Review: Even as I write this review, I still have mixed feelings about this film. Maybe because FREEZE ME is more like an erotic thriller than a psychological study on rape in Japan, yet it all feels like one abstract joke from director, Takashi Ishii, in creating one hell of a dark comedy.

What starts out as an atmospheric thriller filled with creeps and beeps and things-that-go-bump-in-the-night turns into an almost different film halfway through and all into the third act. When Chihiro, (Harumi Inoue) begins storing her victims in the titled themed freezers, she transforms from a stable woman living the life into a neurotic killer trapped in an apartment. Not only does she have to confront the demons of her past but she must escape it at the same time without anyone knowing, even her current boyfriend. This could be an interesting concept, considering the particulars of Japan and the way women are generally portrayed in these types of film. If this film was a little more serious on its subject, it could have been frightening and almost uneasy, but when Chihiro begins joking to herself on the phone about new models of refrigerators and talking to the dead bodies of her rapist, FREEZE ME develops into hilariously dark story.

Japanese nude model, Harumi Inoue, known for her curves and vibrant smile sets the tone for the picture by portraying Chihiro in a happy-go-lucky manner. It seems almost natural that a victim of rape would take a similar attitude in her attempts of shadowing the incident from her life. And though I may be unsure of how I feel about FREEZE ME, one thing is for sure, I found a new actress to fall in love with. This is probably the sole reason why I stopped taking the film so seriously after the half. In the beginning, Inoue takes a simple attitude towards her life; she has the job, the nice boyfriend and the cozy wonderful apartment with a Sony Playstation. Though, it's fairly easy to worry for her and to be sympathetic, her defensive attitude is so cute and comedic that you begin falling for her. There is one fascinating scene where she's eating ice cream and talking it out with one of the rapists as they lay dead in the freezer. The camera is on the inside, so the body is in the foreground while she's only seen through the bridge of the neck and it's almost romantic in that sick, unadulterated type of way. It is around this time when the film feels different; an odd transition of what you saw before and what you will see in the end as her form of hysteria radically changes into different shapes and approaches.

The supporting cast of FREEZE ME are all men, stereotypical characters that seem to have no life of their own other than their obsession with Chihiro. You have an unrestrained pervert to a tough talking yakuza that are so relentless in having their way with Chihiro, that it becomes too excessive and unbelievable. Even her boyfriend is extreme in his ways, a soft talking weak-willed fellow used as a metaphor for Chihiro's stability. But maybe that is the point, right? These men are devices of an overall society that objectifies women and Chihiro has to lay down her own justice, empowerment of the killing kind. She is what she is because of them after all.