Dâku rabu: Rape (2008) Reviews

• Nihilism in the purest form.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2010-04-07

  Along with Hisayasu Sato Katsuya Matsumura is my favourite Japanese exploitation director.His movies are extremely dark and unsettling as they often deal with with obsessions,fetishes and perversions arising from various neuroses and social dysfunctions with warped sex,sexual violence and pain all wrapped in an extreme conceptual bundle."Dark Love:Rape" is more polished than infamous "All Night Long" trilogy,but it still has some strong scenes of violence,sexual abuse and murder.A young woman moves into an apartment that is rigged with hidden cameras.A voyeur,who has raped and abused other women watches her every move and begins a strange relationship with her.His character is truly evil and dysfunctional.A must-see for fans of depraved Japanese exploitation cinema or pinku genre.8 out of 10.

• Human cruelty from a unique artist

  fertilecelluloid2008-09-29

  Katsuya Matsumura, the director of the nihilistic "All Night Long" series, sticks with what he knows in "Dark Love - Rape". What this work shares with his infamous series is the cruelty humans visit on other humans. In this case, that cruelty is of a sexual nature. A young woman moves into an apartment that is rigged with hidden cameras. A voyeur, who has raped and abused other women, watches her every move, and begins a strange relationship with her. Although my synopsis is linear, this modest but impressive piece of film-making (a throwback to pink cinema from the 70's and 80's) is surreal and disturbing. There are instances of violence that are heavy and bloody; one, in particular, where the lead actress has her face repeatedly smashed into a floor, is ultra-realistic. Matsumura's characters are typically dysfunctional and on one-way roads to self-annihilation. The director's previous work was notable for its excellent, rich sound design; this is no exception. The electronic score perfectly embellishes the unrelenting darkness while the sound effects are sharp and distressing. Although a little too slow at times, "Dark Love - Rape" has something very definite on its mind and wears the signature of a unique artist.