Kaibutsu no kikori

I recently watched the new Japanese film Lumberjack the Monster (2023) on Netflix. The storyline follows an arrogant lawyer with a checkered past who is attacked by a serial killer and barely survives. The lawyer's arrogance won't let him be just another victim, so he decides to go from the hunted to the hunter.

The film is directed by the iconic Takashi Miike (Audition) and stars Kazuya Kamenashi (Joker Game), Nanao (Miss Devil), Keisuke Horibe (Tokyo Gore Police), and Shidô Nakamura (Fearless).

This movie wasn't what I was expecting at all. The main character feels like the actual villain as the story unfolds. The backstories are very well told, and the horror elements are elite. The costumes and kill scenes are top-notch, with great stab scenes and throat slashes. The ending is actually quite rewarding and serves as a perfect conclusion. However, the killer reveal is disappointing and this picture was not what I was hoping for from Miike.

In conclusion, Lumberjack the Monster didn't live up to my expectations of Miike, but it had enough worthwhile elements to watch once. I would score this a 5.5-6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Lumberjack the Monster: The prolific Takashi Miike who brought us Audition, 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal directs this serial killer film which definitely enters horror territory. At least 3 serial killers figure here, the Lumberjack tracks down nasty people and smashes their heads in with his ax. He has already dispatched a Ponzi scheme organizer and a violent criminal but his third victim, Akira (Kazuya Kamenashi) turns out to be a bit tougher and fights him off. We've already seen Akira murder a man who was attempting to blackmail him and we've met his doctor friend Sugitani (Shota Sometani) who carries out lethal experiments on living patients. Akira must now track down and kill the Lumberjack if he is to survive. There's also a profiler Ranko (Nanao) who takes an interest in Akira and a driven detective (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) who is obsessive in his pursuit of murderers, none of these are stock characters, they are fully fleshed out. Some really disturbing scenes of heads being crushed, jugular veins slashed and scenes of existential horror. I won't describe the latter as it would give too much away, similarly I can't name the actor who portrays Lumberjack. There is also a conspiracy stretching back 30 years and a few interesting plot twists. Good performances from the main cast. Directed by Takashi Miike, Screenplay by Hiroyoshi Koiwa, based on the 2019 Mayusuke Kurai novel of the same name. On Netflix. 8/10.

I saw this movie with no idea of the plot. I just read some people online telling that it was a good movie by well loved director Takashi MIke. I like many movies that he did. And I had expectation. And well the movie is not a horror, it is not scary. Does it have blood? Yes. Crazy people? Yes. Is it funny and entertaining? Well not that much. Here is where the issue is for me. When the movie finish I thought "is this all?" that Meh feeling. No real drama or tension or big surprise. Everything move in a smooth way, And as somebody else already wrote, yes very good opening scene, and then you think, ok ok something good will come.

I have no idea of the book or comic this is based on. So maybe the story was all already there with not so much room to change things.

This is a very cool and unusual thriller out of the Japanese film market. From the very beginning it will have you engaged in its creepy feel and disturbing imagery. The movie has many elements involving modern scientific and biological experimentation and their dangers- a modern day Frankenstein's tale, if you will. The acting and cinematography are very engaging. The characters are strong. The story is good, but there are elements that are a little hard to follow. The pacing and action are good. I really like the films of Japan. They have their own sensibility and sense of originality. Worth seeing.

While this did have a few of Takashi Miike's signature moves (blood spurting like it was being shot out of a gun), it was probably the slowest, most excruciatingly painful dalliance ever put on film. It was a short-short that Miike dragged out to almost 2 hours with.insanely mundane shots and dialogue that added nothing to the story whatsoever. I honestly don't know what kept me watching it until the end. Maybe I was hoping something might actually happen--but it didn't. It's not a thriller, it's definitely not horror, it's barely drama, and I guess "crime" is the only genre it fits since it did involve a crime. Really bad. I gave it a 2 out of nostalgia for Takashi Miike's earlier work but it doesn't even deserve that.