Neil Welch Freeze Me is primarily a suspense thriller, deriving from rape.Chihiro (Harumi Inoue) moves to Tokyo in the aftermath of being raped by three men. They find her, invade her apartment, and rape her again, making it clear that she will never escape them. One by one she invites them back, under the pretext of having been "converted", murders them, and stores their bodies in freezers. She also murders her boyfriend, and the ending is somewhat non-specific.The film has a number of qualities. Although the rapes are not very explicit, they are nonetheless disturbing and Inoue, who spends some time naked, does an excellent job of conveying the mindset of a rape victim whose actions follow on from having had it made clear to her that she will never escape.Her Tokyo apartment is very claustrophobic, and this adds immeasurably to the suspense which starts to build, particularly following the first murder.There is also humour - the more bodies she freezes, the greater the electricity consumption, and she has to start rotating the electricity supply to her freezers so as not to blow fuses.Overall, a highly unusual, and gripping movie.

EVOL666 FREEZE ME is a different type of rape/revenge film - of which genre I'm a pretty big fan. Lacking the sleazy, exploit-style qualities of other rape/revenge films - FREEZE ME is more stylish and "serious" in terms of the subject matter than some of the more "outrageous" entries.Chihiro is a beautiful (and I mean straight-smokin') young lady who moved to Tokyo to rebuild her life after a nasty gang-rape experience. Five years after the incident, her old "buddies" come back to give her another go-round - but this time, Chihiro ain't havin' it...Surprisingly tame in terms of violence and sleaziness for this type of film (suprising, coming from the director of the gory EVIL DEAD TRAP...), FREEZE ME focuses more on Chihiro and her dizzying roles as survivor, victim, and finally vengeance-seeker. The performances of everyone involved are very strong and believable, making this one more notable then some of the lower budget rape/revenge films. One problem I had with the film was Chihiro's "willingness" to go along with her abductors as opposed to running away or turning them in. I never quite understood this aspect, as her captors never kept her from going to work or leaving her apartment - maybe it had something to do with her pride and not wanting this situation to spread any further...but being that the rapists filmed and sold the original rape footage online - I don't see what difference it would have really made. Regardless, FREEZE ME is a worthy entry in one of my favorite genres. 8/10

captain_bungle The rape-revenge genre is rife with dodgy exploitation pics and under-the-counter sleaze, with I Spit On Your Grave (Day of the Woman) being the most (in)famous and, possibly, the most misogynistic. Artistic merit is not something the rape-revenge film concerns itself with (let's face it, 'Last House on the Left' is a crude, artless fluke), concentrating more on graphic sex / nudity for graphic sex / nudity's sake. Oh, and the rape has to be really horrible to justify the rapists' sticky end (no pun intended).If you're watching a good example of the genre, you'll be putting yourself in the place of the woman and relating to her, something the horror genre frequently does (it's one of the only genres where men will relate to a woman) and wishing her attackers dead - in any way possible, not necessarily in a sensationalist way.I think Freeze Me (or Freezer, here in the UK) succeeds in this, as the plight of the female character is always put first. Agreed, there are a lot of gratuitous shots of her naked body, but these act as a reminder to her beauty and frailty. When it comes to the rape, it is often more implied and in no way staged to be titillating, something the more dubious examples try to achieve, rather disturbingly.Freeze Me, therefore, isn't exactly an enjoyable experience (I'll have to look up the word 'entertainment'), but it is thought-provoking, well-made on a very tight budget, and incredibly disturbing. One of the best examples of this horror sub-genre.

Gorm82 It is an odd fact that most woman who are raped do not report the crime. In fact some feel ashamed and embarrassed by the act of violence against them. This is one reason why rape is very different than robbery, assault or many other crimes. Many more issues and emotions come into play on a rape than other crimes. Takashi Ishii explores society's reaction to woman who are raped in a powerful, but truthful way in "Freeze Me".SUMMARY ****MINOR SPOILERS*****Chihiro was raped by men from her home town and videotaped. 5 years later we see her making a new life in Tokyo. She has a good job, good friends, and a great fiancee', but Chihiro has told no one of her past. Very early we see that the Japan that she inhabits looks down at woman having sex before marriage. This is seen through a conversation between Chihiro, her fiancee' and some of their friends. When they admit they have made love already their friends think it is scandalous.Suddenly one day when she is in her apartment lobby she sees one of the men who raped her. He treats her like an old friend, but she is horrified and scared. He forces his way up to her apartment and tells her that soon there will be a reunion at her place, with her old "friends". Obviously Chihiro is afraid of being raped again and she is. Before all the others show up the man forces himself on her. What is odd is that he then starts to live with her, forcing her to do what he says threatening to tell everyone of her past and show pictures from the video of the rape. It is difficult to understand why she is so embarressed to call the police when she was the victim, not a willing participant. Why will her friends think she is a whore and disassociate themselves from her when she was raped?. Is Japanese society's view on women so skewed that these actions are accurate or is Takashi Ishii's Japan an exaggerated look at the world? I do not have the answer to this and became the most difficult part of the film to understand. It is holding me back from saying this is one of Japan's best contemporary films because i am not sure if this kind of set up is logical or not.Soon Chihiro can not take the abuse anymore and because no one will help her (the man told her fiancee' about the rape and he abandoned her out of shame) she lashes out at her victimizer. One by one the men show up at her apartment and one by one she has her revenge.END OF SUMMARY*****Women taking matters into their own hands because society will not help them is the central theme in "Freeze Me". Ishii explores this by setting most of the action in Chihiro's apartment creating a small world inwhich the outside will not help her. The best of Contemporary Japanese genre films take basic exploitation plots and use them to showcase higher ideas. They elavate exploitation, but are still able to deliver the visceral thrills that make exploitation enjoyable (i.e Battle Royale, Audition). "Freeze Me" does this well. Rape is a hard subject to tackle and not everyone will agree with me that Ishii handled it with respect and seriousness. Many still may think it is a standard Rape/Revenge flick that has been done so many times before. I say their is to much subtext to write "Freeze Me" off as simple mindless vulgarity. The film is brutal and disturbing, but Ishii does not take pleasure in the rape or he does not show Chihiro as a "good guy" when she takes revenge. This move might sicken you and you may feel dirty after watching it, but hopefully it will also make you think about how woman seen in our world and the value we put on them.