#Daisuke Yamanouchi

[chaoticframes]

Girl Hell 1999 (1999) dir. Daisuke Yamanouchi

[dare-g]

Red Room (1999)

[yemme]

Ryoma & Yuki ~ My Fanfic Dream ~ The Shortest Distance is Round

[kdnss77]

Girl Hell 1999/Shojo jigoku ichi kyu kyu kyu (1999)

basic info: directed and written by Daisuke Yamanouchi (also known as the executive of such titles as "Red Room" or "Celluloid Nightmares" from the same year). it's classified under the genre of horror, for the sake of including acts of slight gore, violence and a broad range of sexual abuse performances.

overall ratings: imdb: 5,1/10 letterboxd: 2,5/5

plot summary: the movie sets off with a melancholic shot featuring the protagonist, 17-year old Misaki, which turns out to be a leap into the future in the latter take (and, probably, captures the rather suicidal state of her mind - as the events unfold, we're gradually familiarized with all that the girl had dealt with and what has left her almost completely callous to the matter of her own existence). subsequently, we learn that Misaki actively supports a homeless woman living near the bridge in the town, bringing her leftover food and keeping her company. however, it turns out she's in the center of attention of both a young, although extremely short-tempered and abusive worker and an individual standing behind the repetitive thefts of her biking seat (which, to me, at first seemed more of a cruel joke made by her classmates, so as to bully her. but it comes down to a gross piss kink later on). its also revealed that the schoolgirl parts her daily life with an unpredictable father and a heavily wounded sister, who constantly needs to be taken care of. her sibling's immobility is unfortunately taken advantage of by the parent, him imposing becoming an object destined for rape only on her. more into the movie, when Misaki resigns on meeting the guy interested in her, he and his loyal friend run for a vigorous killing spree in revenge - first, they brutally deal with the oblivious woman from under the bridge, then knock Misaki's father off and end up torturing her sister until she's become completely lifeless. in the meantime, Misaki herself is captured by the pervert, who has been the initial cause for her bike seat to magically disappear (this sequence includes a picture of the man drinking her urine from a tube). then we're finally brought to the point, with which the whole movie began - Misaki's out of any emotions, becomes completely soulless and simply gives herself in to the two previously mentioned friends, who have just murdered her only family. the ending scene is rather unexpected - while walking off, the protagonist encounters the beaten up, homeless woman, holding a different doll (the previous one and therefore the one woman has been taking care of so thoroughly ever since - Haruko - had been destroyed by the workers). this sight causes the girl to snap and proceed to continuously hurt the terrified woman with a bat.

my thoughts: this one, no matter from what angle you look at it, is plainly pointless. just a story about a schoolgirl who somehow happens to have everything and everyone against her, suffering non-culpably for being too pure and kind-hearted for this world. having oversimplified what my reflections on this have morphed into so far, of course. nevertheless, the movie has some remarkable bits, that make it live up to my expectations in a way. in terms of the production it's, however, way below those - it's clearly a low-budget one, what emerges in inadequate cuts or sudden lightning changes (on the contrary, one could state that this was purely intentional - personally i liked the random alternations between first colored and then black-white canvas in the meantime of all the dramatic shots. it points to some further vision and potential, that - unfortunately - wasn't entirely fulfilled). what i find valuable about "Girl Hell" is the aftermath of its story. the plot alone is rather senseless, but taking into consideration the burden protagonist has to deal with, it makes her a pretty complex character. firstly, she seems to live in constant fear - the moments, in which she contemplates on entering her own house are filled with unspeakable tension. deep inside she'd rather be anywhere else, far away from the hell she has to deal with every day after school. she never knows what to expect from her perverted and aggressive father, of whom she's afraid of and can't do much to stop him from sexually abusing her disabled sibling. her sister on the other hand, loathes her, even though Misaki is the one to treat her unhealed wounds. what's more, she's convinced Misaki's glad she ended up like this, prompting her to spiral down her own helplessness even deeper. in a hazardous confrontation with her father, after pointing a knife at him, she's also obstinately defending her mother, who had abandoned their family some time ago. however, it seems that - somewhere, under the surface of self-indulged guilt - she pities her parent for leaving her, not receiving this motherly kind of love. this lack emerges, among others, in the scene where Misaki starts to drink milk from a breast of the homeless woman - sucking on it just like a newborn child, almost wistfully. then, again, in the ending scene of the movie - when Misako realizes, that a new doll has already found its place in the arms of the lady, she rages on her with a blood-covered bat, granting her with numerous hits. to me, it seems that she might have seen herself in this particular piece of plastic - she's been simply thrown away by her mother (who, taking into account the words of Misaki's father, has probably run away with an another man), despite being nothing more than a child. it's symbolic in a way - it's the first and only time in the whole movie that Misaki lets her frustrations out instead of obediently cramming them inside. this scene, in fact, literally rescues the production as a whole. but it still doesn't contribute to exceeding the norms of mediocre watch. i just wish Yamanouchi contented himself on releasing a rather poorly made, although self-sufficient movie. and not something aspiring to be a high-budget crap, screaming with potential yet too proudly exhibited. and it's exactly what killed it.

