10 Most Savage Japanese Horror Films Ever
9. Audition (1999)
Shigeharu is a pleasant middle aged man who had the misfortune to lose his beloved wife to cancer. He is lonely and longs for a second meaningful relationship. His son supports his father's mission to find a good companion, and he stages fake casting 'auditions' whereby Shigeharu can interview and size up a number of lovely young girls for to be his potential sweetheart.
This is fine until he becomes enchanted with a beautiful young woman named Asami based on his notion that she has 'emotional depths'. And indeed Asami is revealed to have special, sinister qualities that nobody in the film realises... Yet...
Directed by the phenomenally gifted, versatile and prolific Takashi Miike - Audition is a slow burner. It starts off quietly and from there, gradually escalates until the horrific finale which will make you throw up in your mouth a little bit. There are several notorious scenes at the end in which Asami starts sawing off Shigeharu's limbs with wire while muttering "Kiri! Kiri! Kiri" gleefully.
Little sadistic and stylistic touches like that have made Audition a firm fan favourite among the J Horror community.
Another quirk of the film is the fun you can have with deconstructing the mystery that is Asami and her increasing derangement. Who the hell is she? What is she up to? She sits for a couple of days in one spot and doesn't move until the phone rings with an enchanted Shigeharu on the other end.
There is talk of horrific child abuse and when she makes the guy in a sack in her apartment eat her own vomit out of a dog food dish the film's 'Yuck' factor flies off the charts. Asami is an awesome baddie.