Audition 1999 movie review

The Audition 1999 movie is one of the scariest and most disturbing movies I ever saw! It's one of the finest horror masterpieces! When I saw it for the first time, I was deeply troubled and tense. I squirmed in discomfort and disgust. I'll give a non spoiler review then a spoiler review. 

Non spoiler review

Story:

Audition is about an old man looking for love. He meets Asami but realizes she's not who she seems to be. 

I loved the Audition 1999 movie for its slow-pace but effective approach in building tension and horror! 

This was a hard horror movie to watch because there was so much emotion! The Audition 1999 film helped you to understand these are real people with real feelings! The Audition 1999 film is such a memorable Asian horror movie because of its strong characters and compelling story. It's refreshing to have a horror movie like this. There are no poorly made jump scares, weak character development, terrible acting, excessive blood, and guts, etc. like there are in many other horror films.    

What I loved about the Audition 1999 movie is its ambiguity. The Audition 1999 film gave you some room to interpret the story.  

Spoiler review

Story:

I loved the Audition 1999 film for its slow-pace but effective approach in building tension and horror! Audition is such a memorable Asian horror movie because of its strong characters and compelling story.

This was a hard horror movie to watch because there was so much emotion! The Audition 1999 film helped you to understand these are real people with real feelings! 

The scenes where the man calls Aoyama on the phone were highly disturbing! Asami simply kneels with her head hanging down as if she's completely obsessed with this man. It's as if she has no life's purpose and her entire existence depends on him. There's no decorations or objects in her room. The room is full of mostly emptiness like her spirit. The man in the bag represents her emotional baggage from past trauma. She can't separate sex, violence, and love from one another. They're all the same to her. 

While I'm usually against sex scenes, I thought the sex scene in Audition was decent and added to the story. We learn more about the characters. The sex scene didn't give unnecessary nudity, moaning, explicit sexual intercourse, etc. 

At some points of the Audition 1999 movie, we see flashbacks and hallucinations. We see Aayoma's insecurities and possibly abusive personality. We see what he wants to see. We see Asami's origin which appears to mesh with him. It's hard to tell what's real vs. fantasy or how to interpret all of this. Ultimately, these scenes show how disoriented the main character is which made the Audition 1999 movie more disturbing.     

The torture scene between Asami and  Aayomas terrifying as well as brutal! There's no music. The creators didn't try to trick you into being horrified with a typical horror soundtrack. There was no excessive and unnecessary blood. Seeing a helpless man get brutally tortured by his lover was horrifying! 

What I loved about the Audition 1999 film ending is its ambiguity. It's not clear whether the woman died or survived. Its also not clear what happened to the man after this incident and the trauma he endured. I feel like the man forgave her and probably still kept pursuing her despite everything she did based on his choice of words.  

Characters:

I loved the characters because they were relatable. 

Aoyama - I loved his character. It reminded me of myself in the past. He does questionable things out of fear of loneliness. 

Asami - What made her scary was her deceitful beauty and calculating obsessive personality. She didn't need to be strong to subdue the main character.  Asami's innocent and playful personality, while she did vile things, was what made her scary!          

Dialogue:

The dialogue was powerful! At the beginning of the Audition 1999 film, it felt so natural and realistic. As the film progresses, the dialogue becomes haunting! The woman's dialogue in the torture scene sent chills down my spine! 

Soundtrack:

The Audition 1999 movie soundtrack gave me chills! There wasn't really any music. Just ambient ominous noises. 

Cinematography:

The cinematography made this film scarier! It was disturbing how the camera is shooting and it stays in a fixed position for a while. Seeing images like psychedelics added to the horror and made you question reality! I loved the first-person perspective and shaky camerawork. It made the Audition 1999 film feel more real and lively! It also helped you connect more with the characters! 

Acting:

The acting was superb! They were all believable and immersed in their roles! I'm not sure if every character's reaction was realistic in the torture scenes.     

Themes:

What made the Audition 1999 film horrifying were the themes. Audition is a horror movie on the dangers of toxic love. The main character was so in love with the woman, he ignored the warnings his friend tried to give him because he was intoxicated to her. People who are in love tend to do that. Before they know it, their partners do horrible things to them. I wonder if the main character himself was traumatized in some way like Asami and if he had free will. Ultimately, the Audition 1999 movie made you feel like these were the characters destinies. 

What also made this horror movie disturbing was the message on trauma. The woman was abused as a child and wanted to get revenge. Eventually, it became a lifestyle for her. It's like she expressed her distorted view of love through violence. 

Overall, the Audition 1999 movie is a real horror masterpiece. We may never see a horror movie like this again. I highly recommend you buy Audition on DVD!

Audition 1999 special edition DVD