Japan never seems to fail you for something interesting where it comes to horror cinema – sure, there’s plenty of good and bad within that, but very rarely do I come away thinking I’ve seen nothing noteworthy, or at the least nothing will stick with me. Even the worst of the wave of splatter cinema from the country produced memorable images if little else…

Which brings us to Suicide Club, which is probably the film I’ve been meaning to get around to the longest of all the films on the long, long ‘to watch’ list. I’ve been aware of this one for the better part of a decade, so it’s almost inexplicable it should have taken this long to actually put this one on. Sion Sono’s 2001 film certainly has a cult reputation, so let’s find out if that’s warranted.

Suicide Club follows a number of threads, but centres on a trio of police officers who are brought in after the event of a truly unforgettable opening scene, where a large group of schoolchildren meet at a train station, link hands, count to three and fling themselves in front of a train. It’s an iconic moment, and deservedly so – as a viewer it’s an absolute slap in the face to pay attention to what is going on. When officers Kuroda, Shibusawa and Murata come to investigate initially, they’re not even sure a crime has been committed at all – but as reports of more and more young people committing suicide come in, and a strange website seems to be predicting the number of deaths, they come to realise there’s much more to the spate of suicides than they could have imagined. Alongside that runs the story of a young hacker who finds herself inextricably caught up in this strange case, although it’s not immediately apparently which side of the law she is on as pertains to the growing batch of deaths…

For me, Suicide Club is a movie that sets out to say something about the disconnect between the younger generation and the older generation, and in that way packs even more of a wallop today – in a world where kids and teenagers can seemingly live an entirely second life online, the film is perhaps even more prescient today than it was on its release. It speaks to fads and trends, but with such darkness and such bleakness that it never becomes vapid, remaining compelling from start to finish. It never seeks to demean or lessen the young characters within it, nor criticize their elders, making it an even more complex film morally and emotionally.

Interestingly, it’s also a movie that offers up very few simple answers – there are plenty of hints and intimations, but a large chunk is left up to the viewer, something that I personally consider to be a strength of the movie. The performances from all the leads are very strong, and the plotline keeps you guessing all the way through. You could potentially take numerous different things out of it, and the finale only adds to that sense of fascinating ambiguity. Having at last got around to watching this one for a first time, I doubt it’ll take me anywhere near as long to come to a second viewing…

RATING: 9/10. A really fascinating movie, and one that wasn’t what I had expected from the get-go, nor did it ever settle quite long enough on any one thing to be what I expected at any given moment. It’s a shapeshifter of a movie, blending the tautness of a police drama with hints of the otherworldly and a splash of the malaise of teen culture, creating a concoction that looks a little like a lot of things but doesn’t fully resemble anything else. As such, it’s something that I could absolutely understand not appealing to everyone – there’s very little neat and tidy, and if you prefer it that way it sounds as though you might be better off tackling the manga of the same name. With all that said, if you like your films twisty, surprising and often shocking, Suicide Club is a cult you really ought to be joining…

The scare attraction is a pretty common thing these days – most tourist towns and cities will have something of the type, and there's an increasing number of rather more specialist trips and locations of the type that seek to offer you some real hardcore scares. Honestly, as strange as it might sound, I'm not a massive fan – maybe I've seen too many horror films over the years to want to inhabit one, or perhaps it's something to do with the particular stripe of horror film that I watch? Whatever the reason, I've been to a few and never quite got the kick out of it that some do.

I am going somewhere with this, because Fear Inc. explores this very idea of the extreme horror experience. The story follows 'charming' goofball Joe, his 'bland but rich' girlfriend Lindsey and their friends David and Ashleigh. When Joe and Lindsey visit a haunted house, horror buff Joe bemoans that it's just not scary enough, which prompts a random onlooker to offer them something a little more intense. He offers a card for Fear Inc, which Joe takes with interest.
 
Flash forward a few days (I think?) and the four friends are gathered together for a small party between them – plenty of booze and drugs to go around, even if the numbers might not be great – which Joe decides to spice up by calling Fear Inc. And it's from there that things start to go severely south...

