Death Tube: Broadcast Murder Show

The premise of DEATH TUBE is pretty interesting: a group of strangers are kidnapped and taken to a secure location, where they must complete a series of challenges that are being broadcast live on the Internet. It's kind of a cross between the SAW films and 13: GAME OF DEATH, a premise that's full of suspense and increasing tension from the outset.

And, indeed, I started off really enjoying this movie. Sure, it's low budget and clearly filmed in a single location, the plot is hardly original, and the acting is pretty bad. But it keeps you watching - at least for the first hour. But then it drags on for yet another hour, with lots of boring dialogue in-between the tasks, and everything is dragged out inexorably. This is a two-hour film that feels like a four-hour film.

It's a pity, because in the right hands this could have been great and on a par with 13: GAME OF DEATH. But at least forty minutes needed cutting from the bloated running time in order to make it even remotely well-paced. Sure, there's some low budget nastiness and gore, but the film overstays its welcome so much that it all becomes brain-numbing and a real chore to sit through. By the end you just want to see the irritating guys in the animal costumes being burned alive for putting us through this.

Sometimes the Japanese horror genre swings and misses big time, and "Death Tube" was definitely one of those times. I purchased this from Amazon, without really knowing what it was about. I knew it was Japanese and it seemed like it could be fun. But it wasn't...

And don't get suckered in by the 'from the producers of the "banned" Grotesque' on the cover, because this movie was nowhere near the level of "Grotesque".

This movie is about a live web channel named Death Tube (very original name, huh?) that broadcasts a game show with deadly results if the participants doesn't complete the set tasks at hand.

Yeah, initially so this is a Japanese cash-in on the Saw genre - or something like it. Except that "Death Tube" didn't turn out to be anywhere near something that resembled being interesting. The tasks that the people were given to perform in order to stay alive was just ridiculous. And it was really hard to take a guy in a big bear suit seriously when he is issuing orders in a game where people might die if they fail to comply with their given tasks.

The people in the movie were doing good enough jobs with their given roles, but they didn't really have a proper solid script to work with. The storyline was weak and the dialogue equally weak.

Having seen this, or at least half of it, my attention ebbed out and I gave up on this movie, because it was just that boring. I ended up turning it off because I totally lost interest in this movie. For a Japanese horror movie, then "Death Tube" is really a pathetic entry to the genre, and it fails to entertain.

Knowing there is a part 2 to this movie, haven't even stirred up any hope or interest in sitting down to watch it.

My 500th review unfortunately, is on fairly cheap looking entry to the 'Saw' type genre. The Japanese usually produce better examples to the western counterparts and whilst containing some quite memorable moments, the acting is pretty dire (and overplayed). Not really one to get excited about but at least holds your attention, to the bitter end. Scary concept indeed and will disturb for sure.

Thriller movie from Japan. A case where people are abducted in order to pass some tests, but if they do not succeed, they are killed. All this show is being shown on the internet, except that none of the viewers notified the authorities to find them. The idea has been used many times in the past and is not new, but it always remains interesting. It also had some plot twists before the end where some tried to trick others into their own survival. However, the deaths were not very convincing and the film also made many long pauses, as a result of which it began to get boring. It is still worth a watch but there are better ones with similar concept. Saw films are probably the top ones with this type of concept.

If you've wondered what Saw would be like as a Japanese game show, this is the movie to watch. It is dark and entertaining, and the game masters crack me up. I thought some of the acting could be better, but overall this is an interesting movie.