| 90 |
Slate
During the ghastly, surreal climax, I had fun closing one eye and with the other watching various ashen older men stumble toward the exit.
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| 89 |
Austin Chronicle
Audition's take on the war between the sexes is bleak and almost entirely devoid of hope. --It's enough to make you give up dating altogether.
|
| 88 |
Chicago Tribune
Patrick Z. McGavin
Creates an atmosphere of frenzy that is both powerful and unforgettable, providing neither solace nor comfort.
|
| 88 |
Baltimore Sun
The images here are graphic and disturbing. But Miike somehow manages to stop just short of disgusting.
|
| 88 |
New York Post
The faint of heart might want to leave early. If you elect to stay, remember: You were warned.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
A diabolically adroit piece of filmmaking that goes even further than the films of Italy's excruciatingly macabre Dario Argento.
|
| 80 |
New Times (L.A.)
A warning is virtually mandated: No one who's even the least bit squeamish should even think about seeing Audition. But, if you have a taste for the disturbing, it's a trip that will stay with you for some time.
|
| 80 |
The New York Times
The picture is about victims -- but it's also a great, sick rush with a kicker on the level of "The Vanishing."
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Brazen shocker is never less than compelling -- even when you feel compelled to shut your eyes.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
This movie can be recommended only to dyed-in-the-wool fans of the genre. Anyone who goes into one of Miike's films must be prepared to be put through the wringer.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
How Miike gets us from amiable point A to debilitating point B is a remarkable act of manipulation and control that may leave you feeling sucker-punched, even brutalized, but you won't forget the experience anytime soon.
|
| 70 |
Film Threat
Eric Campos
One of the most shocking Japanese horror films ever. It needs to be seen to be believed, but those with queasy stomachs would do well to stay away.
|
| 70 |
TV Guide
Somewhere beyond the extremes of "Fatal Attraction" and "In The Company of Men" festers this elegantly composed, outrageously violent psycho thriller.
|
| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The first two-thirds of the movie are a kind of stumbling relationship drama, but the last third segues into a spooky feast of torture, mutilation and murder.
|
| 60 |
Chicago Reader
Though I hate to ruin the complex experience of following a rather calm story about a lonely widower as it becomes something else, I feel obliged to point out that the hard-core gore and soft-core surrealism of this baroque morality play may not support any theme.
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| 50 |
Boston Globe
Jim Sullivan
A long crawl from inception to climax.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
The most startling aspect of this slow-building horror movie is how unexpectedly it morphs from a quietly romantic suspense yarn to a flat-out tale of terror that may have some viewers hiding under their seats.
|
| 38 |
New York Daily News
Possibly the sourest revenge movie ever, Audition starts off as a sweet, low-key romance, then abruptly turns into a grisly, sadistic thriller.
|
| 30 |
Village Voice
After simmering for an eternity, it derails, with spectacular, psychotic force, bulldozing its way toward an almost unwatchable theater of cruelty.
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