The concept of a specialist horror experience company that goes too far is an interesting one, but Fear Inc. doesn't really deliver it as effectively as it could. Partly it's because of just how infuriating Joe is as a lead character – he'd fit much better into an animated comedy show in the useless Homer Simpson/Steve Smith/Peter Griffin mode than a personality you're actually supposed to care about or be invested in whether they live or die. That character is a serious dent in this movie – the rest of the individuals in the movie might not exactly be in-depth, but I can at least bear them being on screen. It gets pretty convoluted as it wears on, and numerous things don't really make sense if you pull at those various threads. There are a few solid moments, but much that isn't as exciting or dramatic as it might be, and the ending frustrated me immensely to be honest.
 
In all my years of reviewing, there have been two threads come through – I have a huge respect and admiration for originality, and it drives me to distraction to watch films squander potential. And this one falls into the second category – this could have been really current and really different, but all too often lapses into horror cliché. Throw in a weak cast of characters and some strange plot choices and Fear Inc. ultimately misses more than it hits throughout its ninety minute runtime.

RATING: 4.5/10. I've been cogitating on this one for a few days, and I feel as though the rating for this has maybe slipped a mark or a mark and a half the more I've thought on it. Fear Inc. is low-budget but actually has a decent core idea, yet it's the delivery that lets it down in the end. There are little flashes of inspiration, but it doesn't deliver on numerous fronts – and as a horror fan the depiction of Joe as the responsibility-free, slacker horror buff was pretty excruciating to watch. I'm happy to go almost down the middle – much less would be too harsh but it's just short of average for me.

In the line of duty reviewing here at Film Gutter, I've encountered an awful lot of very different and unusual things on screen. Those absolute revelations seem to have become a rarity lately, so much so that I was starting to think to myself that there wasn't going to be a film out there that could still surprise me.

Then, along came Beyond the Black Rainbow. And I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like this one in all my time. The 2010 debut from Panos Cosmatos – who recently directed the popular feature Mandy – has certainly accrued a cult following, but for all that certainly has plenty of detractors too. Still, a movie that stirs up this level of debate must have something about it, right?

It's honestly hard to say too much about this one without absolutely spoiling it, and equally because the storyline in and of itself is relatively slim. The movie itself follows of Elena, a young lady who is a ‘patient’ at the Arboria Institute, led by the enigmatic Dr Barry Nyle. Nyle claims that Elena isn't well, but his diagnosis comes under increasing question as she demonstrates telekinetic powers, suggesting another purpose to the institute entirely. As we delve deeper into the history and indeed the present of the Arboria Institute, things become to slowly spin completely out of control for Nyle in both his home life and work life.

Despite the relative slightness of the plot, that certainly doesn't dictate my feelings about this movie. In fact, not only was this one a genuinely original offering, it's one of the best films that I've seen in a long time – indeed it may well be among the best ever. The whole thing plays like a crazed dreamscape in oversaturated colours and bizarre imagery, dangling plenty of questions and offering just enough answers to tantalise and draw you in further as a viewer. The soundtrack is absolutely superb, adding to the surrealistic quality of what is presented, and the lead performances are genuinely brilliant. Eva Bourne's depiction of the mute Elena is simple but effective, an ethereal acting performance that elevates what could have been a really bland character, but the standout is Michael J Rogers as Dr Nyle. He has this wonderfully creepy, unsettling confidence in his actions and his dialogue throughout the whole film – watching this I couldn't help but think he'd have made an absolutely ideal Patrick Bateman were American Psycho made around this time rather than ten years before.

I can get why the movie has been criticised, because it requires a certain mindset and a high degree of patience. Things do happen slowly, almost glacially so at times, but I don't think that this would work any other way. And the visuals are often so striking that I actively enjoy watching even the most languorous of scenes in the film. Honestly you'll likely know within a quarter of an hour if this is for you – you may even be best advised to check out early if you find yourself losing focus or not enjoying it at that phase, because there’s no real shift in the pace or method of delivery. But once you're in and you've immersed yourself into the strange world of Beyond the Black Rainbow, there's certainly no way you'll want to escape from it...

RATING: 10/10. I'm going bold with this one – it's certainly the best film I've seen this year and must be one of the top five films I've ever seen. It's fascinating and confusing at once, gloriously colourful whilst maintaining a mood of menace and darkness, asks questions without offering many answers and leaving you craving to know more without ever feeling unsatisfied. The finale has sometimes been criticised but I absolutely loved the way that it amped up the bizarre nature of things. For me it's a movie I'm certain to be coming back to again to peel back more and more of its layers – they're there for sure, and I have a sneaking suspicion this one might just improve with repeat watching as you come to further grasp its nuances and the more hidden elements within it.