Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Shôichi Matsuda, Wataru Kaoru, Ishino Atsushi, Tsukamoto Sanae, Namikawa Hajime,
Ashihara Kensuke, Hoshina Yôhei, Motono Takuya, Shibuki Misa, Yoshida Masaki | Written by Michitaka Okada
UK Certification 18 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 117 minutes | Directed by Yohei Fukuda
Having reviewed Fukuda's forgettable Tokyo Gore School a short while ago, it seems as though I'm quickly being familiarised with the Japanese film-maker's career as a director, which is still in its infancy. While Tokyo Gore School had some nice ideas, they never really gelled and so the film didn't take form, but with Death Tube, Fukuda showcases his increasing skills in a film that's a vastly improved upon effort.
In the same vein as the Saw series, Death Tube is about a live video streaming website by the name of, would you believe it, Death Tube. How they managed to get away with using the YouTube logo and putting a pretty grim twist on it I don't know, but I have no complaints as it actually makes the film that little bit extra true to life. The website shares with the world real footage of men and women trapped in small rooms and executed. By real I of course mean within the fictional confines of the movie, and not the kind of video you'd find on Ogrish a few years ago. Opening with a young man looking at the website for the first time as his fiancé tries in vain to make conversation, he wakes up the next day to find himself in one of the very rooms he was watching on his computer. A room full of webcams and a laptop showing the other imprisoned victims of Death Tube as they each try and work out what's going on. Communicating with the others through the computer, the man teams up with his fellow prisoners in a desperate bid to escape, but they are merely pawns in a game where no one is expected to survive, with a series of challenges being forced upon the group, and only their completion will guarantee the continuation of their lives. Or will it?
Just like the Saw films, Death Tube has its own 'figurehead' character who explains the rules and consequences of each game through screens. Those behind this vile webcast all wear the oversized heads of bright yellow bear costumes, the kind that mascots boil inside at sports events. Though not quite as eerie-looking as Jigsaw, these bears run the bloody proceedings like a game show for kids, and so it's pretty creepy to hear a voice digitally-altered to make it sound as though it should be on some kind of CBeebies programme, giving orders and deciding who lives and who dies.
Occasionally disturbing with its grit and abhorrent realism, Death Tube is an interesting watch. Unfortunately the over-the-top splatter violence we've become accustomed to in Asian horror is prevalent throughout, and so it does take you out of the film at times when deaths are shown on screen. There's also a lack of character development and exposition, but the film still remains a gripping and intense ride from beginning to end, which with a running time of two hours, is no mean feat.
EXTRAS ? Just the trailer.