“The Shock Labyrinth“
Year: 2012
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Stars: Ai Maeda, Suzuki Matsuo, Shoichiro Masumoto
Studio: Well Go USA Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 89 Mins.
Plot Synopsis:
“The Shock Labyrinth“ is about three childhood friends, who reunite after being away from each other for ten years. They are soon joined by Yuki, who reappears after been missing for a long time. The friends decide to bring Yuki home to her family. There, Yuki suffers a panic attack after seeing a menacing looking toy rabbit.
Yuki’s friends and her sister Miyu decide to take her to the hospital. When arriving there, they find out that no one in the building. Soon Yuki disappears and everyone else is trapped in a labyrinth, where all their past and all their haunting nightmares come to life.
Film Review:
(Please note, the review is for the 2D version of the film.)
The film was my introduction to director Takashi Shimizu, as I haven‘t seen “Ju-oh“ or “The Grudge“. After watching this film, I was left with the feeling that I never want to see another one of his films again.
I don’t where to start with this disaster of a film known as “The Shock Labyrinth“. Shimizu directing was awful, as everything felt lifeless. I was bored with this film .. He doesn’t go for the shocking moments, instead he safely plays the level violence that goes on. It hurts any real chance of making this a good film. For a supernatural film to work, you need scenes that either will make jump out of the seat or the action has to intense. I was never scared or into the film’s action. There was none of that here, as this was more like an episode of “Goosebumps” than an actual film. Shimizu also doesn’t handle the direction of the actors, as the acting here was horrible. He doesn’t make the characters interesting, as the acting made the characters feel one-dimensional. When the acting feels one-dimensional, then the film suffers dearly.
This screenplay reminded me of “Dead Silence” where everything seemed lifeless and very dull. This film brings back bad memories of that film and then some. Shimizu’s screenplay was worst than his directing. It was a complete mess from top to bottom. What makes this screenplay awful, the fact that everything structurally was a mess. This film jump back and forth from the present to the past. Every time the tension started to build up, it was killed instantly with needless flashback scenes. It killed the rhythm of this film and your confused to where the story is at. When the flow of the story is killed with too many flashback sequences, your left feeling lost.
DVD Extras:
The first featurette on the Blu-Ray features interviews from the director and cast. The featurette does a good job getting the perspectives and experiences the director and his cast had, during the making of this film. The featurette is worth a look, if you enjoyed this film.
The next featurette is the behind the scenes for this film. This featurette looks very standard, as it documents some of the happenings that took place during the filming process. But what makes it good, the fact that its divided into chapters. You get a look at how some of the film’s scenes were made. It also features interviews from some of the film’s crew member. Overall, this was better than expected.
Finally the disc wraps up with highlights of a press conference in promotion of the film and the film’s official trailer.
Final Summary:
“The Shock Labyrinth“ is complete mess from start to finish with bad acting and awful directing and screenwriting from Takashi Shimizu. This is easily going to be one of the worst films of 2012.
Review Rating: One Star
DVD Extras: Two and a Half Stars
Who is the actress that plays miyu
Erina Mizuno