The Ultimate Valentine’s Day Horror Flick: Audition
I’m through playing nice, readers.
So far, I’ve offered up a horror flick that will make your horror-newbie date laugh as much as it makes her (or him) cringe (“Shaun of the Dead”), and a vampire flick that truly tugs on your heart strings but still retains a dark tone (“Let The Right One In”).
Now, I’m throwing you the sort of horror movie that only two messed up soulmates can enjoy on Valentine’s Day: Takashi Miike’s “Audition,” the most ****ed-up “love” story I have ever seen.
The Plot – Spoiler Free!
“Audition” tells the tale of lonely widower Shigeharu Aoyama, whose son has decided that seven years of being single are enough for dear old dad. For some reason, Aoyama and his film producing friend decide to hold auditions in which women tryout for the role of Aoyama’s new wife. Aoyama is instantly attracted to the angelic Asami Yamazaki, but gradually discovers that Asami is not the only one who was trying out for a role that day.
I refuse to give away any more of the plot than that. If you’ve seen “Audition,” you don’t need it, and if you have not seen it, you don’t want to know anything else. Seriously – if you have not seen this film yet and want to, go away. The less you know, the better. Get outta here.
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This film is the very definition of a slow build – for a while, it really just feels like an unconventional romance – but by the time the end credits roll, you will have survived an encounter with one of the most disturbed characters ever captured on film. The tension that Miike builds one tiny increment at a time is oppressive, and it takes a strong will to get through the final third of the film.
“Audition” literally had people walk out of it in the theaters because they were expecting a serious exploration of loneliness, possibly even a story about how love redeems. Suckers. Miike absolutely sets up the audience in a way that makes the horror totally blind-side you once it surfaces – pure genius, especially since you wind up feeling the exact same way that Aoyama felt, best summed up as, “What the ****?”
Perhaps the best part of this film is that it is horrifying without having to rely on jump scares or gore to turn your stomach. Yes, this film includes one of the most squirm-inducing scenes of torture I have ever watched – but the scene (and the movie as a whole) is terrifying not because of what it shows (it shows very little), but because of the character’s actions, dialogue, and demeanor. The film’s “villain” has to be one of the most 20 memorable ones in horror film history, and you will remember the characters of this film long after you have walked away from the TV, which is what true horror is all about.
“Audition” doesn’t get anywhere near as much press as a film like “The Silence of the Lambs,” and the two films are quite different in their subject matter, but just like Hannibal Lecter remains in your nightmares for weeks after seeing “Silence” for the first time, so will the character in “Audition” haunt you for days to follow. If your date can handle it, this is the best way for two horror fans to celebrate the holiday of love.