or not to do? What was the role of this band called Desert or something? I got few missing parts from John Doe's review but these still need some clearing up to me.

Damn my english sounds bad.

Just watched this couple hours ago for the first time. It was Ok...hm, guess I can say it was kinda good. I'm not sure if I liked it. The first half an hour of the movie was the best part. Then it dragged little bit in middle but catched up in the end.

That 'Charles Manson' character and co was a bit disappointment for me. Just didn't work in my opinion. But the ending was quite satisfying anyway. Could've been better but was good enough as it were

@ J_D , a mighty fine review =)

thank you. nice to hear, since I put so much time & effort into writing it. =)

Yeah,I feel the same about this movie.....

The freaky Dragqueen-Manson shouldn't have been in this movie,it was a part which absolutely didn't fit into the movie...but the rest was very shocking indeed!!

When Kuroda talks with the boy on the phone(and then shoots himself) was great,although I don't speak japanese the voice of this kid already gave me a huge scare.....

Another scene which I can't get out of my head is when the girl checks out the dessert-poster and discovers the suicide-code....after that the schoolgirls with the "Mail Me"-ringtone on their cellphones can really freak you out....

Definitely a movie which can only come out of Japan,the country with the highest suicide-rate ever.... :!:

Really? Didn't know that. But I was a little shocked to learn that it was the most common cause of death in norway too. Second came car accidents with about half as many annually as suicide. Very sad.

Yeah,Japan has a very high rate of suicide,if you kill yourself after work on your way home it's a working accident so your family gets insurance!! Maybe it's the old samurai-thing the Japanese still have in their heads,losing your face,harikiri(or seppuku,for the specialists here..),etc...

But most of the japanese suicidals today jump from high buildings or hang themselves...another new trend seems to be burning charcoal in a sealed room....

Didn't know that about norway but germany has more suicides each year than the USA....

I don't know. I kinda thought of the 'manson' guy as more like 'Dr. Frankenfurter' from 'Rocky Horror'.

Nice movie. Jimmy Pearl stole my copy of the sound track. Gonna have to get it back.

I think it was just there to show how some people are too cruel and will try to cash in on anything (in this case not money, but fame). Even if it means murder. It's a warning cry. All moral is lost.

well, very good begining...
i mean with that idea and japan perverse u can do good movie...
well, ok, 1st half of movie - excelent.
but then!!!!
wtf? why they make that shit with that punk (rock etc) band?
that was senseless!!!!! i mean it's fkd up all what was constructed during first half (what i felt about mopvie)! that was like part from different movie..
then again ok. but the end...
at first no explanations.. what is Desert? why kids make that?
yeah, they explain that... bla-bla-bla.. connection to world etc. crap...
but why those kids from band got that idea?
well, maybe they will expain it in 2nd and 3rd parts....
but IMHO, movie was good, but ending ruined all.

and only single flash of boobs... poor..

PC_Arcade was right.

Cheers Prayer.