Cold Fish
Reviewer: Horrorphilia Jeremy

Sion Sono is something of a genius. His first film Suicide Club was a visionary cult smash, and his last film Love Exposure was an insane and excessive four hour journey that gave a new meaning to the word dysfunction. His latest returns more to the horror roots of his first film and is supposedly based on one of Japan’s most notorious serial killers.

Dysfunction is again in full swing as we are introduced to a small family of a father (Shamato) who owns a small aquarium fish shop. Shamato’s wife is unhappy, his daughter is in trouble with the law, and he appears to be wilting in the face of this adversity. Enter Murata, who is a wealthy and successful fish shop owner that wants to join forces and help his fellow tropical fish competitor and family. Do you think he has ulterior motives? Before you know it, serial-killing, sexual madness is abusing everyone. The large fish eat the smaller ones.

Sono’s creative, wild streak keeps the movie running on all cylinders. In one scene where an important group conversation is take place, the camera keeps wandering to the room next door where two lovely ladies are necking with furry finger animals. The intro is very Godard, and weird touches throughout the movie keep it from getting stale. At 2.5 hours, it is a long movie, but considering the length of Love Exposure, I was glad Sono restricted himself. Like the scene I mentioned earlier, his diversions are often the reason to see the movie itself. He also gets great performances out of some very interesting actors.

The gore and violence boils over in the last 30 minutes and is sick enough to definitely land it into the horror genre. You’ll want to take a shower after this warped (read: fun) journey. I expect to see this on some top ten lists this year, perhaps my own.

Rating: 8.75/10