8. Audition (1999)
Drama to Psychological Horror Takashi Miike takes a tender and truthful study into loneliness before, just as we're lulled into a false sense of security, transforming it into something much, much darker. After the death of his wife, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishabishi) cannot bear to be alone and yet is unsure about dipping his toe into the world of dating. His friend, a video director, suggests the idea of a mock audition; where eligible women would try out for the 'role' of his wife. This is how he meets Asami (Eihi Shiina) the beautiful stranger who seems perfect for the part. And, for the first half-hour at least, the film appears to be about such usual, universal themes as friendship, grief and letting go of the past; putting a smile back on the face of a man who has been beset by tragedy. However, things take a slight step into suspense when a background check into Asami's agency links brings up only dead ends. His friend tells Shigeharu to be wary, but it's too late: he has already fallen for her. After spending the night in a hotel with her, he wakes to find that Asami is missing. Having entered Shigeharu's apartment, and, finding a photograph of his late wife, Asami is thrown into a jealous rage. She drugs his liquor and waits for his return. By now, as you can see, any associations with traditional romantic drama have been well and truly discarded. What follows is best seen with your own eyes- or at least through the gaps in your fingers. What makes this apparent genre change more of a smooth transition and less a sudden jolt is the fact that, unlike many other films in this list, the third act looks as though it was planned all along. It may have been a slow-burner but we're certainly not where we began. Granted, we knew there was something sinister in the subservient, smartly-dressed and softly-spoken Asami (the way she sits on her apartment floor for days at a time, waiting for her a phone call, should have, erm, rung an alarm bell) but we'd never have guessed quite how the first half hour could've led us to the last.