my rating: 2,5/5

favorite quote: "I bet you feel real good, now that i've ended up like this." (these words come from Misaki's sister. i find them crucial in a way, as the point of the protagonist's story is the exaggerated focus her inability to prove anyone or anything wrong - including the self-loathing she most probably experienced too in the face of it. her family life is a torture, she's surrounded by perverts and abusive individuals, basically drowning in all sorts of depravation. it seems as if she was sentenced for them, the one to be blamed for everything that ever happens. just like you could imagine the generalized perception of hell, a never ending torture).

the images were found by me on the internet, credit to their original uploaders.

[kadomania]

CITY DIVE [ Hitomi Toi ]

Hitomi Toi   7th.Album  “CITY DIVE” released in 2012/06/20 Hitomi Toi (Vo&Words,Music) Cunimond Takiguchi (Words,Music,Arranged,Programming) Toshio Yamanouchi (Guitar) Daisuke Shimaoka (Rhodes,Keyboard) 01. DIVE　★ 02. ギャラクティックにさせて (Garactic ni Sasete) 03. 恋は思いのまま (Koi wa Omoinomama)　★ 04. ハーバーライト (Harbor Light) 05. 人魚になりたい (Ningyo ni naritai) 06. サマーブリーズ ’86 (Summer Breeze 86′) 07.…

[ghostnight]

Girl Hell 1999 (1999)

[jessemidnitekrawlr]

Wrote up a review for Kyoko vs. Yuki (2000)

[everydaym0nstrosity]

赤い密室(へや) 禁断の王様ゲーム AKA Red Room (1999), directed by Daisuke Yamanouchi.

[justfilms]

#30 Red Room - Daisuke Yamanouchi 1999

[bloodrunnerzero]

won't anything good ever happen for me?

少女地獄一九九九 (Girl Hell 1999) 1999 - Daisuke Yamanouchi

[thecorsetcollection]

COLLECTION UPDATE:

Cruising dir. William Friedkin

Re-Animator dir. Stuart Gordon

Bettie Page Bondage Queen dir. Irving Klaw

Maniac dir. William Lustig

Island of Death dir. Nico Mastorakis

Shutter dir. Parkpoom Wongpoom & Banjong Pisanthanakun

Found dir. Scott Schirmer

A Serbian Film dir. Srđan Spasojević

Thriller: A Cruel Picture dir. Bo A. Vibenius

Eden Lake dir. James Watkins

Red Room 2 dir. Daisuke Yamanouchi

Dark Tales of Japan dir. Various

CRITERION:

Three Films by Luis Buñuel

- #102 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

- #143 That Obscure Object of Desire

- #290 The Phantom of Liberty

#820 Fantastic Planet dir. Rene Laloux

#1157 Daisies dir. Vera Chytilova

[lexi-the-magic-fetus]

Girl Hell 1999, Daisuke Yamanouchi

[ghostnight]

Girl Hell 1999 (1999)